Thursday, May 15, 2008

Inoj - Ready For The World (1999)

Thankfully I found this album already zipped on my computer, and since it was one of the most requested, here you go. I am straying once again out of my criteria, as Inoj (pronounced "I know jay") had a top ten hit with her remake of Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time" and another top 40 hit with her remake of "Love You Down" by Ready For The World (note the album title). But in my mind she qualifies because she must have had the lowest profile of anyone who ever had a top ten hit. Research shows her real name is Ayanna Porter and that she did a lot of session work. After demoing "Love You Down" for a So-So Def compilation, she was signed to Columbia Records, and released the song to great success. Her version of "Time After Time" soared even higher, and an album followed. But for some reason the album went largely unnoticed. It could be that the tracks are all very similar, with a miami bass meets drum n' bass beat and her girlish coo throughout. She also released her remake of Anita Ward's "Ring My Bell", but it tanked, and she faded from view. She does have a Myspace page with some hot new music, but it has yet to be released on CD (she apparently planned to release it as Joni, the reverse of her stage name). Interestingly, on her Myspace she has a blog entry where she asks "Would you know me if a) I was standing next to you on the street, b) If I called you on the phone and c) If I released a song under a different name?" The answer to all three would be a resounding "No". Her voice and image would not likely be recognized by most people, which is clearly a failure of her label's publicity department. We do not "know jay". But hopefully she can get her new tracks on a proper album and we can get to know her better soon.

Video for Time After Time


Download Ready For The World

1
All I Want
2
Movin' On
3
Time After Time
4
Fallin'
5
Wait For You
6
Precious Love
7
I Found Love
8
Rather Be Alone
9
What Can I Do
10
Phone Intro
11
Freaky
12
Need To Feel
13
Can't Wait
14
Ring My Bell
15
Love You Down

5 comments:

  1. Thanks! i always could find her singles but never her album. You're the greatest!

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  2. Much appreciated. I have the single for Love You Down and always loved her Time After Time. Never had the album though and thought to look for it a few months ago to no avail. So, thanks very much!

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  3. I remember you shared this with me a long time ago on Sayhey. I loved it and much like Benjamin I have never been able to track down a physical copy. For whatever reason I don't think the album got a US release.

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  4. Another I bought after hearing it here first.

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  5. thank you SO much for posting this, i always loved this album and my copy of the cassette has gotten warped from too many playings!

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