Midi, Maxi & Efti - Midi, Maxi & Efti (1992)

Midi, Maxi & Efti were a very curious and very brief pop act from the early 1990s. It consisted of three 16 year old African girls, twin sisters Midi & Maxi Berhanu from Ethiopia and Freweyni "Efti" Teclehaimanot from Eritrea. Separately the twins and Efti moved to Sweden with their parents, and they lived and met in the same Stockholm suburb. Somehow they were discovered by Alexander Bard, then best known as the mastermind behind bizarre pop group Army Of Lovers. He and his partner in crime Anders Wollbeck (they would eventually form the group Vacuum together) decided to write and produce an album for the girls, even though they displayed no vocal talent whatsoever. LOL But with fellow Swede act Dr. Alban having success with his ragga-pop and Ace Of Base, also Swedes, getting ready to release their equally catchy (and soon to be popular) reggae-pop, the climate seemed right for just such an act, and the girls were cute to boot! The single "Bad Bad Boys" was released to limited success in Sweden. But that success was apparently enough to get the attention of Columbia Records in the US, who signed them immediately, as unlikely as that would seem. The track got some attention in North America thanks to it's inclusion on the Beavis & Butthead television show and the soundtrack for the movie Untamed Heart. Another single, "Masenko", was featured on the soundtrack for the Michael J. Fox film For Love Or Money. They released a third single, "Ragga Steady", but it, like their other singles and album, remained a novelty, and the girls soon broke up after a quick tour. All I can find of their whereabouts now is that Midi & Maxi live in England, and Efti is still in Sweden, getting ready to release a solo album! We can only hope!

Video for Bad Bad Boys (Version1)

Video for Bad Bad Boys (Version 2)

Video for Ragga Steady

Download Midi, Maxi & Efti

1		Ragga Steady
2		Poppadink Tribe
3		Masenko
4		Basement Boyfriend
5		I Got Riddim
6		Go Girlie Go
7		Culture Of Youth
8		Bad Bad Boys
9		Jamma On Da Savannah
10		You Can Make It
11		Sisterhood Of Africa
12		Ragga Steady Dub

Lisa Lougheed - Evergreen Nights (1988), World Love (1991) & Peace + Harmony (1993) TRIPLE POST!!

By popular demand, I present Lisa Lougheed, a Canadian pop singer who had brief success in her native land and then seemed to turn her back on it. As a young teenager, Lisa was chosen to be the voice of Lisa Raccoon, one of the main characters on the soon-to-be popular cartoon series The Raccoons from the mid 1980's. The theme song of that show, "Run With Us", was a huge hit with its young Canadian audience. (I must confess, I had never heard the song until recently, as I was too old to get into the cartoon. But after reading about the track, I downloaded it out of curiousity. Little did I know that several of my friends, who are quite a bit younger than me, would go absolutely insane with pleasure when this track randomly came on on my computer!) That track, as well as several others from the show (which were originally recorded by another Canadian pop singer, Luba), were pulled together and released on an indie label in 1988 as Evergreen Nights under Lisa's name (and for which she was nominated for her first Juno award, as Most Promising Female Vocalist). Lisa wouldn't get a major label deal until a few years later, and her first proper solo album, World Love, was released in 1991. Her sound had changed from new-wavey pop-rock to more soulful dance-pop, a la her contemporary, the pre-Jagged Little Pill Alanis! The title single was a success on the Canadian pop and dance charts, as was it's follow-up, "Love Vibe". Both songs were nominated the same year for the Juno for Best Dance Recording (though neither won). On the album she had worked with local unknown producers Darrin + Tone Z, and it's success had remained limited to the Canadian market. But on Peace + Harmony, in what most definitely was an attempt to break her into the international market, she was produced by world-renowned house and R&B producers such as Mike "Hitman" Wilson, David Morales (who here produced her remake of Cheryl Lynn's disco classic "
Got To Be Real"), Andy Marvel and Christopher Max. The Hitman-produced track "I Won't Give Up My Music" was the first single, and it was also nominated for, but did not win, a Juno. (Go HERE for the maxi-single.) But the track didn't make much of an impact outside of Canada, and the more downtempo follow-up "Little Things" did not maintain the momentum. Lisa disappeared from the spotlight after that, and has only popped up as a session singer since. There is a Myspace fan page for her, and there it claims that she now lives in Chicago with her husband Johnny Rutledge and son. I wonder if perhaps my dear Chicagoan friend Bunny might want to do some investigating on her for us there, hmmm? ;)

**UPDATE: Lisa is alive and well and indeed living in Chicago. She is also now my Facebook friend! :) Haven't heard back from her as to what she's up to currently, though from her profile it appears that she is still involved in music, fortunately.

Video for Run With Us

Download Evergreen Nights

1 Run With Us
2 Ain't No Planes
3 Here I Go Again (feat. Curtis King Jr.)
4 Stop The Clock
5 Stephen Lunt - Don't Fear The Fire
6 Growing Up
7 All Life Long (feat. Curtis King Jr.)
8 Hold Back Tomorrow
9 Curtis King Jr. - New World

Video for Love Vibe

Video for World Love

Video for Love You By Heart

Live performance of Love Vibe

Download World Love

1		Better 4 Me
2		World Love
3		Change Takes Time
4		Love Vibe
5		Real Time
6		Intimidate
7		Lead Me On
8		Love Me One More Time
9		Love You By Heart
10		A Long Time

Video for Won't Give Up My Music

Download Peace + Harmony

1		I Won't Give Up My Music
2		What'Cha Gonna Do?
3		You Remain (On My Mind)
4		Peace + Harmony
5		Got To Be Real
6		Little Things
7		Kiss N' Tell
8		Just Be My Friend
9		Closer To You
10		Days Of Sunshine

Double Z - In Z Mood (1992)

Here's another CD I got in a big dollar bin blowout. I had never heard of Double Z, but her name, image and album title screamed out that I must own it. And it was a pleasant surprise! A real catchy pop-funk concoction (with some house flavour) that would fit nicely beside anything by Pebbles, Cherrelle or any better known 1990s pop/R&B diva. Of course, the music spoke for itself, but who IS Double Z, the lady? Recently my research revealed that she is Lizz Chisholm. She was primarily known as a bass player, touring with artists such as Grandmaster Flash, Natalie Cole, Chaka Khan and Zhane. But on this, her only solo album, she proved to also be an accomplished vocalist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. The album was produced by Trevor Gale and Kenni Hairston, who also worked with Sybil and Vanessa Williams, among others. The singles "Hott Spot" and "Bored 2 Tears" were released to little fanfare, and her label apparently did little to promote her (in Canada at least, since, as I say, I'd never heard of her and I was all over R&B divas in the 1990s!). There is no reason that she should not have been huge, especially considering that she was much more than just a vocalist, and hot-looking to boot! She does continue to work on her own music, thankfully, and performs at gigs that, in her own words, "pays me my worth!" She also tours with her "strip-hop" act Double-Z and Just 4 Sex. She has a Myspace page as well HERE. Despite her lack of success as a solo artist, she proves as so many Isle artists have that you cant keep a good woman down!

UPDATE: In case ya'll miss it in the comments, Ms Z HERSELF just wrote me and thanked me for this post! What a thrill!!! Here is her exact comment. Love ya, lady!

"YO! Double-Z here! Yeah, THAT Double-Z. I just found this and think it's just fabulous that you found In Z Mood and gave it and me rave reviews! I want to thank you so much 4 that! Of course, it was record company politics that kept it and me from getting where I wanted to go, but... C'est La Vie! I now write and play funky music for TV shows like EXTRA and TMZ. So, I'm cool! Thanks again my friend! Bass,Double-Z"

Download In Z Mood

1		Welcome To Z Parté
2		Girl In Your Dreams
3		Hott Spot
4		Get U Alone
5		Let's Get Serious
6		Say Please
7		Back 2 Basics
8		We Got To Love Each Other
9		In His Eyes
10		4 You
11		It's No Secret
12		Victim Of Love
13		Play
14		Bored 2 Tears (Remix)
15		In Z Mood

Blue Pearl - Blue Pearl (1990)

Chances are that you have heard Blue Pearl's brilliant debut single "Naked In The Rain", as it was a top ten dance hit on Billboard's dance chart and a top ten pop hit in the UK and Australia. It's gurgling techno-house sound combined with Durga McBroom's deep and soulful vocals was one of the highlights of dance music in the early 1990s. McBroom was an American singer whose biggest success was as a back-up singer for Pink Floyd, both on their later albums and on tour. She hooked up with famed Brit producer Youth (aka Martin Glover) who, up until then, had been part of Stock-Aitken-Waterman pop group Brilliant and had produced many artists, the most successful being Yazz. They originally released "Naked In The Rain" as Rubin Red, but soon changed their name to the more pleasing Blue Pearl. The success of the track led to a self-titled album, known as Naked in the UK, on Big Life (also Yazz' label). Together they created a unique sound which incorporated the techno elements popular at the time, but was also infused with soul. Most of the tracks are mid-tempo and also utilize hip hop elements throughout, but there are also deep house moments, such as "Naked In The Rain" and their remake of Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill". Unfortunately the follow-up singles "Little Brother" and "Alive", and the album itself, failed on the charts, probably because they were much more downtempo than their exciting first single. All was not lost, however, as a brand new track, "(Can You) Feel The Passion" (which was basically a vocal version of the Bizarre Inc. techno rave hit "Playing With Knives") brought them to the top of the Billboard dance charts a year later. Only one more less successful single, "Mother Dawn", was released by the duo, however, and a second album never came. Other than that, McBroom used the name while doing lead vocals on track by Jungle High in 1993, and a successful remix of "Naked In The Rain" was released in 1998, and that was it. Youth would go on to great success working with acts like The Orb, Bananarama, Billy Idol, Killing Joke and Client, while McBroom did some acting and continued to tour and record with Pink Floyd. The two briefly reformed as Blue Lotus in the late 1990s/early 2000s for a couple tracks, so perhaps we haven't seen the end of this union quite yet...

UPDATE: Durga McBroom herself just wrote and schooled me on Blue Pearl's history! Sorry I got some of it wrong, Durga, but when I posted this there was much less info available on the internet than there is now. I'm thrilled that you visited and took the time to correct this entry! Can't wait for more new music, especially your work with another Isle postee, Annabella! (And FYI, I got the Rubin Red reference from an entry on Discogs. ;) Here is Durga's message:

"This is Durga McBroom. While I appreciate the kudos, you have gotten a lot of this wrong. Allow me to make some clarifications . . .

1. Youth was originally known for being the bass player for Killing Joke, an influential punk band. Shortly thereafter he had a stint with Brilliant. This part is correct.

Where you got the idea we released "Naked In The Rain" initially as Rubin Red is baffling to me. I came up with the name Blue Pearl from my spiritual beliefs, and Youth agreed. I bought the rights to the name, which is why I can still use it. WAU Mr. Modo di put it out first, and then Big Life Records bought it.

The second album WAS recorded, and "Can You Feel The Passion" was intended to be the kick-off single. Due to artistic differences and budget restraints, the CD was never released. I asked for and was granted a release from my contract from Big Life.

Since then, I have done one film I think (Phoenix Point - small independent film), and I was the one who worked with Billy Idol on "Cyberpunk", including a duet of "Mother Dawn". I have since recorded new Blue Pearl tracks and expect to slam you with some blinding stuff this year (2011). Watch for a duet with me and Annabella Lwin (Bow Wow Wow), coming out SOON."

(For the maxi-single of their non-album track "(Can You) Feel The Passion", please visit my sister blog HERE.)

Video for Naked In The Rain

Video for Alive

Video for Little Brother

Download Blue Pearl

1		Naked In The Rain
2		Down To You
3		Chemical Thing
4		I Never Knew
5		Running Up That Hill
6		Little Brother
7		Alive
8		Rollover
9		Without Love
10		Over You
11		Chemical Thing (Ambient Mix)
12		Rollover (Acapella)

Orchestra JB - Tambourine Fever (1991)

Orchestra JB was an alias of Jimmy Brown, a British DJ and musician. In the late 1980s he recorded a few house tracks, such as "On A Love Groove", for indie labels under the moniker. The track "Free Spirit", which was based on samples from various sources, became a fave of the rave crowd. It's follow-up, "Come Alive", garnered even more attention and praise, even though it was a downtempo track. It was favoured as a chillout track at the end of raves, along with tracks by the likes of The Orb and Massive Attack. A remix featuring the same hip hop baseline utilized by Madonna that same year in "Justify My Love" was it's most popular mix. On the track, Miss Bliss (better known as Sister Bliss from Faithless) spits a smooth rap, while singer Lydia Steinman provides soulful vocals. The song utilized a lot of harmonica, as well as other horns and acoustic elements. This song would serve as the blueprint for the whole album, which is mostly down-or-mid-tempo and utilizes actual instruments (most prevalently harmonica and, of course, tambourine) as well as electronics, with Steinman providing most of the vocals. A major label, EastWest, snatched the act up and wanted more of the same over an entire album. If you're looking for something to chill out to, look no further. But it can wear thin, and the rave crew didn't exactly embrace the album, which would be the only one from Orchestra JB. There is no sign of Jimmy Brown or Lydia Steinman anywhere on the internet, though, as with most of the acts on the Isle, we can assume they are still working in music to some degree.

Download Tambourine Fever

1		Greetings To The Riptide Moon
2		Come Alive
3		This Is Frightening
4		Drowse
5		Burn The Sky
6		Free Spirit
7		Lunar Beach
8		Pleasure Head
9		Up Before Dawn
10		Wide Open Space Cowboy
11		Blow Your Head Forever

The Daou - Head Music (1992)

Vanessa Daou is one of my favourite artists of all time. Her music is sexy, trippy and cool, as is her voice and image. She entered the art world as a dancer, earning a scholarship at Columbia University, and also delved into poetry. She emerged as a music artist in the late 1980s after hooking up with future husband Peter Daou, a producer and musician. Together they recorded demos that caught the attention of small New York label Nugroove. They recorded primarily deep house tracks under several monikers including Vandal, DTR, Critical Rhythm and Club Z. These tracks made Columbia Records notice and sign them. They released this album as The Daou to much critical praise, but little sales. However, the only single from the album, "Surrender Yourself", was remixed by Danny Tenaglia and hit #1 on the Billboard dance chart. Creative differences made them part ways with the label and they released a couple more tracks independently as The Daou, both of which were huge dance chart successes. In 1994 Vanessa signed with MCA records as a solo artist and released two albums on the label, and had remixes of two songs hit #1 on the Billboard dance chart, "Sunday Afternoons" and "Two To Tango". In 1997 she left the label and released three more albums independently, the last in 2000. Thankfully she finally re-emerged last year with a new album. Her music is jazzy, soulful, often very danceable and has many electronic flourishes, including deep bass, house, drum 'n bass and trip hop elements. It is absolutely gorgeous music, with Vanessa's husky whisper of a voice singing and speaking directly to you. The Daou album, however, is not one of my faves. I actually had to buy it twice, as I had bought it around when it was released and didn't like it one bit, so I sold it. Then when I discovered and fell in love with Vanessa as a solo artist, I had to hunt it down again, thinking I missed something. But while I like it a lot more now than I did then, it is still not as good as her solo stuff IMO (most of which Peter also produced). It is a bit less rich and electronic as her solo stuff, more rock-based, but it still has the jazz and soul elements, and if you like it, then you'll ADORE her solo work.

Video for Surrender Yourself

Download Head Music

1		Surrender Yourself
2		Skin Deep
3		Sympathy Bouquet
4		Solitaire
5		Never Ending Winter
6		Figure In The Sand
7		Her Universe
8		What Are You Guilty Of?
9		The Way