Debbie Malone - Good Life (1993)

Here we have another Debbie who, like Debbie Johnson, I was waiting on a family member to update me on before I posted the album. I found her niece on Youtube last year and she wrote me telling me she'd talk to her aunt and get back to me with details, but I have yet to hear back from her. What I have been able to piece together about Debbie Malone I got mostly from a recent obituary, unfortunately, for her husband and creative partner, Scipio Sargeant. He moved to the US from Trinidad in the late 1960s, having already established himself as a musician, songwriter and arranger. In 1977 he was commissioned to work with a young upcoming singer from Texas - Debbie. They bonded both professionally and romantically, and formed the soul/funk duo Sargeant & Malone, as well as the one-off group Elektrik Dred. After releasing a few singles and touring the US through the early 1980s, they moved to England in 1988 and began working on Debbie's solo career. They turned to house music and her first single, "Rescue Me," was an instant dance club hit in the UK, especially in the rave scene (look no further than Youtube to see how beloved this track is by ex-ravers). Debbie released a couple more less successful singles in the early 1990s and then "Rescue Me" was remixed and rereleased by dance label Pulse 8 Records in 1992, to more danceclub acclaim. The album was released in the US the next year on Radikal Records, with the only other single release from the album being "Running From My Love". The fact that I picked the CD up in a dollar store seems to indicate that it wasn't a smash success. ;) But it is a surprisingly solid house album, and Debbie has a fantastic voice. When last I heard from her niece, she told me that her aunt was working on a Myspace page and new music. Sadly that will likely be delayed by her husband's death, but it appears we will be hearing more from her some day.

UPDATE: It seem Ms. Malone may have left a comment here as follows:

"Well, I wouldn't knock dollar stores darling. Afterall, music should be accessible for ALL people. Business and music = NOISE!"

As I responded, I was happy to find the album in the dollar store, but most of the other albums I found there were obviously just overstock that the companies were burning off, so I just assumed... (and from your comment I'm guessing I assumed right?) No offense intended, and we would love to hear more about you and your career, Debbie, so please come back and fill us in!! This IS a tribute to you, after all! :)

Download Good Life

1		Never Knew Love Like This Before
2		I Wanna Know
3		Bye Bye Love
4		Baby Talk
5		No Other Love
6		Rescue Me (Uplifting Elephants Mix Edit)
7		Good Life
8		Soothe Me
9		Love Me Don't Leave Me
10		Running From My Love
11		Sunshine

Rhianna - Get On (2002)

Here is another purchase I made in Amsterdam. I had never heard of this Rhianna before, but when I checked the production credits on this album it included producers who had worked with two of my faves, All Saints and Sugababes, so I figured I couldn't go wrong. And what a pleasant surprise! If you like those groups, then I'm pretty sure you'll like this album. Turns out Rhianna (last name Kenny) is a Brit from Leeds, who as a teenager did back-up vocals for her brother Leigh's semi-successful rap act LSK. She worked on songs with him that led to her being signed to his label Sony Soho Square. Her first single, "Oh Baby", was a throwback to the Phil Spector 60's pop/R&B sound and it rose to #18 on the UK charts. The album followed to great critical acclaim, though it didn't chart substantially. Her second single, the equally retro "Word Love" almost made it into the Brit pop top 40 stalling at #41, while her third single, a remake of Stevie Wonder's "I Love Every Little Thing About You" didn't chart. Gigs with rising stars like Beverley Knight weren't enough to draw a larger audience, and Rhianna seemingly vanished. According to Wikipedia she reemerged with a self-titled second album in 2006, though info on this album is impossible to find elsewhere. Even if she did, no doubt it went unnoticed as she would have just been confused with (the differently spelled) Rihanna, who was by then a superstar. Soon after, she started recording and touring using the name Fleurona, and seemed to be active using this name until 2008, if you check Fleurona's Myspace page. She is currently on Facebook under her real name and is no doubt still working on music, but let's hope she will use a different moniker again if she releases anything, as any attempts to find info on her on the internet are currently foiled by the huge web presence of the 'other' Rihanna and those who misspell her name...

Video for Oh Baby

Video for Word Love

Live performance of I Love Every Little Thing About You

Download Get On

1		Oh Baby
2		Word Love
3		Moon Is Blue
4		Runaway
5		I Love Every Little Thing About You
6		Damm
7		Justify
8		Girlfriend
9		TLND
10		Romeo And Juliet

Bingoboys - The Best Of Bingoboys (1991) & Color Of Music (1994) DOUBLE POST!!

The title of the Bingoboys debut album is misleading, because they had not released any material prior in order to have a "Best Of". But their debut single, "How To Dance" was indeed a hit, reaching number one on the Billboard Dance charts and other charts across the world. The Bingoboys consisted on three DJs from Austria: Klaus Biedermann, Paul Pfab, and Helmut Wolfgruber. They obviously had a taste for hip-house music, and over their danceable beats they enlisted the voice of American rapper Princessa aka Jennece Moore. "How To Dance" combined her raps with house beats and extensive samples, from other songs as well as soundbites from instructional recordings. The rest of the album follows suit, though Princessa is occasionally replaced by other vocalists like Two Deadly Elements, Papa Linley, and Melissa Bell, who sings on a reimagining of Gino Soccio's disco classic "Dancer". The most notable vocalist is Arnold Jarvis, who sings on a remake of the SOS Band's "Borrowed Love," which also features Princessa. It was also released as a single and even dented the Billboard Pop top 100. This wasn't success enough for their label Atlantic, however, and they were dropped after releasing a third unsuccessful single, "No Woman No Cry", which owes more to Salt 'N' Pepa's "Push It" than the Bob Marley song of the same name. They did manage to record and release another album on WEA in Europe in 1994, however, entitled Color Of Music. Princessa was replaced with singer Vivian Sessoms. But the album and it's singles - "Ten More Minutes", "No Communicaton" and "Sugar Daddy" - made little impact and they officially split soon after. All three men have remained active in the music scene, but nothing has been heard from Princessa again. Pity.

Video for How To Dance

Video for Borrowed Love

Download The Best Of Bingoboys

1 How To Dance
2 Get Up
3 Borrowed Love
4 Welcome To The Love Connection
5 No Woman No Cry
6 The Dancer
7 Bla Bla
8 Adventures In Funk Space
9 Set The Mood

10 Hey D.J.

Video for Ten More Minutes

Alternate video for Ten More Minutes

Download Color Of Music

1 Ten More Minutes

2 Sugar Daddy

3 No Communication

4 That Girl

5 Knock Knock

6 Gimme Love

7 Peace Of Mind

8 Color Of Music

9 Logical

10 Get It Together

11 Magic Number

12 Discard After

Carol Medina - Secret Fantasy (1995)

Today I was fortunate enough to find this gem in my inbox on Discogs. A member saw it on my wanted list on here and very generously ripped it and sent it to me. Thank you again so much, eurodanceboy1, and I hope you won't mind if I share it on the Isle, as Ms. Medina fits the bill perfectly. Originally from Australia, a teenage Carol moved to Canada with her parents in the early 1980s. She got a job acting and singing at amusement park Canada's Wonderland and from there became a part of a USO troupe that toured Asia. There she met singer/songwriter James Collins and they began writing songs together, which led to her first independent single, "The Tears I Cry", in 1989, and then "So Good For You" in 1990. This led to a recording contract with Quality Records, and Carol reemerged in 1993 with the song "And The Song Goes". It got quite a bit of radio play and she made several television and club appearances. The momentum from this single made her subsequent releases, including "Tell Me You Love Me", "I Had A Dream" and "You Don't Know (Where My Lips Have Been)," hits in Canada as well. Most were remixed to fit the eurohouse sound booming in Canada's danceclubs at the time. But despite local success and award nominations, her popularity didn't spread beyond Canada, and the album went mostly unnoticed. It was produced by a host of Canadian dance music producers, who worked on other albums on the Isle by Manee, Jazmin, Debbie Johnson, Oval Emotion, Boyz N Girlz United, Monik Garo and Kim Esty. So if you like those albums, you'll like this.  While remaining in Toronto, she has continued to release songs sporadically since, including remakes of Shannon's "Let The Music Play" and the Wonder Woman TV show theme, as well as "One Day Of Kisses," "Are You Tempting Me?", "I'll Just Say Goodnight," "It Hurts Like Hell," "Johnny D," her ode to Johnny Depp, and most recently "Are You Messin' Around" in 2013.

(For Carol Medina maxi-singles, please visit my sister blog HERE)

Video for And The Song Goes (Doo Dit)

Video for You Don't Know (Where My Lips Have Been)

Video for I Had A Dream

Download Secret Fantasy

1		Secret Fantasy
2		Tell Me You Love Me (Ambient Mix)
3		And The Song Goes (Doo Dit)
4		I Had A Dream
5		Wait 'Til My Heart Finds Out
6		Love Me Just Enough
7		You Never Done It Like That
8		Sooner Or Later Medley
9		Story Story
10		Love Is On The Way
11		You Don't Know (Where My Lips Have Been)
12		I Had A Dream (L.A. Cool Mix)
13		Tell Me You Love Me (Riprock 'n' Dash Mix)
14		Secret Fantasy (Original NRG Mix)

Debbie Johnson - Just Like Magic (1988) & So Excited (1991) DOUBLE POST!!

By request, here is another 'lost' Canadian singer, Debbie Johnson. I was going to feature this album some time ago, but her daughter contacted me through Discogs about a year ago, praising me for submitting several of her mother's releases. I asked her to fill me in on her mother's current whereabouts, but unfortunately I never got a response. And then Isle fan Jarrett e-mailed me recently and asked if I had this album, so I just couldn't wait any longer. Debbie was born in Trinidad but moved to Toronto as a child with her musical family. She and her siblings formed Sweet Ecstasy and had a minor disco hit in Canada with "Pull Our Love Together". Then she hooked up with singer /producer / former Stampeder Rich Dodson in the mid-1980's (he also produced previous Isle postees Manee and Aashna, as well as Alanis' very first single as a child). She released the ballad "Mama Said Why" in 1986 on Dodson's tiny Marigold label. The single got a lot of local buzz and she received a Juno award nod. This led to the release two years later of the awesome funky album Just Like Magic, also on Marigold, as well as many other singles. She released another album on the label entitled Touch The Sky, but it is very rare. It was all enough to get her signed to a more established label, Aquarius, where she released So Excited. She was marketed as a dance singer, and the remixes of her first two singles, "I'll Respect You" and "Power To The People", became pretty ubiquitous on Canadian radio, as were the videos on Muchmusic. Also, like every other Canadian artist on the Isle, she was nominated for more Juno awards. But the buzz soon died down and Debbie appeared to leave the scene. It is rumoured that she continued behind the scenes as an engineer and producer, but there is no solid proof that it is the same Debbie Johnson. Her daughter Ashley informed me that she herself has started recording music, however, and directed me to her Myspace page. And I just discovered that Debbie herself has a Myspace page HERE, which indicates that she has a "Best Of" album coming out with a couple new tracks. But no one has logged in since December, so I guess we'll have to wait to see if that ever materializes.

Download Just Like Magic

1		Night Life
2		Right From The Start
3		Just My Imagination
4		Secret Love
5		Just Like Magic
6		Mama Said Why
7		Lonely Lovers
8		Because Of You
9		Walk Away
10		Dance With Me
11		Secret Confrontation

Video for I'll Respect You

Download So Excited

1		Power To The People
2		I'll Respect You
3		So Excited
4		If You Don't Call Back
5		Everlasting Love
6		Behind Closed Doors
7		Do It For The World
8		I Know You Very Well
9		Bad Business
10		Let Me Go
11		Missing You
12		Just A Little Love
13		Sun Doesn't Shine