Regina - Curiosity (1986)

Isle visitor Luvsong just mentioned in my C-Box that they were surprised that I had not yet featured Regina, the "one hit wonder" and "Madonna wannabe" of the 1980s. Well, I have a policy not to post any album that I can find easily on the web or that has been posted on my affiliate blogs. That used to be the case with this album, but currently it is hard to find on the internet. I did manage to find one obscure download of it however, so here we are! Regina did indeed only have one major hit, "Baby Love", that managed to hit the Billboard Top 10, and the song was produced by Madonna regular Stephen Bray. In fact, Regina wrote the song with Bray with Madonna in mind, but Madge passed, so they recorded it. Her vocals were very Madonna-esque, and the comparisons were inevitable. But Regina had in fact recorded an album many years before Madonna in 1981 on A&M, Regina Richards And Red Hot. It was produced by Richard Gottehrer, who had produced the likes of the Go-Gos and Blondie, and the sound was very much like those groups. After Regina Richards And Red Hot failed to hit, Regina decided she wanted to concentrate on songwriting, but once Madonna rejected "Baby Love", Regina was again thrust in the spotlight. There is no denying that "Baby Love" hit because of the Madonna comparison (I, like many, though it WAS Madonna the first time I heard it), and even Regina herself must have realized it. Her vocals on the album are very similar to Madonna's, but weren't so much on the Regina Richards And Red Hot album. The rest of the album is also very Madonna-esque, though it was produced by Leslie Ming, formerly of disco group B.T. Express (and I must confess, I was always pretty indifferent to it, but listening to it now, it's quite good!). Alas, neither of her follow-up singles, "Beat Of Love" and "Head On", got any attention. Undeterred, Regina began work on a second album for Atlantic, and concentrated on a new, more alternative sound. Atlantic wasn't having it and she was dropped, but not before the single "Extraordinary Love" made a dent on the Billboard dance charts in 1988. She made one more independent freestyle single, "Track You Down", and then apparently left the record industry to concentrate on being a mom and is now known as Regina Lee. With the whole 80s revival still going on, however, she should definitely make a comeback. (Oh, and I just realized my dear Bunny also featured her on his blog HERE. Please check it out!)

Video for Baby Love

Live performance of Beat Of Love

Download Curiosity

1		Sentimental Love
2		Beat Of Love
3		Say Goodbye
4		Baby Love
5		Head On
6		Love Time
7		Bring Me All Your Love
8		Curiosity
9		Just Like You

Bizarre Inc - Energique (1992) & Surprise (1996) DOUBLE POST!!

Bizarre Inc. began as a duo in 1989 that helped bridge the gap between the existing acid house and the emerging techno sound. Composed of Brit DJs Dean Meredith and Mark Archer, they recorded some 12" singles and an EP for an indie label. Archer left early on and was replaced by two more DJs, Andrew Meecham and Carl Turner. The trio released a 12" single on another indie with the tracks "Bizarre Theme" and "X-Static", songs which appealed to the rave crowd. They then released the song "Playing With Knives" in 1991 and their career blew up. The track almost hit the British top 40 and was a dance hit around the world. After their next single, "Such A Feeling", hit the Brit top 20, "Playing With Knives" was re-released to even greater success, hitting the British top 10. This attracted interest from major labels. At the same time, Blue Pearl, who are also featured on the Isle, released "Can You Feel The Passion", which was based on "Playing With Knives", to great success (the single is posted on my sister blog Lost Pop Treasures ;). Perhaps Blue Pearl's version convinced the trio that their music was even better with original vocals, because they hooked up with soulful British singer Angie Brown and released a more mainstream house single, "I'm Gonna Get You". The combination proved to be explosive and the song made the Brit top 3. Columbia Records noted this success and snatched the group up for international distribution. "I'm Gonna Get You" became an international hit, almost reaching the Billboard Top 40 and hitting number one on the dance charts. This was followed with another song featuring Angie Brown, "Took My Love", which also reached number one on the dance charts, and an album. The third single, "Love In Motion", featuring singer Yvonne Yanney, also managed to hit the dance charts, but the momentum was dying. The rest of the album consisted of mostly instrumental or sampled tracks, which wasn't what the fans expected after hearing the big hits. It took the trio three more years after their last single from Energique to release another album. Realizing that their great success came with the introduction of Angie Brown and vocals, the album was much more vocal-based. They hired Brown on full time, though she was more involved with the songwriting and background vocals, as the majority of songs were sang by another singer (whose name I cannot seem to find on the internet - anyone?). Unfortunately for Bizarre Inc, the time away from the scene wasn't to their benefit, as their sound changed drastically from edgy techno-laced house to a more soulful, pop sound. Though the three singles, "Surprise", "Get Up (Sunshine Street)" and "Keep The Music Strong", all dented the British charts, the rest of the world largely ignored them and the group ceased to be. A few years later, however, Meecham and Meredith reemerged under the name Chicken Lips and have released successful and edgy house and electro music. And their muse Angie Brown also kept recording as a featured vocalist on many dance hits, capitalizing on the success that Bizarre Inc afforded her.

Live performance of Playing With Knives

Video for I'm Gonna Get You

Video for Took My Love

Download Energique

01		Raise Me (Ascension Mix)
02		X-Static (Adult Mix)
03		Playing With Knives (Quadrant Mix)
04		Plutonic
05		Dangerous Women
06		I'm Gonna Get You (Original Flavour Mix)
07		Love Will Save The Day
08		Took My Love
09		Love In Motion
10		Agroovin'
11		Delicious Minds

Download Surprise

1		Keep The Music Strong (Radio Mix)
2		The Feel Is Real
3		Surprise
4		Get Up (Sunshine Street)
5		Never Give You Up
6		Love Groove
7		Soul Fire
8		Porcelain Cafe
9		Breakaway
10		Miracle
11		Take A Look
12		Shout It Out

Darling Nikkie - www.darlingnikkie.com (2001)

Darling Nikkie is just one of the many incarnations of Anita Dominika Cornelia van Lierop, a woman without whom my musical universe would be a lot less fabulous. A wild child, she was born in Germany but somehow ended up in Belgium. She linked up there with producer Chris Inger, who got her to sing lead vocals on the song "Rock To The Beat", released in 1988 under the name 101. It was one of the first and most popular songs to emerge from the New Beat movement, which was a sound that incorporated techno, acid house and underground house beats and often had a sexual under-or-overtone (the song was remade into a more pop friendly and popular version a year later by Lisa M). At the same time, Nikkie recorded the album Jade's Dream as Jade 4U, which was also New Beat, and had many club hits in Belgium and forged her close partnership with Praga Khan, a techno god. She would release three more albums over the next five years as Jade 4U, becoming known as the Queen Of New Beat (which was the name of her second album). This is around the time I became aware of her, as the American entertainment program A Current Affair did a feature on her, calling her the Belgian Madonna. Of course I was intrigued, but, alas, her music wasn't released here. I managed to get my hands on various singles and compilations over the years, however, and liked what I heard. She released music under many aliases over the years as well and was part of several groups like Milk Inc., Miss Lie and Digital Orgasm, becoming more entrenched in the rave music scene. But my next notable brush with her work was in the group Lords Of Acid. I was getting into the techno sound and became aware of their music and first album, the mostly instrumental Lust. But it was their next album, Voodoo-U, that really hooked me, as I was also getting into Industrial music. The album was a mix of techno and industrial and, best of all, featured her on production and backing vocals. I was in heaven. Their next album, Our Little Secret, was even better, as it featured her on lead vocals. The group quickly became one of my all-time faves, and I followed their work faithfully, even after she gave up doing lead vocals. She continued working with other artists, but it wasn't until she released this album as Darling Nikkie that she would take the spotlight for her own again. Alas, the album was only released in Europe and didn't generate much buzz, but it took some of the edge of her previous work and mellowed it out for her poppiest yet most soulful work ever. It's the only album she's released using the Darling Nikkie moniker, though she did release an album in 2005 as part of Goddess Of Destruction, which went back to her Industrial roots. Since then she's continued to do guest vocals under different aliases. But one thing is for sure, whatever she does in the future, I will be eagerly following her every move.

Video for Sugarcane

Download www.darlingnikki.com

1		Sugarcane
2		So Easy
3		Still My Nr 1
4		Waitin On U
5		Boom Boom Baby
6		Immortal
7		As The Water Flows
8		Teach Us
9		Cloud 9
10		What To Do
11		Flowers
12		One More Time
13		Starstruck
14		Yehiyo / Sugarcane (Remix)

W.I.T. - Whatever It Takes (2003)

W.I.T. (short for Whatever It Takes) were queens of the Electroclash movement in the early 2000s. Electroclash, which is considered electro music with punk attitude, was basically the brainchild of DJ/producer Larry Tee. He had a love of 80s electro, new wave and synth-pop music and saw it as something that demanded a comeback, albeit with an updated sound. At the time there were many acts emerging, like Felix Da Housecat, Peaches, Chicks On Speed and Fischerspooner, who were working the Electroclash sound. Many of the acts at the time we fairly faceless or visually 'challenging'. After being approached by model Melissa Burns to put her in a group called W.I.T., Larry realized that an attractive electro girl group would be just the ticket to get attention for the genre, the Electroclash Festival and his label Mogul Electro. He convinced another attractive lady, Christine Doza, to join and they recorded the song "Hold Me, Touch Me". Luckily he got the legendary Arthur Baker to remix the track and it took off in dance clubs, and was included in many Electroclash compilations. The ladies toured with the Electroclash Festival and recorded more songs that ended up on compilations, including "Inside Out", which appeared on the Party Monster soundtrack. Along the way they added a third member, Mandy Coon, more for eye candy than anything else as she apparently didn't sing on the tracks. Finally, in 2003, the previous tracks and a couple new ones, including a remake of The Cars' "Just What I Needed", were pulled together for their debut album, which was produced by Larry Tee. Though they had received plenty of media coverage, the Electroclash movement was arguably coming to a very quick and painful demise (I say arguably because many groups from that era are still recording and successful now) and W.I.T. failed to break out of the pack. Only two other known songs, "Boy's Club" and "Bad Idea", were released on compilations and the group apparently disbanded. It's a shame, as the group harkened back to classic electro girl groups like The Flirts and Company B, with influences from everyone from Stacey Q to Blondie, and their sound is currently successful for acts like Sally Shapiro and Annie. But it appears both Melissa and Mandy are currently involved in modelling and fashion, so their moment in the spotlight isn't likely over yet.

Download Whatever It Takes

1		I Surrender
2		Ooh, I Like It
3		Hold Me, Touch Me
4		It Kills
5		Just What I Needed
6		Playboy
7		Whatever It Takes
8		Inside Out