Hall Of Fame - Roxy Roller (1994)

From what little I can piece together, Hall Of Fame began in the Philippines as a cover band fronted by a trio of teenage sisters: Luisa, Tota and Ajie Mendez. After they moved to the west coast of Canada with their parents , Luisa and Tota somehow managed to hook up with vocalist/keyboardist Peter James, guitarist Herb Classens and drummer Steve Marshall. Together with producer James Bowers, the group concocted a pop album that covered all of the genres that were hot at the moment. The title track was a remake of the only hit by Canadian glam-rock band Sweeney Todd (whom Bryan Adams would later become the lead singer of and thus begin his lengthy career). That song was the sole reason that I picked up this album, as it was a childhood favourite. Their version isn't too different than the original, except with a dancier backbeat and a female vocal. They managed to release one single from the album, "Irie", which is a reggae-pop song, not unlike something by Ace Of Base or Aswad. The vocals on the album are shared between the ladies and Peter James. The rest of the independently released album includes a few more reggae-pop tracks, a few ballads, and three great euro-house tracks: "In Love With You", "Feel The Magic" and "You Turn Me On". Those three songs alone make this album worth the price, which was a bit more then I'd planned on paying, but I only had this album on cassette and figured you all would love it, so I got it off eBay and it arrived yesterday, and voila! ;) Anyway, they had absolutely no profile in Canada, never mind the rest of the world, and they came and went with barely a whimper. But fear not, as I discovered that Luisa is now one of Canada's premiere Tina Turner impersonators! In addition to Tina, she impersonates the likes of Donna Summer, Amy Winehouse and Lady GaGa! And she also fronts the Big Night Out Band, a cover band whose members also support her tribute acts and includes her sister Tota and Hall Of Fame's drummer Steve Marshall, whom apparently she is now married to. Go to her websites HERE and HERE for more!

Download Roxy Roller

1		Roxy Roller
2		Irie
3		Grab Dat Butt
4		What Could Be Better
5		It Must Be Love
6		Takin' Our Time
7		In Love With You
8		Down By The River
9		Feel The Magic
10		You Turn Me On
11		Falling In Love Again

Buffy - First Love (1996)

So, it seems due time to offer up another gem to my freestyle fanatics. Buffy is Buffy Salongo, a Filipino (or Pinay) beauty, cutely named after the character in the 70's TV show Family Affair. She was discovered singing at a friend's wedding by Dadgel Atabay, a frequent collaborator of freestyle king Stevie B. He soon started up his own label, Velocity Records, and asked Buffy to record a song he wrote, "Give Me...A Reason". The result was so successful that the song even managed to make it into the Billboard Top 100, to number 78. This was despite that fact that, along with the song being released on an indie label, freestyle had long been out of favour with the public. Yet she seemed to strike at the right time, as freestyle was having a brief resurgence thanks to acts like Planet Soul, Jocelyn Enriquez and previous postee Lina Santiago. She soon followed her hit up with a full album. (Fans of slain Tejano pop singer Selena will want to check out "I Miss You", which is a tribute to her.) More singles were released, such as "No One" and "2 Find U", but their popularity remained solely in the few freestyle circles that still existed. Buffy decided to leave Dadgel and his label in 1998 for personal reasons, which was perhaps a bad move, as nothing has been heard from her since. But should freestyle have yet another massive resurgence, she will no doubt be at the forefront, as she was definitely one of the favoured 'new school' freestyle artists.

Download First Love

1		Give Me...A Reason
2		No One
3		2 Find U
4		Someday
5		It's Your Love
6		I Miss You
7		First Love
8		Gotta Believe
9		Give Me (At-A-Ballad)
10		No One (Matador Mix)
11		No One (Boy Meets Girl Mix)

Jaya - Jaya (1989)

Jaya is Maria Luisa Ramsey Buffington, a Filipino soul singer who fell under the production guidance of freestyle king Stevie B. According to legend, Stevie B already had an album in the works for another artist who pulled out at the last minute, and Jaya (a name Stevie cooked up) came in to pick up the pieces. The album was released during freestyle's heyday, and the debut single, "If You Leave Me Now" was a huge freestyle hit and hit #44 on the Billboard Hot 100. It featured a heavy dose of Stevie B, which no doubt helped make it a dance hit. The album wasn't exactly the freestyle romp one would expect, though. It leaned more heavily on R&B and soul, which was Jaya's true love (she is known as the Filipino Queen Of Soul, after all). Unfortunately, this didn't endear it to a large audience, and despite dance chart success, Jaya failed to set the pop charts aflame. The second single, "One Kiss Per Minute", barely made a blip, and the album and artist faded into obscurity - at least in North America. Jaya has had a very healthy career in the Philippines, however, and has released several successful albums since this, and she also judges on Filipino TV talent shows. Though North American success eluded her, it's nice to know the lady still shines overseas.

Video for Shadow Love

Download Jaya

1		If You Leave Me Now
2		You Mean Everything To Me
3		Hooked On Your Love
4		One Kiss Per Minute (7" Mix)
5		Shadow Love
6		Everybody Wants What I Got
7		Tonight You'll See
8		Bring Back Your Loving