Girls Can't Help It - Pure Wild (1983)

Here we have another treat from Robert, who noticed this on my want list and was gracious enough to send it my way. Thanks so much! This is not a proper album, as it only has five tracks, but I know that you all will love it so I had to share! It is the oldest entry on the Isle so far, dating way back to 1983. But the sound is timeless! Girl's Can't Help It were a British trio formed by producers Colin Campsie and George McFarlane. What makes this especially interesting, and perfect for the Isle, is that these producers make up the duo of Giant Steps, whose album was featured here some time ago! The group originally consisted of aspiring model/actresses Belinda (Billie) Adams, Katy Lynne and American Peggy Sue Fender (who at the time of formation was married to Pretenders guitarist James Honeyman-Scott, who would die the same year). They released the single "Baby Doll" on Virgin in 1982 and it was a minor dance hit internationally. This led to a deal with Sire Records for a mini-album. Katy Lynne and Peggy Sue left before the album was released and were replaced with aspiring model/actresses Jacqueline Bucknell and Samantha Spencer-Lane, who was formerly one of Hill's Angels on The Benny Hill Show. She was also part of pop trio Casablanca, who released one single, also in 1983, called "With Love". The album contained very funky synth-pop, much more similar to the sound of funk girl groups of the time like Mary Jane Girls and Vanity 6 than pop groups like Bananarama or The Belle Stars, which is what people expected them to sound like, being white British girls and all. Though the mini-album was well received by critics. the second single, "Rhythm Of The Jungle", went unnoticed and the girls were dropped and disbanded before making a full album. Samantha returned to The Benny Hill Show for a few episodes and continued acting in television and film. Jacqueline went on to be a 'hostess' on the British version of the game show The Price Is Right from 1984 to 1986. She also kept acting in television and film and in 2003 married British soap star Brian Capron, with whom she owns and operates a corporate entertainment company. As is often the case for artists on here, the whereabouts of Billie and Katy Lynne remain unknown. On an interesting side-note, in 1985 Campsie & McFarlane worked with British singer Haywoode and she recorded her own version (which they also produced) of the album track "Jelly Baby" for her album Arrival. ;)

Download Pure Wild

1		Rhythm Of The Jungle
2		Jelly Baby
3		X Marks The Spot
4		Girls Can't Help It
5		Baby Doll

Around The Way - Smooth Is The Way (1993)

Thanks to the always helpful Robert, another release from my wantlist has been satisfied!! Thanks Robert! This is yet another album I only had on cassette and was curious to hear again. There isn't much info on the history of Around The Way before or after their formation. The members of the group were singer Ileana "Lena" Fraticelli, singer Kashu "Kash" Myles (aka Cashew Miles) and rapper Michael Anthony Bertot. Ileana had previously been part of the freestyle trio Solid, who released one single, "Loving You", in 1988. Kashu had been part of the ska group The Toasters as lead vocalist for a couple of albums. Somehow the three got together in New York and hooked up with a bunch of freestyle music's heaviest hitters, including Tony Moran (previously of freestyle group The Latin Rascals), Kenny Diaz, Little Louie Vega and Frankie Cutlass, all of whom produced tracks on their album. It seems they were involved in the same scene as rapper K7 (formerly known as Kayel from freestyle group TKA), who'd had great success with his single "Come Baby Come" (and which Kashu did backing vocals on). Kayel was a hip hop artist who had strong roots in freestyle music, and Around The Way were likely eager to capitalize on his success by mining similar territory. They were an R&B/hip hop group consisting of primarily freestyle artists and producers. It wasn't a huge stretch, as freestyle had strong elements of hip hop, thus its often being coined as 'Latin hip-hop'. Around The Way were far from freestyle, however, and were more new jack swing, though with a far poppier element than most of their contemporaries in the genre. They signed a deal with Atlantic Records and their first single, "Really Into You", managed to hit #89 on the Billboard Hot 100. Their second single, "Way Back When", failed to chart, and it seems likely they were dropped by Atlantic due to their lack of mass success. Since then Ileana has done backing vocals, Michael has written and guested on some freestyle tracks (check out his Youtube channel), and Kashu has had some acting gigs. Their current activities are unknown. Though I have spent some time searching, unfortunately I don't have hours to scour the internet to find out any more details on their current goings on, so as always, if anyone knows anything, please let us know!

Download Smooth Is The Way

1		Really Into You
2		September
3		Groove Me
4		Let It Be You
5		Check One, Check Two
6		Way Back When
7		You
8		Smooth Is The Way
9		The Truth
10		Give It Up

Carrie McDowell - Carrie McDowell (1987)

After much effort and perseverance, Adriana has provided us with an item that has been on my wantlist for some time, Carrie McDowell's debut album! This is another album that I only had on cassette and wanted desperately to feature on the Isle, but the CD was not easy to find, as Adriana can attest. ;) But she makes wishes come true! Thanks a ton Adriana! (And thanks to Robert as well, who coincidentally sent me this album the same day, but from the vinyl. I appreciate the effort, Robert!) Carrie was born in Iowa in the 1960s. She first showed off her vocal talents at the age of 8 on the local talent show 'Bill Riley's Talent Sprouts'. She then toured with an all-kid band, Love Train. This led to an appearance on 'The Tonight Show', which led to appearances with entertainment legends like George Burns, Danny Thomas and Jerry Lewis. With a new band, she also opened for the likes of Stevie Wonder and Liberace. In 1976, at the age of 13, she released a single with her versions of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" and "Sing, Sing, Sing". Despite her success, her mother wanted her to concentrate on her education and pulled her from the spotlight to attend school. She wouldn't return to the music scene until she was 18, moving to New York and then Los Angeles, where her powerful demo got her signed to Motown Records. This was quite a coup, as there were very few white artists signed to Motown up to that point. Her album was primarily produced by legendary Motown artist and producer Willie Hutch, with assistance from other popular Motown producers. It was part funk/dance tracks and part ballads, which adequately featured her strong vocals. The first single release was "Casual Sex". Though the title was suggestive, the song failed to attract much attention. It was promptly remixed with a dancier vibe by Bruce Forest and retitled "Uh Uh, No No Casual Sex" (though the song was against promiscuity, the original title made it seem it was promoting it). The song became a minor Billboard Dance and R&B hit. (To download the original version and the B-side of the single, "Prove It", go to Lost Pop Treasures HERE.) Though another song, the ballad "When A Woman Loves A Man", was released as a promo single, the lack of proper promotion and the failure of her first single to cross over to the pop charts, which was Motown's hope, led to Carrie being dropped from the label. During her time with Motown Carrie had met guitarist Michael Hodge, and the two married in 1989. They moved to Nashville in 1991 and began recording as Two Hearts. They released two country-laced gospel albums, Stand Your Ground in 1992 and Give 'Em The Word in 1993. They continued to tour the world, often performing at charity events, and in 2008 the couple released a Christmas album as Michael & Carrie Hodge. Carrie finally released another solo album as Carrie Hodge in 2010 titled Never Forget, but the album consisted of tracks taken from the Two Hearts records. Since then, Carrie has been said to be working on new gospel and R&B records as well as an autobiography, so expect to hear more from her soon.

UPDATE: Adriana pointed out that in 1989 Carrie had two more upbeat funk/dance songs on a compilation called Arcade, "New Start" and "Why Did He Break My Heart". You can download the songs off of iTunes HERE. And DJ Digital found a page that includes a new pic of Carrie along with some streaming songs: "Almost Like Being In Love", "I'm Afraid the Masquerade Is Over" and "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" (I don't think it is the version she recorded as a child, but I could be wrong). Visit the page HERE. Thanks guys!

Video for Uh Uh, No No Casual Sex

Download Carrie McDowell

1		Uh Uh, No No Casual Sex (Part 1)
2		Secret Fire
3		When A Woman Loves A Man
4		Just Dance
5		It's The Power Of Your Love (Growing On Me)
6		Fly (White Bird Fly)
7		The Tracks Of My Tears
8		I'm Here For You
9		Up The Down Side Of Love