Warren Mills - Warren Mills (1985)

Warren Mills is an artist whose music I've heard mentioned in various places, but that I'd never actually heard. Then I saw the LP in a used record store and figured, since the price was right, it was time to explore his work, as it was said to be quite funky. Well, I was definitely not disappointed when I finally put it on. It is an awesome electro-funk album that still sounds fresh today, IMO. There is very little info on Warren on the internet, but I managed to find out some details. He was born in Zambia, and someone claims on Youtube that his real name is Warren Milstead. He was signed to Jive Records as a preteen, and was compared to a young Michael Jackson. Certainly he had the vocal chops. He is the nephew of singer Alton Edwards, who had a hit single in 1982 in the UK with "I Just Wanna (Spend Some Time With You)". And, according to different sources, he is either the brother or cousin of singer Rozalla, who had a huge hit in the early 1990's with "Everybody's Free". (I asked Rozalla about this on her Facebook page, but she not only didn't answer but deleted my post!) Whatever the case, in 1984 he released a remake of Smokey Robinson and The Miracles' "Mickey's Monkey" which made a minor dent in the UK charts but did not appear on the album. His next single, "Sunshine", would be his biggest success, climbing to #74 in UK charts. He released three other singles: "Don't Tell Me 'Bout Your Boyfriend", "Tell Me What You Want" and "Flame In The Fire", which he performed in the 1985 movie Rappin'. But none of these hit in the UK or anywhere else and Warren faded from view. (ProMills has pointed out that Aaron Carter did a remake of "Tell Me What You Want" in 2000.) It's very unfortunate, as he was a talented singer and the songs were extremely catchy. The album reminds me of Shanice Wilson's debut, Discovery, very funky and danceable. It helps that he had a host of Jive's top producers on hand, many of whom also worked with Samantha Fox, which gives it a pop edge. Billy Ocean also produced a couple of tracks. It all comes together nicely, and Warren really should have been bigger. He is now married with three daughters and living again in Zambia, and reportedly also still dabbles in music. Should you be interested, you can try to 'friend' him on Facebook, although it seems he may no longer be interested in discussing his early music career, though he really should be proud of it.

Video for Sunshine

Video clip from Rappin' of Warren performing Flame In The Fire

Download Warren Mills

1		Sunshine
2		Tell Me What You Want
3		Choosey Girl
4		Don't Tell Me 'Bout Your Boyfriend
5		Flame In The Fire
6		Biochemistry
7		You Thrill Me (I Like It Like This)
8		It's Peculiar
9		I Turn To You

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

Louisa Florio - Louisa Florio (1987) & Instant Reaction (1989) DOUBLE POST!!

So, after many attempts at acquiring her albums to share, here finally are the two Canadian albums released by Louisa Florio. Ever since I posted her single "Love Attack" on Lost Pop Treasures, I have had more requests for her albums than for anyone else's. Though she is little known outside of Canada (or even within Canada, for that matter), it appears that Miss Florio still has a rabid audience. I must first thank the always resourceful Adriana for providing me with Instant Reaction. And I also profusely thank Toby for providing me with her hard to find debut, as well as other gems that I'll feature in the future. Even more awesome, Toby added her very first single "The Effect" and it's B-side "Blast The Music", which were not on any album. Thanks SO much guys! As I mentioned on LPT, I believe that Louisa hails from Toronto, and her first album was produced by Harry Hinde, a disco producer who had worked with Shania Twain on her pre-fame demo tapes. She had released a one-off single in 1985 called "The Effect", and then "Deeper In Debt" a year later on the Tembo label. That single appeared on her debut album and several more singles from the album were released by Tembo, likely as a test to see which would possibly hit, but only "Love Attack" got any attention. On an interesting side-note, Louisa's version of "Tell It To My Heart" was not released as a single, but it was the first known version of the song recorded and was the version Taylor Dayne heard before deciding to record it herself. Tembo brought Louisa back into the studio for a second album, this time with producer Gerald O'Brien, a popular Canadian songwriter and former member of rock group Wrabit. The album kept the dance-pop vibe of her debut, and the single "Oh Boy (Can't Go On Loving Like This)" was released as a promo single, as was a video for "Crazy Love". Despite the contribution of several well-known Canadian songwriters, the album went unnoticed. From here Louisa's career is hard to trace, though she did appear on the Swedish show Top Gear on April 20, 1990 singing two songs, "Come 2 Gether" and "Body Talk", perhaps from a new album? Another single, "Best Of My Love", was released in 1993 on Swedish label Nouveaux Records. Then, in 1995 the single "I Want", credited to 'Venus', appeared on Nouveaux and featured Louisa. One other single on Nouveaux appeared in 1999, "Gotta Get Up", credited to 'Luiza'. And that's the last bit of info I can find on her. Given the number of requests for her work, surely someone out there knows something about her whereabouts today?

Download Louisa Florio

1		Love Attack
2		Tell It To My Heart
3		Mr. Wrong
4		Deeper In Debt
5		Made For Each Other
6		Woman
7		Living Dangerously
8		Today I Met The Boy I'm Gonna Marry
9		Left Alone
10		Gonna Stay In Love
11		Back For More
12		The Effect
13		Blast The Music

Video for Crazy Love

Download Instant Reaction

1		'Til The Real Thing Came Along
2		Oh Boy (I Can't Go On Loving Like This)
3		Crazy Love
4		The Right To Live
5		What Can I Do To Make You Change Your Mind
6		Instant Reaction
7		Intimate Strangers
8		Love On A Look
9		Something I Can Do Without
10		My Heart Has A Price

Ricca - Ricca (1994)

Recently I was perusing my dear friend Joe's blog Milk Carton Pop Stars and was reminded that I never did listen to or get my hands on the only album by Ricca. Well, a quick search on eBay and problem solved! Since Joe did the research and found out what he could about the ladies, and some comments on his post filled in some of the missing pieces, I'll do only a quick summary. Ricca were American sisters Natalie & Elisa Soltren and Teresa Rodrigues. They managed to get a deal with Epic Records and worked with a wide array of producers, including Joyce Irby from Klymaxx and people who produced 80s acts like DeBarge, Tracie Spencer, Sybil and Martika, as well as Isle postees like Lisa Taylor and Louie Louie. In fact, this was one of the last major projects from most of the producers involved. The girls released their first single, "Such A Rush," in 1992 and followed it up with "Any Love" (which features a rap from Monica Payne from one-album-wonders The Gyrlz and Terri & Monica) in 1993. Despite the fact that neither song was a hit, they released their album the following year. As Joe mentions, it was unusual for a Latina act to record R&B, 'new jack swing' style music, which was obviously their selling point. It's really more R&B-lite with a lot of pop elements thrown in, similar to other late 80s/early 90s R&B, which is likely due to their producers. Unfortunately their music didn't appeal to a large audience, and there were rumours of label issues, so they were let go. The ladies have all been active since, and you can find updates both on Milk Carton Pop Stars and Rare And Obscure Music. I agree with Joe that it's shame the album didn't do better, and that I didn't pick it up when it was released, as I would have loved it and perhaps would have helped them have a little more success. Oh well, better late than never. :)

Download Ricca

1		Any Love
2		Such A Rush
3		Time Of My Life
4		Not Wishing
5		I Need Time
6		Do I Dare
7		Hear It Come From You
8		My Way
9		Sunshine & Rain
10		You Can't Love Me (If You Don't Respect Me)
11		Don't Waste My Time
12		Any Love (Spyder's Sound)