Anne/Ann G. - On A Mission (1989) & From The Heart (1991) DOUBLE POST!!

Here is another artist whose music is going to have to do the talking, as I cannot find a single thing out about her. It would help if I knew what the "G" stood for, but many searches have revealed nothing. The one thing I did uncover was that she was from Clarkston, Georgia and it was her friend Eddie Irons, who was formerly a member of funk group Brick, that helped her get signed to Atlantic Records. She wrote and produced the album herself with assistance from Irons. The album is a very danceable, funky affair, comparable to albums by contemporaries like Pebbles and Cherrelle, if not better, especially considering her intimate involvement with creating it. Her first single, "If She Knew", was an instant urban hit, making the Billboard R&B Top 20. The follow-up "Heart Donor" also visited the R&B charts, but was not near as successful. The final single "Love's Here" failed to chart. That seemed the end of Ms. G, until two years later, when she returned with braided hair, a smoother sound and, for reasons unknown, the 'e' missing from her first name. The music was still funky, and Irons also assisted, but the album was much shorter and contained many more ballads. The first single, the Soul II Soul-ish "Get A Life", made a minor dent on the urban charts, as did it's follow-up, the ballad "Hassle Free", but the final release, "One Step (Closer To Heaven)" did not. And then Ann/e was gone. If anyone has any info on this lady, please let me know, as she had a great deal of talent and should have had much more success than she did. At least we can celebrate her a little bit here and give her the recognition she deserves.

UPDATE: Thanks to Michael, it has been revealed that her full name is Angela D. Irons, so obviously she married Eddie. Still can't find out anything more, though... But of course, Consolecharlie/Dream101 did! She is now working as a producer and songwriter for GBM Publishing. Go HERE for a little blurb and recent photo! Thanks, boys, knew I could count on you. ;)

Video for If She Knew

Download On A Mission

1		If She Knew
2		Mission
3		Heart Donor
4		Love's Here
5		Do You Love Too Much?
6		Give Me All Your Lovin'
7		Rain
8		Love At Dawn
9		Your Eyes Say It
10		Good Girls Wear Black
11		Time's Up

Video for Hassle Free

Download From The Heart

1		Get A Life
2		Where Will You Be
3		All I See Is You
4		One Step (Closer To Heaven)
5		I Can't Get With It
6		Hassle Free
7		Love Me For Me
8		Heroes

Fan Club - Respect The Beat (1990)

Ccsuperchris, your wish is my command! LOL Thanks to your request, here is Fan Club. I confess that I do not have this album on CD and had to piece it together through the internet, but I do have it on cassette and used to listen to it quite a bit. I haven't heard most of these songs since this came out, and I must say that it's aged well. In North America, Fan Club were a flash in the pan, and I never really knew anything about them until recently, when looking for info on them for another website. They formed in New Zealand in the late 1980s. The boys in the band were looking for a lead singer and they happened upon Aishah, a Malaysian studying abroad. Her looks and voice were a perfect fit for their pop sound. They soon released an album, Sensation, in 1988 (as The Fan Club). It was produced by locals and became a big hit in New Zealand and Malaysia, and spawned three top 20 singles there: "Sensation", "Paradise" and "Call Me". They released their second album, Respect The Beat, a year later, and it was also a hit, spawning three more hit singles: "I Feel Love", "Never Gave Up On You" and "Don't Let Me Fall Alone". This last song ended up being the biggest selling single of all time in New Zealand. Their success drew the attention of Epic Records in North America. Their sound was very of the moment, similar to dance pop songs hitting there by the likes of Paula Abdul. It was also produced by hot pop producer of the moment, Mark Berry (likely best known on the Isle for working with Alisha), and was much more dance oriented. Epic quickly issued "Don't Let Me Fall Alone" as the first single, and it was a dance hit and even managed to make it into the Billboard Hot 100, at #99. (Incidentally, Maria Christensen also recorded this song for her solo album, also featured on the Isle. ;) However, the other two songs from the album that were released to great success in New Zealand were ignored when released in North America, as was one last single, "Colour Me Blue". Though the group won the International Top Performer award at the NZ Music Awards, they disintegrated soon after their failure abroad. One member, Paul Moss, would end up going on to greater fame as a judge in two popular Malaysian talent contests, Malaysian Idol and One In A Million. Aishah also maintained (and still maintains) a very successful career in Malaysia, singing in her native language, Malay.

Video for Don't Let Me Fall Alone

Video for Never Gave Up On You

Video for I Feel Love

Alternate Video for I Feel Love

For videos from their first album, go HERE

Download Respect The Beat

1		I Feel Love
2		Don't Let Me Fall Alone
3		Never Gave Up On You
4		Back On Track
5		I Need You
6		That's The Way Love Is
7		Don't Mess With Me
8		There For You
9		Color Me Blue
10		I Don't Need A Lover

Bardeux - Bold As Love (1988) & Shangri-La (1989) DOUBLE POST!!

I'm sure that most fans of the Isle know of the dynamic duo Bardeux. They epitomize the essence of this blog, pop tarts who lingered in the lower regions of many charts, yet they managed a bigger profile than many of their contemporaries. Of course, it helped that they followed the success of Stacey Q, whose writers and producers wrote and produced both of their albums. The first album is pure Stacey, a Hi-NRG masterpiece. Though they began as Acacia (Stacy Smith) and Tairrie B. (Theresa Beth), releasing their first single "Three Time Lover" to dance chart success, Tairrie soon bitterly left the group. Her interests lied in entirely different music, and she would go on to work with hip hop maestro Easy E and release the unsuccessful gangsta-rap album Power Of A Woman in 1990. (Likely to be featured here in the future. ;) On the track "Ruthless Bitch" she disses Acacia, the group, their styles and their producer Jon St. James. (It was this song that made me realize that she was indeed the same Tairrie B!) After that failed, she ended up fronting the nu-metal-ish band Manhole (later renamed Tura Satana after the lead actress in movie classic Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!). Then she moved on to even harder music fronting My Ruin (personally, I'm a huge fan of all of her incarnations). Anyway, I digress. She was replaced by Jaz (Lisa Teaney) and they released their first album, Bold As Love, with the fabulous single "Magic Carpet Ride" reaching the Billboard Hot 100 and much higher on the dance chart. The next single, the moody, whispery "When We Kiss", which was considered their response to LL Cool J's "I Need Love", hit the Billboard Top 40, and was their greatest success. The singles "Bleeding Heart" and "Hold Me Hold Me" followed, to diminishing returns. With the Hi-NRG sound quickly becoming passé, St. James looked for new inspiration, and he found it in house and funk music, a sound which suited them equally as well, IMO. Jaz departed the group for reasons unknown (though my guess is that they needed a singer with more soul to compliment their new sound - and she hasn't been heard from since), and soul sister Melanie Taylor was her replacement. The single "I Love To Bass" became their next Billboard Top 100 charter and a dance sensation, thanks mostly to remixes by David Morales, and the album soon followed. The next single was "Thumbs Up", which also hit the dance charts. The third single "Shangri-La", however, barely made it onto the dance chart, and the group apparently ran their course. The only other Bardeux track since was "Be My Man", which appeared on a Thump Records compilation in 1994 and 'featured' Acacia. Melanie went on to work extensively with Bette Midler as a "Harlette" and has continued doing backing vocals and making pop-jazz music independently (her website). Acacia has been much more elusive. Thanks to the brilliant Bomitoni and his recent fab interview with Stacey Q, we do know that the two are still friends and Acacia is alive and well, but alas no music seems forthcoming. However, the early Bardeux sound has made a huge resurgence in recent years thanks to acts like Sally Shapiro and Annie, and Stacey Q is on the cusp of what is sure to be a brilliant come-back, so is a rebirth of Bardeux really that preposterous to imagine? Keep your fingers and toes crossed!!!

Video for Magic Carpet Ride

Video for When We Kiss

Video for Bleeding Heart

Download Bold As Love

1		Magic Carpet Ride
2		Three Time Lover
3		Caution
4		Bleeding Heart
5		You're My Only Kind Of Lover
6		Hold Me, Hold Me
7		Dancing In The Wind
8		Sex Machine
9		When We Kiss

Video for I Love The Bass

Video for Thumbs Up

Download Shangri-La

1		Nervous
2		Now Or Never
3		Thumbs Up
4		Just Say The Word
5		You Can Rock My Body
6		I Love To Bass
7		One Last Kiss
8		Shangri-La
9		Now I've Got Your Number
10		Hardline

Leomoon - Leomoon (1999)

Here is another of those mysterious bands that appeared in the late 1990s, when there seemed to be an explosion of electronic acts influenced by the likes of Portishead and Everything But The Girl. Leomoon consisted of three members: singer Erin Moran (no, not Joannie from Happy Days), musician and producer Stephen Harris, and DJ Sae 1. Their music is indeed very much like earlier Everything But The Girl, but with a lot more trip hop and lots of samples and scratches thanks to the enigmatic DJ Sae 1. The album was released on the indie American label Topaz, and they managed only one single, "Frequency". It went unnoticed and the three obviously decided not to pursue any further music together. But Stephen Harris was already an established producer and engineer before the group formed, and he has continued as such, working with acts like U2 and Dave Matthews. Erin Moran took on the moniker A Girl Called Eddy and released a highly acclaimed self-titled album in 2004 that harkened back to the 60's soul-pop of Dusty Springfield. She is said to be releasing another album under that moniker this year. As for DJ Sae 1, it is likely he is still involved in music, probably using his real name, whatever that is. But this album, though it encompasses a sound that was then very fresh but is now somewhat dated, still remains a fond tribute to a very particular style and time in music, and it deserves more attention than it received the first time around.

Download Leomoon

1		Intro
2		Frequency Part 1
3		Stay
4		Jeremy's Least Unweak
5		Jesus Boots
6		Freebyrd
7		The Orchid
8		It's You
9		Leaving California
10		Always Tomorrow
11		Frequency Part 2
99		Final Outro

Collette - Raze The Roof (1989)

By extremely popular demand, I give you the first album by Australian pop tart Collette. I had unfortunately never heard of this '80s/'90s pop dynamo until this year, as her music never made it over the ocean to North America, but once I got a taste of her talents, I needed this album ASAP! I almost had my hands on a CD copy of it on eBay for a steal, but some loser ended up outbidding me at the last second and got it. :( But just last week, the fabulous Aaron Halliwell, knowing my desperate need for it, was kind enough to rip it for me, and here we are!! So thanks for this must really be given to him. And for an in depth exposé on the lovely Collette and her illustrious body of work from someone who grew up with her music, I direct to you to the always fascinating Pop Trash Addicts and their very recent post on this lost pop goddess HERE. For my part, I am so sorry that I missed this album when it was released. I would have died over it, as the majority of it has an acid house sound, which I adored (and still do). I remember when the acid house mix of Mandy Smith's "Victim Of Pleasure" drove me wild back in the day. Well, imagine a whole album of it!!! Pure bliss!!!! So go ahead and indulge in the pleasures of Ms. Collette Roberts, won't you?

Video for Ring My Bell

Video for All I Wanna Do Is Dance

Download Raze The Roof

1		That's What I Like About You
2		Ring My Bell
3		You Ain't Gonna Hold Me Back
4		Victim Of The Groove
5		Push
6		All I Wanna Do Is Dance
7		Ordinary Man
8		Party Time
9		Only You Can Do It
10		Hothouse
11		Save Yourself

Starz!? - Party (2000)

I discovered this group when I bought a used copy of their single "Heaven's On Fire", hoping desperately it was a remake of the Kiss track, which blessedly it was! They were then known as just Star, and their image combined with one of my fave songs (no, I'm not joking) assured me that the song would be a cheesetastic classic! And I was not disappointed, especially since it was remixed into an awesome dance mix. I posted that single on Lost Pop Treasures HERE. Thanks to that post, the awesome Magnuna, who runs the equally awesome Norwegian Music blog, sent me their entire album, entitled Party. I didn't expect to ever hear anything else from them and only found out years after I bought the single that they changed their name to Starz!? (due to legal issues with their original name) and released an album (in Europe only). And thanks to Magnuna, here it is! I can't tell you much about the group themselves. I know that they are Swedish and consisted of four lovely and bizarrely dressed young ladies: Irene Nord, Mia Johnsson, Selma Yasitli and Lotta Josefsson. I did manage to find one site with info on them, but since I am not Swedish and any translation service I use doesn't properly translate the site, I couldn't tell you what it reveals. But HERE it is if you do know Swedish. ;) From the pics I gathered a couple of them also posed nude at one point... Anyway, it's about the music. If you've heard the original mix of "Heaven's On Fire", which was a hit in Sweden, then expect much more of the same. They are like a mix of the Spice Girls and Abba, if they sang in mostly growls and used A LOT of guitar. I'm guessing that was their gimmick to differentiate them from the million other girl groups at the time. They released a couple more singles, a remake of Sweet's "Wig Wam Bam" and the original "This Is My Life", and the album includes a cover of Skid Row's "I Remember You". Though Magnuna claimed to see them open for the Backstreet Boys, obviously their gimmick didn't work and they very quickly ceased to be. But thankfully they left perhaps one of the cheesiest pop-rock dance albums in their wake for us all to enjoy, or something like that. ;)

Video for Heaven's On Fire

Download Party

1		The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
2		This Is My Life
3		God Save Us
4		Fish Out Of Water
5		I Remember You
6		Hey You (What's Your Name)
7		Wig-Wam Bam
8		Girls They Like To Party
9		I Got The Look
10		Air
11		Heaven's On Fire
12		Score
13		God Damn It Move

Sara Lee - Make It Beautiful (2000)

Sara Lee had been around for a long time in the music scene before she finally released her sole solo album. Though involved in music from a young age in her native Britain, she took a job as a secretary for Polydor Records while also honing her bass playing skills. She was discovered at Polydor by Robert Fripp, who asked her to join his experimental band The League Of Gentlemen in 1980. After one album with the group, Sara was asked to replace Dave Allen in popular post-punk band Gang Of Four. But after only one album with that group, she decided to leave and continued working as a session and live musician for acts like the Indigo Girls, the Thompson Twins and, most notably, the B52's, with whom she appeared in the "Love Shack" video. She eventually hooked up with riot grrl Ani Difranco in 1996 and toured with her as well. This led to Ani signing Sara to her Righteous Babe label, on which she released her album. The album failed to make an impact, though it contains pleasant, trippy pop songs. Vocally Sara isn't the strongest, but the music is very tight and funky. Undeterred, she's continued on as a session and live musician, for acts like Fiona Apple, Joan Osborne and Difranco. She is also rumoured to have (or have had) a relationship with a possible future Isle addition, Gail Ann Dorsey, who is best known as David Bowie's longtime bassist, which is a match made in bass heaven...

Download Make It Beautiful

1		Make It Beautiful
2		Grace
3		Traffic
4		My Way
5		I'll Wait For You
6		Gone
7		Hood Over Hood
8		Thin Ice
9		Come Round
10		All Cried Out

Simply Majestic - The Album: We United To Do Dis (1991)

This album by Canadian Simply Majestic is more of a compilation than an actual artist album. It indicates on the cover that Simply Majestic (who is one man, Anthony Bond) is 'introducing' these acts. He also had a hand in most of the songs, mostly in writing, production and mixing. But the tracks are credited to a variety of mostly Canadian artists and producers, namely Brothers From The Ghetto, Frank Morell, Porsha-Lee, B-Kool, MC A-Okay, Point Blank, The Boys Of The Greenhouse, The Forbidden Ones and The Russian Prince. Where these acts came from and where they went after this is anyone's guess. There is also vocal assistance from minor house divas Gillian Mendez and Alisha Warren. As a collective they made a very danceable hip-house album. It is comparable to music by contempories like C&C Music Factory and Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch (and better and more varied, IMO). The first single and video was for "Dance To The Music", which featured rapper B-Kool. The video got a lot of play on Muchmusic. The next single and video was for the much poppier (and best song on the album IMO) "Destiny", featuring the lovely-ish Porsha-Lee, with a rap from B-Kool. This is the track that most Isle fans will be particularly fond of. This video also got quite a bit of play on Muchmusic, and the song got significant radio airplay. But even though the album was released on a major label, Capitol, it appears there was no real push for it outside of Canada. Everyone involved in the project soon disappeared back into obscurity. Simply Majestic did release a couple more singles a couple of years later ("DJs Put This In The Mix" and "Let The Rhythm Take Control"), and some of the other contributors like Frank Morell and B-Kool released an indie single or two, but for the most part everyone's musical high point was this album. It is likely that many of these people are still active in dance and hip hop music in Canada, but likely behind the scenes and using their real names. Whatever the case, enjoy a dance workout that's Simply Majestic!

Video for Destiny

Download The Album: We United To Do Dis

1	Play The Music DJ
2	Not The Way
3	New Generation
4	Destiny
5	We Can Make It Now
6	Tension
7	DJ's No Alternative (DJ's Go Wild)
8	Dance To The Music
9	Move The Groove
10	Smile
11	Somebody In The House Say Ya
12	Keep On Dancing
13	Kool And Deadly