NightCat - NightCat (1991)

Last month I posted the maxi-single of the track "#1 House Rule" by NightCat on my sister blog Lost Pop Treasures. Until I did research on the song, I thought it was just another one-off pop-house track by some unknown pop tart. Well, while she may have remained relatively unknown, I discovered that NightCat had a very interesting story indeed. And that she had an album that I needed ASAP! Well thanks to blog fan Sarah, I now have it! And so do you! And it is better than I'd hoped, as I was mislead to believe that it was a rock album (partly due to the cover), but it's pure up dance pop, with traces of house and freestyle, a la artists like Pajama Party and Isle postee Jaya, who was on the same label as NightCat, Lefrak-Moelis. Anyway, since I don't have a lot of time to compose a proper new entry for this, I'm going to reprint some of my write up from Lost Pop Treasures:

"You just never know what you're going to find out about these artists! I thought this was just a random one off single by some pop tart, but instead Nightcat was a creation of Marvel Comics! Marvel creator Stan Lee wanted to develop a female superhero who crossed over into the real world. Like Dazzler, this hero was also a rock singer. So they released an issue of the Nightcat comic book and hired actress/singer Jacqueline Tavarez to embody Nightcat in real life. They recorded an entire album simply titled Nightcat. "#1 House Rule" was the only single. Both the comic and album bombed and Jacqueline was fired, she claims because she appeared in a music video by Long Island Lolita Amy Fisher's ex-lover Joey Buttafuoco!! She has since appeared nude in the film Tromeo And Juliet and that's about it. (UPDATE: Apparently she now goes by the name Jacqueline Love and poses on Naked. com. Thanks to DJAaron for this info!) For more on the Nightcat story, go HERE. I would have died for this had I known it existed back in the day, as I was both a music and comic book fiend!"

And I am dying for it now! I know you'll all love this album, so download it and give thanks to Sarah for sharing it. You've made my day! :)

Download NightCat

1		#1 House Rule
2		Let Me Be Your Only Girl
3		If You Love Me
4		I've Finally Found Someone
5		Don't Change
6		Say You'll Be Mine
7		In The Night Time
8		Your Love Is All I Need
9		Hang On To Your Loving

Gigi On The Beach - Gigi On The Beach (1989)

Sorry I've been so lax in posting lately, but I've been quite busy, especially now with Christmas on the horizon. But as an early Christmas gift to you all I just had to pop in and offer you this gem. I have never heard of Gigi On The Beach before, but I noticed a brief entry on them on the Rare And Obscure Music blog and fell in love with the cover alone! I HAD to have the CD, and magically the album was available on Amazon for 17 cents!! It just arrived yesterday and I had to take a moment out of my busy schedule to share it with y'all because I know you'll adore it. The only details that the CD itself offers is that it consists of three members: Terri Smith Young, Paula Gallo and Beth Barrett (the cover is misleading as it features two pics of each lady. ;) It was produced by brothers Ed and John Palermo, whose biggest claim to fame was co-producing and co-writing the minor 1984 dance hit "Summer In The Street" for Carrie Lucas (which Gigi On The Beach remake here, and was also one of Isle postee Kim Esty's bigger 'hits'.) Two singles were released from the album to little fanfare: the upbeat "Friday Night In The U.S.A." and the freestylish "Bitch Me Out". The rest of the album is pure dance pop and even includes a remake of the Beatles' "Please Please Me". Anyone who likes any of the other dance pop albums circa 1989 featured on this blog should love this! A search for this group on the internet yields next to nothing (like where that odd group name comes from!) and though there are various women with the same name as this group's members, it's hard to determine if they are indeed the same ladies. As D-Listed would say, this is a case for Detective La Toya! LOL!

UPDATE: Member Paula Gallo found this post and wrote! Here's what she had to say. Thanks for visiting and writing Paula! We're honoured and glad you approve!!!

"I happen to google my group "Gigi on the Beach" to see what would come up and I find this blog. I recently had the record framed for memories to hang on my wall. Yes, we do indeed exist. I am Paula Gallo, the one featured on top of the cover with the pink hat on. The name was thought of by John and Ed Palermo. No reason, but the funny thing is, Gigi was my Mother's nick name (Gloria Gallo). I dedicate that album to her memory. Thanks for bringing our Gigi on the Beach back for people to enjoy. Paula Gallo"

Download Gigi On The Beach

1		Friday Night In The U.S.A.
2		Bitch Me Out
3		Will You Marry Me?
4		Summer In The Street
5		Johnny
6		Please Please Me
7		You're My Kind
8		Modern Jitterbug
9		Treasured Love
10		Crying In The Rain