One To One (One 2 One) - Forward Your Emotions (1985), 1-2-1 (1988) & Imagine It (1992) TRIPLE POST!!!

There isn't much more that I can say about One To One than I already have in my posts about Sal's Birdland and Artificial Joy Club, the groups they became after their poppy phase as One To On. So go to those posts for more details.  I will add that the duo or Louise Reny and Leslie Howe came from Ottawa, Canada's capital, and were very involved in Alanis Morrisette's dance-pop phase before Jagged Little Pill. Alanis even does backing vocals on the song "Friends" from Imagine It.  Forward Your Emotions was very much new-wave and synth-pop, a popular sound in 1985.  Their first single, "There Was A Time", reached #14 in the Canadian Top 40. The next, "Angel in My Pocket", only reached #24 there, but it also hit the Billboard Hot 100, reaching #92. The third single, "Black On White", only managed to squeak into the end of the Canadian Top 100. Their next album, 1-2-1, was a lot less new wave and a lot more straight up pop.  The first single, "Hold Me Now", reached #25 on the Canadian charts, while the next three singles hit the Canadian Top 100 - "Love Child"(#43), "Do You Believe" (#34) & "We've Got the Power" (#90). In 1992, they changed their name slightly to One 2 One, which was likely to differentiate their new folky, pop rock sound. They had their biggest Canadian hit with the single "Peace of Mind (Love Goes On)", which reached  #11, which also hit #95 on the Billboard Hot 100. The following two singles, "Memory Lane" and "Friends", hit the Canadian Top 40 and reached #34 and #36, respectively.  After that, they formed Sal's Birdland, which eventually became Artificial Joy Club, and delved into much harder rock. I realized it was due time to post their albums, so enjoy!










Video for There Was A Time

Video for Angel In My Pocket

Download Forward Your Emotions

1 Don't Call It Love
2 Angel In My Pocket
3 Hearts And Diamonds
4 Where's The Answer
5 Forward Your Emotions
6 There Was A Time
7 Black On White
8 Love Is Blind
9 Boys Will Be Boys
10 Tell Me Straight

Video for Hold Me Now

Download 1-2-1

1 Hold Me Now
2 Love Child
3 We've Got The Power
4 Do You Believe
5 Heading For Zero
6 Inside These Eyes
7 Victorious
8 Voices Cry
9 Life Is So Easy
10 Not A Love Song

Video for Peace Of Mind (Love Goes On)

Download Imagine It

1 Peace Of Mind (Love Goes On)
2 Memory Lane
3 Keeping Faith
4 Friends
5 Big On Emotion
6 Tough To Tame
7 I'll Walk Away
8 Big Hush
9 Gypsy Girl
10 World Without Love

Sal's Birdland - So Very Happy (1994)

Another CD I ran across the other day in a dusty box was the first album by Sal's Birdland.  They should be familiar to Isle followers as I did a post on them years ago, but under their newer moniker of Artificial Joy Club.  As I mentioned in that post, the group was formed by the pop duo formerly known as One To One (later One 2 One), Louise Reny and Leslie Howe.  After having several Canadian pop hits as One To One starting in 1985, from the synth-pop of "There Was A Time" and "Angel In My Pocket" (which even appeared at the tail end of the Billboard Hot 100) to the straight up pop of "Hold Me Now" to the folkier pop of  "Memory Lane", they eventually called it quits in 1992 after releasing three albums.  (Howe also produced Alanis Morissette's pre-Jagged Little Pill Canadian pop albums, with Reny assisting, near the end of their time as One 2 One.)  The duo took a couple of years off to regroup, and after enlisting Mike Goyette, Andrew Lamarche, and Tim Dupont, they took the name Sal's Birdland and recorded their first album, which was released on Howe's Ghetto Records label and was produced by Howe.  Their sound became rougher edged, much more rock pop.  The album was impressive enough that the group was picked up for Sire Records' Discovery sublabel in the US, and producer Michael James was enlisted to slick up their sound for the American market.  In 1995, Nude Photos Inside was released.  It consisted mostly of So Very Happy tracks, with "My Heaven", "That's The Way" and "Something Devine" replaced with "Love Is Groovy", "I'm Not Like Madonna", "Crumble" and "Wanna Be A Star".  "Love Is Groovy" was the only single and it failed to make any impact.  This did not discourage the group, however, and in 1997 they returned as Artificial Joy Club on a bigger label, Interscope, and with greater, though still not stellar, success, adding electronic elements to their rock to emulate popular groups of the time, most specifically Garbage (as did several other postees like Transister and Sister Soleil).  When AJC didn't pan out as expected, the group disbanded.  Though keeping a low profile since, Howe occasionally produces and Reny performed with cover band Bubbles Cash and the Rhythm Method.  Should we expect a new incarnation soon?
 
Download So Very Happy

1		Should Have Been A Man
2		My Heaven
3		That's The Way
4		So Fucking Happy
5		California Au Revoir
6		Wonderful World
7		Beating Up Myself
8		Punching Bag
9		Take A Look (At My Life)
10		Someone Devine

Artificial Joy Club – Melt (1997)

Like Sister Soleil, Artificial Joy Club emerged with the rise of Garbage. But the main members of AJC were hardly new on the scene. Lead singer Sal (aka Louise Reny) and producer Leslie Howe had long been a part of the pop music world, especially in Canada. They were once known as synth-pop and then pop-rock duo One 2 One, who had several Canadian hits. They then formed a band and tried an unsuccessful hard rock transformation as Sal’s Birdland before changing their name to AJC. And perhaps most importantly, Howe produced Alanis’ first two teen pop albums, before Jagged Little Pill, while Louise served as Alanis’ muse, with Alanis taking on her vocal stylings. AJC was their attempt to ride the pop mainstream. It’s ‘alternative’ pop rock, with lots of synths thrown in. And it failed pretty badly, but is not without it’s merits. Not much has been heard from the duo since, but don’t be surprised if they reinvent themselves once again, like a phoenix rising from the flames of failure. And I’ll be first in line to buy their album!

Video for Sick & Beautiful

Video for Spaceman

Download Melt

1		Psychic Man
2		Skywriting
3		Sick & Beautiful
4		Spaceman
5		No Shame
6		I Say
7		You're Too Good To Me
8		Crawl
9		Cheeky Monkey
10		Garbage Cans