Debra Torré - Step It Out (1991)

You have Adriana to thank once again for this one! Debra Torré is a little known Latin singer (I had never heard of her until Adriana sent me this!) who should have been bigger, IMO. She is so little-known that there is no info on the internet available on her, unless she's changed her name. Which makes her perfect for this blog, of course. What I can tell you is that she seemed the muse of songwriter/producer Michael Gavin and his brother Nathan. Michael wrote songs recorded by such diverse artists as George Benson, Sister Sledge, Reba McEntire, Cher and Steps, but his biggest success was as co-writer, with previous postee Maria Christensen, of the song "Waiting For Tonight", which was first recorded by Maria's group 3rd Party and then became a hit for Jennifer Lopez. His production credits weren't nearly as grand, but his work with Debra shows his production talent. Together, as simply Torré, they released the freestyle song "Is It Too Late For Tomorrow" on the tiny Blue Chip label in 1986. Then,, in 1990 Debra's single "Conceal Your Love" was released to minor dance club success on Esquire Records. The album soon followed and the single "Fast Lane" was released (the song reminds me a lot of previous postee Veronique). Of course all of this went mostly unnoticed by the public, likely due to the inability of the small label to properly promote it. To my ears it is just as good as any of the other dance pop records that were released around the time, with lots of freestyle elements, and should have got more attention. I wish I had of discovered it then! The title track was even written by another Isle postee, Regina Richards, who recorded it herself but never released it. It also includes two fun and funky remakes, Prince's "I Wanna Be Your Lover" and Steve Arrington's "(Dancing In The) Key Of Life". All in all a really fun album that I have on repeat. Thanks Adriana for unearthing a true lost treasure!

Download Step It Out

1		Conceal Your Love
2		Words
3		World's Greatest Lover
4		Up All Night
5		Step It Out
6		I Wanna Be Your Lover
7		(Dancing In The) Key Of Life
8		Fast Lane