Tyka Nelson - Royal Blue (1988) & Yellow Moon, Red Sky (1992) DOUBLE POST!!

Poor Tyka Nelson has not had an easy road. While her superstar older brother Prince is considered one of the most important and influential artists of all time, Tyka is still pretty much unknown, despite having such a famous sibling. And her attempt at being a renowned artist in her own right fell flat, leading to very turbulent personal times. Tyka was born in 1960, and was Prince's only full sibling. Though their childhood wasn't the easiest, they had music to lift their spirits as both of their parents were musicians, which rubbed off on their kids. Of course Prince was the first out of the gate, and after a few moderately successful albums, he found international success with the 1999 album and then, of course, Purple Rain. According to Tyka, Prince offered her use of his Paisley Park studios and money to fund an album, but she wanted to get a contract on her own. It took her quite a few years, after going to college and having two kids, but she finally signed a deal with Chrysalis/Cooltempo Records (which, though the label denied it, likely happened because she was Prince's sister) and released her debut in 1988. The first single, the longing ballad "Marc Anthony's Tune", was a minor urban hit on Billboard. It was dedicated to her imaginary lover Marc Anthony. There was a lot of talk regarding her sanity when she did interviews for the album, as she wore a second watch that was on "Marc Anthony's time" and carried around a stuffed dinosaur named Jazz on a leash for interviews. There was also a lot of criticism, as she was inevitably compared to Prince and considered a much weaker singer and talent (I personally love her light, dreamy voice), and though the album was funky, sweet and produced in part by Prince collaborator David Z, it wasn't deemed 'Prince' enough for fans. She was also unfairly criticized for her appearance, as she was overweight and definitely not the beauty people associated with Prince thanks to his protegees like Vanity and Sheila E.. This, combined with her admitted shyness, resistance to interviews and lack of videos, gave her a very low profile. Her second single, the upbeat "L.O.V.E.", went mostly unnoticed and the label dropped her soon after. She managed to sign to the smaller label CMC International a few years later to release a second album, Yellow Moon, Red Sky, but the singles "Boy Do You Feel Lucky" and "I Want You" were only released in Europe and failed to chart anywhere, even though she updated her sound with a more pop yet urban vibe, even rapping on occasion! After the failure of this album everything went further downhill for Tyka. At one point, in the early 2000's, Tyka did an interview with the National Enquirer claiming that she was addicted to crack and had to sell her body for sex to get money to support her habit and kids. She claimed that Prince did nothing to help her out. She was later sadly deemed one of "Rock's Most Embarrassing Siblings" in Blender magazine. But Tyka resurfaced in 2006, with a new look, commitment to God and Myspace page. She claimed that God, her children, and Prince helped her kick her habit and get back on track. She independently released the very Prince-like gospel album A Brand New Me in 2008 and has presumably been happily working in the gospel world since.

Download Royal Blue

1		No Promises
2		L.O.V.E.
3		Paris
4		Be Good To Me
5		Marc Anthony's Tune
6		Royal Blue
7		Try My Passion
8		My Friend
9		This Girl's Gonna Fall In Love

Download Yellow Moon, Red Sky

1		The End
2		Boy Do You Feel Lucky
3		I Want You
4		Chosen One
5		In My Eyes
6		Depend On Me
7		Oh Love
8		Priceless
9		Keep On
10		Love All Over The World
11		Night Hawks
12		Yellow Moon, Red Sky

Annabella - Fever (1986)

Everyone knows Annabella Lwin from her former kooky punk/new wave band Bow Wow Wow and their hit "I Want Candy". She was the underage girl who posed nude for an album cover and caused controversy and publicity for the band. Born as Myint Myint Aye in Burma, she moved to England at age 3 and was plucked out of obscurity at 13 by svengali Malcolm McLaren to front Bow Wow Wow, who were the "Ants" of Adam & The Ants fame. He renamed her Annabella Lwin and the group released four albums together before she was ousted from the band in 1983. A year later her first solo track, "Passion Play", appeared on the soundtrack of the film Thief Of Hearts. A year after that she released her first solo single on RCA, "Don't Dance With Strangers", for which she hooked up with electro-funk duo The System. This led to her solo album release on RCA, which included contributions from a host of popular dance producers including The System, John Robie, Zeus B. Held and Greg Walsh. The first single, "War Boys" was a minor dance hit, and she followed it up with the album's title track, yet another remake of the Peggy Lee classic. The album wasn't a huge success, and RCA dropped her. Listening to the album now, I appreciate it much more than I did then. It is a pretty solid and fun dance-pop album that incorporates many different genres. She collaborated as a songwriter over the next few years and formed the band The Naked Experience. They were picked up by Sony Soho Square, but broke up before any material could be released. The label did release two solo Annabella singles (as Annabella Lwin) in 1994 , "Car Sex" and "Do What You Do", which were both tribal house and minor dance hits. Unfortunately this didn't lead to a full album release, though she did record songs with the help of Guy Chambers, among others. Annabella reformed Bow Wow Wow with former member Leigh Gorman in 1997 and they toured and signed with indie Cleopatra Records, releasing a live album in 1998. She also appeared on the Cleopatra Madonna tribute album Virgin Voices in 1999 doing a cover of "Like A Virgin". The band again split soon after but reformed in 2003 and toured for a few years together. Since then Annabella has been songwriting, touring and recording material independently, as well as doing featured vocals on tracks by others. She is a practicing Buddhist and that is reflected in her new music, as can be heard in her song "Sacred Ground" on the tsunami relief album Of Hands And Hearts from 2005. Go to her website for updates and samples of her newest music.

Video for Fever

Download Fever

1		War Boys
2		High Powered Girl
3		Fever
4		Marry For Love
5		Wild In Me
6		School's Out
7		Under The Gun
8		Desire
9		Nightmare
10		Magdalen

Lisa Taylor - Secrets Of The Heart (1992)

Little is known about singer Lisa Taylor aside from her work in the 1980s and 90s. Apparently she started her singing career as a session singer in the 1980s, and in the late 80s she joined the funk group Rose Royce as their lead singer. She released one album with the group, Perfect Lover, before they disbanded for good. After that she returned to background singing, appearing on several popular albums and touring with Patti Labelle. Perhaps with Patti's help, she managed to sign a deal with Giant Records in 1992 for a solo album. It featured her soulful voice over several ballads and a few upbeat pop/R&B numbers. Her first single, "Did You Pray Today", managed to just crack the top 40 of the Billboard R&B charts, and her second single, the title track, managed to peak on the same chart at #41. That same year the album track "Better Late Than Never" appeared on the Class Act soundtrack. Then in 1993 her track "Don't Waste My Time" appeared on the soundtrack for Meteor Man. It was released as a single but barely squeaked into the top 100 on theR&B chart, and Lisa went back to session singing. In 1996 she joined the duo of Les Pierce and Bernard Wise in Colour Club and featured on their second album, In The Flow. They released one more album together, Sexuality, before they broke up. Lisa again went back to backing vocals, and apparently once again toured with Patti Labelle. Here was yet another attractive and powerful vocalist who got lost in the crazy days of the late 80s/early 90s, thanks to major labels snatching up every pretty and talented female vocalist they could and sticking only with those who, well, stuck! With her talent, there's no doubt she's still doing her thing today, though.

Download Secrets Of The Heart

1		Fallen Angel
2		Secrets Of The Heart
3		Better Late Than Never
4		Once Again Love
5		To Know Your Love
6		Make You Mine
7		Part Of My Heart
8		You Could've Been With Me
9		I Can't Remember When
10		I Wanna Fall In Love Again
11		Did You Pray Today?

Joi' - Joystick (1993)

Ah, finally back to featuring an act that there is absolutely zero info on. These mysterious artists seem to be an Isle favourite! LOL Anyway, all I can tell you about this group comes from the CD itself. Their names are Vonda, Kristi, Teresa, Kimberly and Khimberli(!!), and they likely come from Texas (where their small label was situated). Their sound is full on 'new jack swing', with some more soulful moments here and there. They were produced mainly by Bishop Burrell. Burrell worked with Luke from 2 Live Crew, and produced acts on Luke's label, including two major 'new jack' hits: H-Town's "Knockin' Da Boots" and Trellini's "I Wanna Be Yours". So what you can expect is quality R&B music, though the very cheap looking cover wouldn't give you that impression, would it? It was the tacky cover that made me save this from the dollar bin, and I was pleasantly shocked by how good the album was. One single was released, "Baby I Love You", which is a nice remake of the Aretha Franklin classic, but it was not a hit. They also do a decent version of "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman". The rest of the album is pure new jack swing, though. It's likely their label didn't have a lot of money to promote them (again, look at the cover!), and that's too bad, as this is one of the better girl groups and albums from the new jack era, IMO. Ladies, if you're out there, please fill us in!! (By the way, I plan on featuring many more R&B girl groups and solo acts in the future. I held off because there were so many other blogs that featured those albums, but most of those blogs seem to have disappeared. And this was one album I'd never seen posted on any of them anyway!)

UPDATE: Awesomely Kristi from Joi' wrote and gave us the down-low on how the group was formed and what they've been up to since! Thanks a TON, Kristi! We're honoured and thrilled to finally know your story. xo

"Hey Nasty G :)!!! We all had auditions in Houston, TX. We were the 5 that were chosen and it had its advantages and disadvantages :). The advantages were that we got a chance to meet each other: Vonda from Austin, TX, Teresa from LaMarque, TX, Kim from Crosby, TX and Khim from Houston, TX. We performed all over the southern parts of the US and recorded a CD. Our manager and producer were married so there was a conflict of interest (smile). When they had problems it was taken out on us. Michael Bivins wanted us but we were later told the monies were not right. We were told that Luke wanted us but that is all that was said. Some kind of way we ended up with a record deal with Ichiban Records (a blues record company). I will just say when the Manager and Producer got a divorce, we were divorced from the entire situation altogether. I am now a school counselor, Vonda is a school principal, Kim is a beautician, and Khim is an administrative assistant. I also did background vocals for UGK (Pink Ring) and got 2nd place in a Budweiser Superfest Singing Competition. I sing every blue moon. Vonda sings every now and then with her mom who sings with a band all over Houston (Sambuka, etc). If you have anymore questions for me, I would be glad to answer. I hope this helps!!! -Kristi of Joi"

Download Joystick

1		I'm The Kinda Girl
2		U Said U Loved Me
3		Baby I Love You
4		(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman
5		Let's Talk About It
6		So Happy Love
7		Joystick
8		Strangelove
9		Security
10		Don't Waste My Time
11		Boyz
12		Joystick (Remix)
13		Let's Talk About It (Extended)