Vanity - Vanity 6 (1982), Wild Animal (1984) & Skin On Skin (1986) TRIPLE POST!!!

It is with a very heavy heart that I make this latest post.  In case you haven't heard yet, my idol Vanity aka Denise Katrina Matthews passed away at the age of 57 due to kidney failure on February 15, 2016.  It has taken me a few days to deal with this, but now I feel I must honour her with a (very lengthy) post, a post that has been requested by several of you over the years. Vanity was the reason I started this blog nine years ago.  Like so many featured on this blog, Vanity was an unsung pop star who was forgotten over the years yet deserved recognition.  She did have a higher profile, at least in the 80s, than many acts featured here, which is why I resisted doing a post on her then.  But she was my initial motivation, as I was a huge fan of hers from the moment I saw her and she remained my ultimate diva.  I had even originally named this blog after her first major film, Tanya's Island, which she made before she was known as Vanity and was using the moniker D.D. Winters.  Even my 'Nasty G' name comes from the Vanity 6 song "Nasty Girl".  Much has been written about her over the past few days, so her past is well documented on the internet and I won't go into too much detail here.  For that you can also check her Wikipedia page. But I do want to share my personal memories of her.  The first time I laid eyes on her was in 1984 when I was 14 and she appeared on the Canadian music TV show The New Music.  They were doing a feature on Prince's female protegees.  At the time I was a casual Prince fan and had just become a Sheila E. fan, so I was curious about these other women.  The moment they showed an image of Vanity I was smitten.  She was the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes upon (and still is) and she had an irresistible magnetism just through that one image that drew me in forever.  Then they showed some clips from her music videos and I was all hers.  The fact that she was a fellow Canadian was a huge bonus.  This was around when she released her first solo album Wild Animal, and it was the only thing I cared about receiving for Christmas that year, which I did. I adored the album (despite family and friends insisting that she couldn't really sing) and I practically wore out the cassette the first week!  I was consumed with finding images of her after that and snatched up every magazine that she was in, from Right On to Playboy to Creem, The photos went on my wall immediately.  I also scoured the television for appearances by her, though back then we had limited channels and only video cassettes to capture things on.  But I wore out those video tapes as well whenever I was able to capture anything Vanity, especially her "Pretty Mess" video.  She was always a coquettish and magnetic presence in both her performances and interviews, with undeniable charisma.  Soon after a family friend managed to find a vinyl copy of the Vanity 6 album and I was in heaven!  The sexuality and naughtiness of both albums were just the kind of rebellion I needed as a lonely, overweight, awkward teen.  I delighted in shocking everyone around me with her lyrics and image.  Her outlandishness empowered me.  I remember my father watching the "Nasty Girl" video and dismissing her after she claimed that she needed "seven inches or more", clearly intimidated by her beauty and sexuality, as he fancied himself a Casanova but knew he'd never have a chance. This pleased me even more.  Soon her movie The Last Dragon was being promoted and I longed to see it, but living in a small town with a two cinema theatre, it was never shown, so I had to satiate myself with the soundtrack and soundtrack poster, which I begged to have from the only record store in town.  Obviously I immediately adored the song "7th Heaven" from it.  Luckily our theatre did show Purple Rain and I had become a bigger Prince fan because of it, as well as a fan of Apollonia, who had replaced Vanity in the movie after Vanity, having realized that Prince would never love and focus only on her, pursued the independence that could make her career flourish.  Unfortunately Apollonia (who is also featured on the Isle) paled in comparison to Vanity in my eyes, lacking her extreme magnetism and sensuality - though I do still adore Apples. As Apollonia herself admitted this week, Vanity was a tough act to follow. ;)  I wished at that time that Vanity had stayed with Prince, as everyone's career who was connected to him was blowing up.  (Though she managed to do quite well on Motown and had two Billboard Hot 100 hits.)  Teenagers being complicated and fickle, I was soon distracted with my awkward social world.  That, combined with the extreme difficulty in tracking anyone's career in those pre-internet times, led to my surprise when I came across her second album Skin On Skin. Of course I snatched it up, though while I adored the first single "Under The Influence", the rest of the album was a bit of a let down.  It lacked the extreme electro-funk and sexuality of  Wild Animal, and while she wrote and co-produced all of the material on Wild Animal, she was barely present in the creation of Skin On Skin.  Though her vocals had noticeably improved, it seemed a lot less personal. Of course, I still loved the album, and songs like "Animals" and "Ouch!" kept up that sexy silliness. The album didn't seem to get as much attention, however, and Vanity showed up on TV less and less. During that time she was also starring in many movies like Never Too Young To Die and Action Jackson (I adored the Jesse Johnson produced track "Undress" from it and was thrilled she was in the video for the Pointer Sisters' "He Turned Me Out", also featured on it), though of course they never made it to my two cinema town, and it took years before anything new came out on video back then.  These things combined to take my focus off of her.  There was one time in 1989, however, when she was filming an episode of the Friday The 13th TV series in Toronto entitled 'Mesmer's Bauble'  (in which she starred alongside Isle postee Robey), that a friend's brother was lucky enough to be at the filming, and he came back regaling me with stories of her.  I was extremely jealous.  She had been so close! But soon I was off to university and was distracted by my new academic and social life and all that that entailed.  I thought of her occasionally (like when I randomly scored a publicity poster of her as "Miss Audio-Visual 1984", and when I used "Strap On Robbie Baby" to shock a sociology class), but she fell to the back of my mind and became a bit of a teenage embarrassment.  In 1990 I did hear that she was filming a movie called Lambada: Set The Night On Fire and was extremely excited about the new song she was to record for it, but it was soon revealed that she dropped out of the film, and the song, "Gotta Lambada", ended up being recorded by female duo Absolut instead.  She did appear in the TV movie Memories Of Murder that year, which was the first Lifetime movie ever, but of course I didn't get Lifetime. After that she was totally off my radar until 1992, when she appeared in the Jackie Collins TV mini-series Lady Boss, which I watched with a sort of sentimental melancholy.  Around that time rumours were surfacing that she was a born-again Christian, and she then shockingly (to me, at least) appeared on The Joan Rivers Show that same year, renouncing her past and emphatically preaching the word of God.  It was very jarring and, I confess, made me very uncomfortable.  She talked about how she detested her carnal identity as Vanity, and discussed her addiction to smoking crack, which led to extreme kidney damage, a kidney transplant, and almost death!  It all came as a shock to me, though looking back it suddenly seemed obvious that she was on drugs in many of her early interviews and performances. I have to admit that this new Vanity, or Denise Matthews, as she now wanted to be called, frightened me, and like one of Joan's audience members suggested, it seemed to me that she had just substituted one drug for another.  She was an extreme literal bible thumper and even spoke in tongues!  It was all too much for me, though I felt ashamed for wishing that the old Vanity would return.  It seemed like a freak show, and I chose to turn my back on it.  Then, in the later 2000s, I started to feel nostalgic and began listening to all of the older music again, Vanity most of all.  Now that the internet was everywhere, I sought out copies of her old movies and finally saw many for the first time, including the extremely controversial Tanya's Island - now I finally knew what the song "Wild Animal" was about!  I introduced her into my new world and forced her on my friends and especially my boyfriend, who was (and still is) a huge Madonna fan, but he eventually warmed up to her as well.  I pulled out old pics and posters and put them up.  I joined forums and met friends while talking about her, and created several monikers for websites derived from her various aliases, songs and films.  I made her my computer and phone wallpaper and screen savers.  I was again entrenched in the world of Vanity. Only after she passed this week did I realize just how much of her physically surrounds me in all aspects of my world.  I did check up on the real Denise Matthews at times, visiting her website and Facebook page, and I was happy that she had found happiness through religion, even if I didn't get it myself.  I felt horrible for her continuing illness, and the revelations of her abuse as a child and adult.  I read Nikki Sixx's Heroin Diaries, about his drug addiction in the year 1987, when he was dating Vanity and she was going through an equally destructive drug addiction.  She wrote several passages in the book, and I got a better idea of what she went though.  But, though Denise preferred it, I couldn't let Vanity go, and I created a Facebook page dedicated to her. I was thrilled at the response from followers and realized that I was far from alone in my love for Vanity.  Then a year or two later, I got a Facebook message from Denise Matthews herself!  In it she asked that I take the page down, as she no longer wanted her old self to be celebrated.  She asked me to call her so we could discuss it and gave me her phone number.  You can imagine my delight and horror!  Out of respect I immediately removed the page, but I could never call her.  I don't want to meet my idols, and I was also wary of her possible attempts to "convert" me.  Now that she is gone, I regret that decision.  I had no idea that she was so ill in the past months, and though I knew she was lucky to have lived this long, I was still so saddened by her death.  And though I know that she did not want people to celebrate Vanity, and I do also celebrate the amazing woman that was Denise Matthews, I need to post this tribute to her and share the music that made me so happy all of these years.  As I told her when we corresponded about the Facebook page, though she was regretful about her personal life the years she was known as Vanity, she should not dismiss or forget the joy that her music and films gave so many of us.  Without her, I would not be who I am today, which I'd like to think isn't so bad, as for some undefinable reason she instilled in me a strength and sass that I desperately needed as a teen, and I'm not sure that I would have discovered that without Vanity.  I am sorry that her life was often so sad, but I think in the end she was truly happy to go to the God she loved so dearly, and that is how I'll remember her.  Please celebrate and enjoy her work and life!

Video for He's So Dull

Video for Nasty Girl

Video for Drive Me Wild

Download Vanity 6

1 Nasty Girl
2 Wet Dream
3 Drive Me Wild
4 He's So Dull
5 If A Girl Answers (Don't Hang Up)
6 Make-Up
7 Bite The Beat
8 3 x 2 = 6

Video for Pretty Mess

Live performance of Samuelle

Live performance of Pretty Mess & Wild Animal

Download Wild Animal

1 Flippin' Out
2 Pretty Mess
3 Samuelle
4 Strap On "Robbie Baby"
5 Wild Animal
6 Mechanical Emotion
7 Crazy Maybe

Video for Under The Influence

Live performance of Romantic Voyage

Live performance of  Under The Influence & Animals

Download Skin On Skin

1 Under The Influence
2 Manhunt
3 Romantic Voyage
4 Confidential
5 Animals
6 Skin On Skin
7 Gun Shy
8 Ouch
9 In The Jungle

Missy Mist - Let The Good Times Roll (1991)

How about a bit more old school hip hop, this time of the Miami bass sort?  Missy Mist is Michelle Broom.  Originally from the Bronx, Michelle moved to Miami at a young age, where she convinced her mother to take her to a local radio station that LL Cool J was appearing at. While there, Michelle's mother convinced the security guard that Michelle could rap, and he introduced her to the DJ (and Miami bass pioneer), Eric Griffin, and his music partner Norberto Morales, who owned the successful Bass Station Records.  They liked what they heard and signed her.  Unfortunately Norberto was soon murdered, so Eric created his own label, Never Stop Productions, and started recording with Michelle, who now recorded under the name Missy Mist.  Their first track together was "Make It Mellow," in 1988, which became a Billboard rap hit.  It's success captured the attention of major label Atlantic Records, who quickly released the single on a larger scale. Missy followed this up the next year with "Gettin' Bass," which solidified her reputation as the queen of Miami bass.  Soon RCA Records came calling and Missy was signed to a lucrative deal.  With Eric again producing, the album included the Miami bass sound ("Back It Up" is the standout), but also explored other hip hop sounds, making it one of the more diverse albums from an artist associated with Miami bass.  There were samples aplenty, from Brian Hyland's "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" to S.O.S Band's "Take Your Time (Do It Right)".  The title track was the only single, and didn't fare quite as well as her previous tracks, and it would seem that RCA dropped her.  She stayed in Miami while Griffin moved to Missouri, where he was tragically murdered by thieves in his home studio in 1998.  While still dabbling in music, as well as doing voiceover work and acting, Michelle focused on being a housewife and mother.  She also went to school for Legal Studies in the hopes of one day becoming an Entertainment & Sports attorney.  And in 2013 she discussed her early days in an exciting documentary dedicated to Miami bass, The Bass That Ate Miami, which featured all of the pioneers and superstars of the genre, of which she was obviously one.  Visit her on Youtube or Facebook.

Download Let The Good Times Roll

1	Deadly
2	Let The Good Times Roll
3	Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend
4	Let's Pull Together
5	Think About Peace
6	We Can Do It
7	Rock The Funky Beat
8	Back It Up
9	Let's Get This Party Started
10	Yellow Polka Dot Bikini
11	Funky Enough

Ann Lee - Dreams (1999) & So Alive (2007) DOUBLE POST!!

Isle visitor Agus recently asked for Ann Lee's debut album, and luckily I ran across it yesterday while looking for something else, so I thought I'd share it with everyone!  Annerley Gordon has had a long and varied career in dance music.  She was born and raised in the UK, but in the late 1980s she moved to Italy, right when Italo-disco and Italo-house were exploding worldwide.  Though she never set out to be a singer, a talent scout heard her singing in a club and snatched her up.  Italian producers were drawn to Annerley's sweet, girlish voice, and she was soon snatched up by A.Beat-C. Records.  She released her first single in 1990, "Sexy Boy-Sexy Toy".  The following year she released two similar sounding singles also using her full name, "Donna" and "Hot 'N' Ready", as well as "Bad Love" under the moniker Annalise.  She would release several more singles on the label using both names over the next few years, and also for different labels under the name Charme, most notably on releases by Lee Marrow such as "Try Me Out" (which she co-wrote).  Italian producers were notorious for using the same vocalists on several tracks, but releasing the tracks under different aliases and using models to lip sync and pose for covers (Black Box is perhaps the most famous example), likely to give the illusion of a new artist yet maintain a familiar sound.  Annerley, along with vocalists like Sandy Chambers and Giovanna Bersola, was one of the most sought after.  During the same time she was releasing solo material, her voice was behind tracks by artists such as Ally & Jo, Go Go Girls, Groove Twins and Lolita.  It was also widely rumoured (and fairly evident) that she was the voice behind Whigfield, who had a worldwide smash with "Saturday Night", though Danish beauty Sannie Carlson appeared in the video and on record covers.  Further proof is that Annerley co-wrote Whigfield's next big hit, "Another Day" (Carlson has since taken over vocal duties, however).  An even bigger success for Annerely as a writer at this time was her having co-written the huge 1993 worldwide hit "Rhythm Of The Night" by Corona.  She continued to have huge success as a writer and vocalist throughout the 90's, so it was only natural that she would want to focus on a solo career.  She got together with renowned Italo-disco producer Larry Pignagnoli, who was behind much of the work she had done behind the scenes, and they concocted the eurohouse song "2 Times".  She released it in 1998 under her shortened name, Ann Lee, and it became an instant success in Europe, hitting the top 10 in most European countries, including her native UK, where it hit #2.  It managed to hit the Canadian top 20 singles chart as well.  An album and second single, "Voices", were released soon after, but to lesser success.  Two more singles also failed to hit, a remake of Anita Ward's "Ring My Bell" and "So Deep".  A new single, "No No No", was released in 2003, but Ann then went back behind the scenes until 2007, when she finally released a second album, So Alive, though this time it was on an indie label and only available digitally (except in Mexico, where it saw a CD release).  "Catches Your Love" and an update of "2 Times" were released as singles, but Ann soon disappeared again.  Since then, she has only appeared on former collaborator Benassi Bros.' Pumphonia album on a remix of "No No No", and as a featured vocalist on Favretto's "I Get The Feeling", both in 2009.  But I get the feeling, given her amazing musical history, that we'll see Ann back on the charts soon.

Video for 2 Times

Video for Voices

Video for Ring My Bell

Download Dreams

1		2 Times
2		Smooth & Sweet
3		Voices
4		Ring My Bell
5		In You
6		I Love You So
7		Come To Me
8		So Deep
9		Helpless
10		Looking For
11		Top Of The World
12		2 Times (Snapshot Mix)
13		2 Times (Master Boy Club Version)

Download So Alive

1	Catches Your Love
2	Everyday Everytime
3	She Wants To Be
4	Just An Hour
5	Every Single Day [Slow]
6	This Is What You Need
7	So Alive
8	Moonlight Dancing
9	Stop-Go
10	Hold The Key
11	Every Single Day
12	Hold My Hand Tonight [Bonus Track]
13	2 Times (Ice Bergem Vs. Favretto Radio Edit)

Circ - Love Electric (2002) & Madelin Zero - Dirty Purple (2005) DOUBLE POST!!

Though I can't remember exactly how, I recently discovered  American singer Madelin Zero.  Born  Madelin Lane, she grew up wanting to break into the music biz, having been classically trained as an opera singer, but was supporting herself as a talent scout.  In 2001 she moved to New York and met producer Alexander Perls at a Sonic Youth concert.  The two clicked and he asked her to do vocals on a track he had written called "Destroy She Said".  Taking the name Circ, the following year they released that track as their first single in Germany, where it became a club hit.  The song was picked up by Radikal Records in 2003 and became a club hit in North America as well.  That same year they released their second single, "Close Your Eyes", though it wasn't as big of a success.  The album Love Electric was released in Germany the following year, and they released the title track as their last single.  They split and Madelin was immediately enlisted by German trance producer ATB to write and provide vocals for three tracks on his album No Silence.  He returned the favour by producing the track "Perfect Day To Lose" for her solo album, which she soon set to work on.  She worked with several other German producers including Bill Hamel, who Madelin had provided backing vocals for in 1999 on the song "Waters Of The World" by his group Insight.  The album wasn't too far a departure from her work with Circ, though it was more electropop than trance based.  It was released on a small independent label in the US and two singles were released - "Goldstar" and "Gotta Know".  I prefer her solo album to the Circ album, in huge part due to the production talent behind her, but it took awhile to grow on me.  Though she was apparently classically trained in opera, her voice on the albums is very sweet and whispery.  The best I can compare it to would be Stacey Q (in fact "Goldstar" sounds like a lost Stacey track) or Annie.  I wasn't too fond of the album on first listen, but repeated listens have made it a favourite, a lot of fun.  Anyway, Madelin wouldn't be heard from again until 2008, when she collaborated with trance producer Roger Shah on the song "Alone With You" by Coastline.  She has since appeared on other trance tracks with acts like Kostya Veter, DNS Project, Adiva, and Pakka.  In 2011 she released a new solo track, "Love The Love", and chances are good that we'll be seeing some more new solo material from her again soon, so keep checking her website. 

Video for Destroy She Said

Video for Close Your Eyes

Download Love Electric

1		Love Electric
2		All Night
3		Destroy She Said
4		Danger
5		Close Your Eyes
6		A Soldier Now
7		Interlude
8		Somewhere
9		Don't Think About It
10		Revolution Song (Tonight, Tonight)
11		A Reason
12		Coming Down

Video for Goldstar

Download Dirty Purple

1		Gold Star
2		In The Morning
3		Don't Talk To Strangers
4		Perfect Day To Lose
5		On Top Of My Building
6		I Saw Your Video
7		Cold Professional
8		Gotta Know
9		One Exception
10		When The Future Comes
11		Anything Perfect
12		Your Mouth Is An Arcade
13		Cat And Mouse
14		Dirty Purple

Lene - Play With Me (2003)

Everyone knows Lene Nystrøm, the beautiful lead singer of Danish bubblegum europop group Aqua whose song "Barbie Girl" was a huge worldwide hit.  After the group released two albums, Aquarium in 1997 and Aquarius in 2000, and countless hit singles (well, hits everywhere except North America, where "Barbie Girl" remains their only top ten song), they broke up in 2001, amid rumours of discord within the group, and diminishing sales.  All of the members pursued other projects, with Lene being the most logical to pursue a solo career.  Over the next couple of years she gathered together top producers and writers for her debut album.  The producers included pop heavyweights like Brian Rawling, Xenomania, BAG & Arnthor and Bloodshy & Avant, and the writers included Kandi Burruss and Isle postees Ruby Amanfu (on "Surprise") and Stella Soleil.  Lene obviously wanted to distance herself from the chirpy bubblegum sound of Aqua, which had pretty much worn thin by the end of their run.  Instead she displayed her vocal prowess, lowering her register and slowing the beats down to sexier, more electro-inflected pop and even some rock.  The song "Virgin Superstar" was released to radio, and it's success led to the proper release of her first single, "It's Your Duty".  The song was an instant hit in her native Scandinavia, hitting #3 on the pop charts, no doubt aided by the sexy video.  The next single was "Pretty Young Thing", a remake of the Stella Soleil song which was also released as a single.  As with Stella's version, it failed to hit (Tina Cousins also recorded the song in 2006 and had a minor hit with it, finally).  The album also failed to hit in her native land, and was only given limited release in the rest of the world, with no release in the coveted US.  Unfortunate, as it's a fun, solid pop album.  Promos for "Here We Go" (a cover of the Moonbaby track) and "Scream" were released but to no success and Lene was dropped from Polydor/Universal.  After that she appeared on the song "I Love N.Y." on the album by husband and Aqua bandmate Søren Rasted's Lazyboy project, and she had success as a songwriter in 2006 when Girls Aloud recorded her songs "No Good Advice" (which was a huge hit) and "You Freak Me Out" for their debut album (they also later covered "Here We Go" in 2004 and "We Wanna Party" in 2008).  In 2007, Aqua reformed to tour Denmark, which led to the release of a greatest hits album in 2009 that included three new songs, and a new album in 2011 entitled Megalomania.  Soon after Lene was enlisted to be a judge on the Danish edition of the singing competition The Voice, where she still holds court. (BTW, the album is available on iTunes in some of Europe and Amazon in the US if you are from there and want the best quality version of it.  The rest of you will have to settle for this download for now. ;)

Video for It's Your Duty

Video for Pretty Young Thing

Download Play With Me

1		Virgin Superstar
2		Pretty Young Thing
3		It's Your Duty
4		Play With Me
5		Bad Coffee Day
6		Here We Go
7		Bite You
8		Up In Smoke
9		We Wanna Party
10		Pants Up
11		Surprise
12		Scream

Katalina - Sonic Groove (1996)

Another of my requests has been fulfilled, and I must share it with you all immediately! Many thanks to eurodanceboy for this amazing album download! :) My friend Bomitoni at Milk Carton Pop Stars did a feature on Katalina a few years ago, which intrigued me about this lovely lady. What he discovered is that her real name is Kara Wethington and she was originally from Chicago. The best known story goes that she was working part time in a recording studio and famed producer Jon St. James was making a demo for which the featured vocalist did not show up. He asked Kara to lay down the vocals and liked them so much that he kept them. And voila, Katalina was born! According to Kara in a recent interview, however, she actually used to walk by the studio (located in La Habra, California) during lunch breaks at high school and admired the gold records in the window. She walked in one day and met St. James and members of punk group The Vandals and told them she was a singer. St. James asked her to come back the next day to sing for them, but with the intention of laughing at her. But he liked her vocals and together they wrote a song. That song was "DJ Girl". It became a dance club smash, and also reached #86 on the Billboard Hot 100. This led to an album with Restless Records that was primarily produced by St. James, the brilliant man behind Stacey Q and former postees Bardeux. In fact, Bardeux member Acacia even co-produced the ballad "You'll Be My Future", which also became a single. Most songs were co-written by Katalina and St. James, and the album was a dance explosion, exploring euro-house, trance, electro and even a bit of freestyle, and she also does a great synthy remake of Berlin's "The Metro". The title track was also released as a single, but neither it or "You'll Be My Future" managed to hit. According to Kara, despite her touring, there was little promotion and the label didn't release the album. Even though it was eventually released on Thump Records, the lack of promotion killed it. A new track, a remake of the classic "Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered", appeared on the soundtrack to the film Simply Irresistible in 1999, but that was the last that was heard from Katalina. Kara, however, continued on as occasional vocalist (mainly with punk bands) and actress and now is primarily a fashion publicist. For more on what she's up to you can follow her on Twitter and read the interview I mentioned HERE. I'm just so pleased that she managed to release this one album and that now finally it is mine! :)

Video for DJ Girl

Live performance of DJ Girl on Ricki Lake

Download Sonic Groove

1		Eternity
2		DJ Girl
3		I'm Out Of Luck
4		Feel The Rhythm
5		My Boyfriend
6		You'll Be My Future
7		Something About The Way
8		Sonic Groove
9		For Your Love
10		You Disappear
11		Metro
12		Invisible

Roonie G. - Beyond The Looking Glass (1994)

I've been posting so many 80s albums lately, it's time to step back into the 90s. Here is a CD I picked up in a dollar bin somewhere that remains an interesting sidenote to the career of an artist who has flourished in a different aspect of music - as a DJ. Roongsak Griffeth was born in Thailand but traveled the world from a young age due to his father's station in the army. He eventually settled in Georgia in the US and began DJing as a teen. He eventually attended college and obtained an electrical engineering degree, but stayed employed as a DJ. His specialty was old R&B music, and he ended up getting a residency at an Ohio bar where he remained for 10 years. After honing his remixing skills, in 1989 he was hired to remix many songs for the popular club remixing service Ultimix, where he remixed songs for the likes of Janet Jackson, Naughty By Nature, and Salt 'N' Pepa. His specialty was hip hop and electro, and this led to more work with another DJ service, X-Mix, where he remixed songs by artists like Aaliyah and Chingy. Along the way, it was only natural for him to explore making his own music, and he decided to release an album that would feature his considerable mixing skills. He released the album on his own label. It is very electro-influenced, with a ton of samples and Roonie rapping on most tracks. It also uses heavy doses of freestyle and Miami bass elements, and features female vocals and child voices. At times it's even reminiscent of Snap!. Though he released two singles, the double-sided "Change The Beat/Dirty Mind" and "Voice Of A Nu Generation (The Baby Song)", the album went unnoticed and Roonie returned to DJing. To be honest, with the over-abundance of samples and Roonie's sub-par rapping, it is an acquired taste. But he did carry on very successfully as a DJ, DJing several Superbowl and NBA parties, and he still tours the world, as his website will attest. He also got a reputation as a pioneer of video DJing, mixing sounds and visuals together for a show that goes beyond just music, indeed beyond the looking glass. ;) It is interesting that most of the biographical info available on him doesn't mention his one album as an artist, but it's definitely a rare curio that you should give a spin.

Download Beyond The Looking Glass

1		Intro
2		The Future
3		Merri Go Round
4		Thro' Your Hands In Da Air
5		Beyond The Looking Glass
6		Change The Beat
7		Rush
8		Voice Of A Nu Generation (The Baby Song)
9		Dirty Mind
10		April Fools
11		Girl, U Turn Me On
12		Deeper
13		The G-Spot
14		Worth The Wait
15		Forgive Me Girl

Lushus Daim & The Pretty Vain - More Than You Can Handle (1985)

Imagine, if you will, that a 15 year old small town Canadian boy, obsessed with Prince and his protegees and really any female R&B singer at that time, picks up at his local record store a 7" single called "More Than You Can Handle" by a mysterious act called Lushus Daim & The Pretty Vain, and it's on the Motown label. An instant rush of excitement and forbidden desire overcomes him and he simply MUST have it, even though he has no idea who this act is or what the song sounds like. Imagine further when said record turns out to be even more than he could have hoped for, yes, more than he could handle!! Well, that boy was me, and I was instantly smitten. Of course, all I had was this single, without even a picture sleeve, and no way of finding out more about this mysterious 'Lushus Daim'. Then, sometime later, I was casually flipping through albums at a used record store in Toronto and happened across a lovely visage that I first mistook to be that of my goddess Vanity. Instead, it turned out to be THE Lushus Daim and her album of the same name as my precious single! I was overwhelmed by just how awesome that image was. She looked even better than I could have imagined! I could barely wait to get home to listen to the album. And then...I was underwhelmed. Perhaps too much time had passed, but the music just didn't move me as I'd hoped. Then again, my expectations were very high. I gave it a few listens and then forgot about it until recently. Upon listening to it again, I finally appreciate it's brilliance. Thanks to the retro-electro-funk revival over the past couple of years, this album seems fresh and exciting. It's solid from beginning to end. It seems that Motown may have been looking for another Vanity, whose debut solo album they released the year before, or at least a female artist who emulated the looks and vibe that Prince had created in his protegees. But while the music has many Prince-ish qualities, it was in fact produced by Leon Sylvers III, who was at the height of his electro-funk craft, having produced groups like Shalamar, The Whispers, Krystol and Five Star. The title track was released as a single but, aside from rocking my world, it didn't make an impact. Neither did the follow-up, the lovely mid-tempo ballad "The One You Love". And that seems to be the end of it. Nothing more was heard from or can be found on this elusive beauty. I did read a brief interview back in the day where she claimed that Lushus Daim was her real name. Also, I don't think there ever was a 'Pretty Vain', as the credits on the album encompass a wide array of players, with Sylvers being the most prominent. Lushus did co-write all but the title song, however. Whatever the case, we luckily have this piece of electro-funk magic to remember her fondly by. Today's retro-loving acts only wish they could craft something so tasty.

UPDATE: Here is a little update left in the comments from an anonymous visitor (perhaps Lushus herself?):

"The Pretty Vain was the name of her band. She is doing well, married with 3 children living in Los Angeles. She only sings for fun now around family and friends but she still has an amazing voice. Her daughter has inherited her talent and hopefully we'll be hearing from her soon."

Video for The One You Love

Download More Than You Can Handle

1		More Than You Can Handle
2		The One You Love
3		Be There For Me
4		The Rhythm Of Love
5		Flex
6		Pretty Poison
7		Attention Addict
8		Payback
9		For You