Temper Temper - Temper Temper (1991)

Temper Temper was a British soul-pop duo consisting of beautiful vocalist Melanie Williams and musician/producer Eric Gooden, of house group Sweet Mercy. They originally released a freestyle single on Geffen called "Showdown" in 1987 as No Sovereign, but it was not a hit.  After they pursued a more soulful sound and renamed themselves Temper Temper, they were snatched up by Virgin Records, as their sound was in vogue at the time, thanks mainly to the popularity of acts like Lisa Stansfield and Soul II Soul and their dancey neo-soul sound. Their first single "Talk Much" was a minor hit in the UK and reached the Top 100 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip Hop chart. They also put in a bid for the theme song to the TV show Miami Vice with "Lovers And Gamblers", but lost out to Jan Hammer's now classic instrumental. Their follow-up singles "Don't Wanna Have To Ask You", "It's All Outta Lovin' You" and "Like We Used To" were met with a resounding silence, however. While the neo-soul sound was hot when they were signed, by the time they released the album and singles, the sound was on it's way out. A couple years later Melanie would hit the British top ten as the vocalist on Sub Sub's (who later found greater success as Doves) song "Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)". This led to a solo album in 1994 called Human Cradle, also produced by Gooden, and a more upbeat soul sound, and she released three singles that were very minor British pop hits, though the remixes garnered attention in the dance clubs. Gooden also kept active with Sweet Mercy and had a few dance club hits over the next few years. Nothing much more was heard from Melanie until 2001, when she formed the duo Darkflower with Gooden's friend and frequent collaborator Joe Roberts, whom Melanie had recorded a successful duet with and soon started dating. They then added a third member around 2006, Daniel Davidson, and pursued a more alterna-soul sound, renaming themselves Bodhi.

Video for Like We Used To

Video for It's All Outta Lovin' You

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1		Talk Much
2		First Impressions
3		Like We Used To
4		Temperance
5		Don't Wanna Have To Ask You
6		Happy Days
7		It's All Outta Lovin' You
8		Stop On By
9		Sweet As Can Be
10		Beg Or Plead

Banderas - Ripe (1991)

Banderas was a British duo comprised of vocalist Caroline Buckley and violinist/musician Sally Herbert. They formed after working with Jimmy Sommerville's group the Communards. Their one and only album was produced by American Stephen Hague, who had had huge success producing British synth bands like OMD, Pet Shop Boys, New Order and Erasure, among many others. The sound was very much in the vein of those - danceable, sometimes funky synth-pop, with some trip-hoppy slower numbers. The real difference is Caroline's vocals, which are both ethereal and soulful, and the lyrics, which are very positive and uplifting. The first single "This Is Your Life" (which samples the fabulous Grace Jones' "Crack Attack") was a top 20 pop hit in the UK and top 40 dance hit in the US. The follow-up singles "She Sells" and "May This Be Your Last Sorrow" did not fare nearly as well, and though the album made the British top 40, the duo was largely ignored. It's likely that their image, that of two older, shaven headed and very androgynous women, was not what the audience associated with or wanted from female dance artists at the time, the majority of which were very young and sexualized. The two continued to work with Sommerville, and Sally has appeared and several albums since, both playing violin and doing string arrangements. Caroline has kept a lower profile (though a girl with the same name appeared on the first season of Pop Idol in a classically bad performance). According to one site, Sally is working with Caroline on writing some new songs, so who knows, we may hear more from them still. For now, download this lovely album, especially if you like previous postees Waterlillies.

Video for This Is Your Life (UK Version)

Video for This Is Your Life (US Version)

Video for She Sells

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1		This Is Your Life
2		The Comfort Of Faith
3		May This Be Your Last Sorrow
4		First Hand
5		Why Aren't You In Love With Me?
6		She Sells
7		Too Good
8		Don't Let That Man
9		It's Written All Over My Face
10		Never Too Late

Eyra Gail - Eyra Gail (2002)

I posted a song on Lost Pop Treasures recently by La Rissa, and mentioned that a second single was released by the act, but with a different singer. Luckily a visitor, saffronfinch, knew exactly who that singer was and mentioned that she had an album. Of course, I had to order it immediately, and here it is! That singer was Florida native Eyra Gail, and that La Rissa song, "Someone To Love (Me)" is included on the album. Also included are her three other singles: "Heaven", "The Flame" and "Tell Me It's A Lie". All three are remakes. Her version of "Heaven", originally by Bryan Adams, was a trancey reinterpretation. Unfortunately DJ Sammy released his identical version at the same time. He ended up hitting the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 with his version, while Eyra had to settle for #3 on the Maxi-Singles Sales chart (no doubt aided by her version's similarity to DJ Sammy's). Her next single, "The Flame", was a dance remake of the Cheap Trick ballad, and it went mostly unnoticed. Her most exciting song, in my opinion, was her third single "Tell Me It's A Lie", and that's because it's a remake of the track by Isle postees Rumorz  (their album is posted here too) and it was also produced by their producer, freestyle legend Lewis Martinee! She sings the verses on her version differently, but it is still the same song about her man cheating on her...with another man! LOL This song also failed to get attention, unfortunately, and not much has been heard from her since except the single "Love Is On The Way" in 2006. But the album is a full on dance workout, with eurohouse, trance and freestyle sounds aplenty.

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1		Heaven
2		Tell Me It's A Lie
3		Give It To Me Straight
4		Someone To Love
5		The Flame
6		Missing You Tonight
7		River Of Tears
8		Why Did You Go
9		Dreams
10		I Like The Way (You Make Me Feel)
11		Written On My Body
12		I Gave You Everything
13		It's A Lie (DJ Infiniti Mix)
14		The Flame (DJ Fluid Radio Mix)