Bas Noir - Ah...Bas Noir (1992)

Bas Noir was an American house music duo who were one of the many dance acts signed to Atlantic Records in the early 1990s when the label was in a dance music signing frenzy. Alas, like so many other dance acts signed to the label at that time, they failed to make a big enough impact to warrant a second album. It's not that they didn't have the goods, however. Not much is known about their origins, but it's assumed that Mary Ridley and Morie Bivins teamed up as Bas Noir in the late 1980s, choosing a group name meaning 'black stockings' for some reason. They teamed up with the Burrell brothers Rheji and Rhano, who as Burrell released an album in 1988 and had some house hits, most notably "I Really Like" (I have the album and might feature it here in the future. ;). The Burrell brothers applied their smooth house sound to the ladies' first single, "My Love Is Magic". The song was released on the small Nu Groove label and became an underground club hit in the US. Ten Records picked the song up for the UK the following year and it reached the lower end of the UK pop charts. They followed it up with "I'm Glad You Came To Me", which made an even bigger splash on the dance charts. This attracted the attention of Atlantic in the US, who commissioned an entire album, with the Burrell brothers producing most of the tracks. They also brought in Kerri Chandler and Dee Dee Brave, whose album has already been featured on the Isle. However, for the first single from the album they chose the song "Superficial Love", the only track not to be produced by either team. It was produced by a couple of relatively unknown R&B producers, and was definitely a much more R&B track. This was likely released to attract a wider audience for the duo, but instead it seemed to alienate their existing fan base, who were hoping for another house stomper. (This fate befell another Atlantic house act, Jomanda, though Jomanda managed to have a few big hits before they turned to R&B and effectively ruined their career.) The Kerri Chandler remixes housed it up and the song managed to reach the dance charts, but it was too late for the album. Subsequent singles "Shoe-B-Doo" and "Addicted 2 U" had diminishing returns. They were dropped from Atlantic (along with a slew of other dance acts) and it seemed the end for the duo. However, in 1995, the song "What's My Name" by Native Sol was attributed to the ladies, and it appeared that they were forging on together in a new direction, this time getting much more soulful and exploring acid jazz. Nothing else was heard from Native Sol, however, and nothing much can be found about either lady since. There is talk on Youtube of their still being in the music biz, among other less savory exploits, but no one seems to know for sure.

Video for Superficial Love

Download Ah...Bas Noir

1		Superficial Love
2		Shoe-B-Doo
3		Patiently
4		Addicted 2 Luv
5		Get U Back
6		Love High
7		Out In The Rain
8		I'm Glad You Came To Me
9		We'll Find Love
10		If I
11		Yearn'n

Bandera - Bandera (1989)

I have had the one and only album by Bandera (not to be confused with previous postee Banderas) for a very long time but never gave it a proper listen for some reason. So when I was ripping the Warren Mills album I decided to throw it on. It is a much better album than I gave it credit for! (Given that it's a vinyl rip and has a couple slight glitches due to wear, I suggest that you pick up a CD copy if you like what you hear, as there are many cheaply available on Amazon. ;) The group, originally known as Uno Mundo, consisted of singer Lagaylia Frazier, singer and guitarist Rosco Martinez and pianist Paquito Hechavarria. They came together in Miami, Florida, emerging from a scene that also spawned Gloria Estefan and The Miami Sound Machine. Lagaylia and Rosco were fresh young talent, while Paquito had long been established as a respected musician in his native Cuba. The threesome were signed to Island Records and worked with many of the people behind the eventual pop success of Miami Sound Machine, most notably producers The Jerks (Joe Galdo, Rafael Vigil and Lawrence Dermer). Indeed, their sound is very similar to MSM - dance pop with heavy doses of funk, jazz and especially Latin flavour. They released four singles: "I Wanna Know", "The Tease", "Voodoo" and "Cruisin' Down Collins", which is likely their best known song. While the songs were all local hits, they failed to generate much interest outside of Florida. Unfortunately the band was soon dropped from Island Records along with a number of other acts when the company was taken over by Polygram. The group split and everyone went their own way. Rosco pursued a solo career and had even greater success, reaching #57 on the Billboard Hot 100 with "Neon Moonlight" in 1994. He released two albums that year, one self-titled English pop album and Aqui Estoy, a purely Latin pop album. Under just his first name, he released his second Latin pop album Bendita la Fe in 1998 , which was produced by Desmond Child, along with the single "Señorita (No Me Dejes Solo)". He has remained in music since, mainly touring with his bands Havana Mojo and The Rosco Martinez Band. Lagaylia has also remained very active in music. Her first major success as a solo artist was in 1994 with the song "Shower Me With Love" from the movie The Specialist, which reached #2 on the Billboard Dance chart. She also formed her own band and performed around Florida, but in 2001 she decided to move to Sweden. In Sweden she has had even greater success, performing frequently on television and twice submitting successful entries in the Eurovision song contest, "It's In The Stars" in 2004 and "Nothing At All" in 2005. She released an album independently in 2007 called Lagaylia Uncovered, and won the Baltic Song Contest with the song "Over And Over Again" in 2008. Also in 2008, she became a Swedish citizen. As for Paquito, he has kept busy appearing on stage and on albums by artists such as Gloria Estefan, Ricky Martin, David Byrne and Christina Aguilera. He has also released solo albums such as Piano in 1995 and Frankly in 2009, his proper debut as a solo artist at the tender age of 74!

Download Bandera

1		Lola
2		The Tease
3		I Wanna Know
4		Don't Know What You Got
5		Voodoo
6		Cruisin' Down Collins
7		Eye For An Eye
8		Watusi
9		Me & You
10		Eh-Oh! (Brazilian Tune)