The eclectic playlist of a former music junkie who had to give up her addiction when she became hearing impaired. Reviews, cherished memories, videos and audio. Come and lend me your ears
Today is the 73rd birthday of female rock and roll icon, Tina Turner.
Simply Tina!
Tina Turner was born on this day, 26th November in 1939. She started her musical career in the mid-50's and is noted as one of the most famous female Rock icons.
As an 80s kid, Tina's music was heavily influential on my musical ears so it's only fair that on this day, I honour her by posting a favourite classic...an electrifying performance of Proud Mary, courtesy of youtube ...Rock out!
I love Mary J Blige, Queen of Hip Hop
Soul and have a lot of her music in my collection. This song, 'Take
Me As I Am', comes from Mary's seventh studio album, The Breakthrough
2005 Geffen Records. 'Take Me As I Am', like a lot of other Mary's
songs, is soul searching soul. Laying the hurt out there, yet
remaining a survivor through the storms.
"Take Me As I Am" Mary J Blige
My hearing had started to deteriorate
quite noticeably around the release of The Breakthrough, my youngest
daughter was almost one and I was pretty much in a dark place with
the dramas of life and the backstabbing frenemies around me. Apart
from the chorus “Take me as I am, or have nothing at all...”,
I couldn't make out the other lyrics and the CD inlay, although it
was packed with fantastic images of the beautiful Ms Blige, didn't
contain any lyrics (that always p!$$*$ me off). It was a year or so
after buying the CD that I downloaded the lyrics but...even without
them, the power of Mary's voice created the imagery of self and
social acceptance. The melody in her voice grabs the heart and swims
through your soul and through the pain, suffering and torment your
going through, Mary knows and you feel so much better, uplifted.
That's the magic of music.
I always play “Take Me As I Am” in
those dark days when I've been in the company of rotten friends, when
I feel frustrated with my hearing or just feeling lack of self-worth.
If you haven't heard the song (Then Where The Hell Have You Been?),
play the youtube video above which features an audio recording of the
track with lyrics.
70s and 80s Soul Funk band Cameo
brought their funk to London's Jazz Cafe this week for five nights
(22nd October to 26th October 2012). I became
familiar with the 'outrageous' band in the 80s, when they released
hits such as, Candy, She's Strange, Word Up, and many more. Lead
singer Larry Blackmon's infamous cod-piece always springs to mind
whenever I think of the band. He still wears them now as you can see
in the picture taken from the gig.
Cameo's Larry Blackmon at London's Jazz Cafe
sporting a packed 'cod-piece'
Wardrobe shockers aside, Cameo made
some classic groove tunes back in the day. Their tunes appealed to a
wide audience; from gangsters to housewives, black people to white.
It's good to know they're still jamming and I would love to be able to
see them performing and feel the vibe. Many mixed reviews have been
published about their performance some say Larry is “past his
sell-by date”, whilst others say the group are still “hot” and
gaining a “new audience to old skool funk” as well as a revival
for loyal fans. Check out this clip I found of Cameo performing "She's
Strange" at the Jazz Cafe, 23rd October 2012.
Melanie (left) and Kim (right) Appleby
Image Credit: Streetview at www.streetview.co.uk
Mel and Kim were a Pop duo, successful in the 80s with their catchy,
'girl power', pop songs written and produced by 80s
songwriting/producing giants, Stock Aitken and Waterman. Active for
four years (1986 to 1990) and releasing four top 10 hits in the UK,
these London born sisters made a big stamp on my music collection and fashion sense back then.
SISTERS
I was 12 in 1986 when they released their debut single "Showing Out
(Get Fresh At The Weekend)" and everyone I knew was singing and
shoulder shaking to that tune. The sisters, who were mixed raced,
were beautiful, sassy and stylish. Young girls either wanted to be
like them or they hated them out of envy and guys would debate over
which sister they fancied the most.
Check out the dance moves in the "Respectable" video
(above) to get a real taste of the 80s
Mel and Kim weren't the greatest of singers but they were good for
the pop dance scene. After “Showing Out” came "Respectable" 1987, which was the anthem for young women and their first number 1
in the UK.
"Take or leave us, only please believe us
We are never gonna be respectable
Like or hate us, but you'll never change us
We are never gonna be respectable"
Stock, Aitken and Waterman's production style featured many vocal
synthesizers on acts they worked with. A popular 80s method was the
vocal skipping, similar to when a DJ scratches a record. A lot of
vocal skipping was used on this track (Respectable), which made the
song hilarious for fans to sing at times.
Mel and Kim with funky open hats
and the 'Pineapple' hairstyles
Their number one success broadened their fan base and celebrity
status. The bubbly sisters appeared on many TV shows and graced
covers of pop magazines. Their cheeky attitude, Melanie, the
youngest being the more feisty of the two, for me, made them more
likeable. They dressed in sync and had some fabulous hairstyles, the
'pineapple', the most popular, started a trend. Unfortunately
though, as many popular music artists experience today, media
interest is a double-sided sword. When the press dug up Melanie's
former glamour model career, many parents didn't want their children
listening an idolising a "tart". Back in the 80s, attitudes
weren't as relaxed and welcoming as of today of girls who got their "boobs out", unless they were on Page 3 of The Sun. Back then a
glamour model in layman's terms was a 'glamourised prostitute'.
Melanie handled herself well, spoke about it fairly openly and tried
to move on.
Melanie left this earth too young,
too soon.
"F.L.M. (Fun Love and Money)", their third single, was another
fun and catchy tune. Because of their success and travelling abroad
to promote themselves, critics gave the impression Mel and Kim were
too lazy or too busy to film a video for the song. Although, at the
time, I was a little disappointed the girls weren't busting new styles
and grooves, I loved the puppets of the duo, featured in the video.
What nobody knew at the time was that Melanie was suffering problems
with her back...which turned out to be secondary cancer of the spine.
When the news of Melanie's illness became public (her ex boyfriend (scum) sold pictures of her whilst undergoing chemotherapy, looking fragile
and losing her hair), the fans were stunted with shock. I remember
feeling very afraid for her because she was so young. Having lost
members of my family to the disease, I'd seen the pain. On release
of their fourth, and sadly final track "That's The Way It Is" in
1988, it was hoped that Melanie was winning the fight against cancer. "That's The Way It Is" had great chart success and I remember
taping it off the radio (the 80s way of downloading music) and
singing along to the words on full volume at my grandparents stereo
or at school with my girl pals thinking we were stush. Sadly,
Melanie wasn't getting better. She died in January 1990 after
contracting pneumonia, her immune system weakened by chemotherapy.
"Keep looking after number one"
It was singing "Respectable" to my eight year old daughter this
week that inspired me to feature Mel and Kim "In The Spotlight".
I want my kids to know about Mel and Kim, the same way they
appreciate Rihanna, Lady Gaga and the like. It's so sad that fate was
so cruel to them because I know they had so much further to go. Kim
did go on to have a mediocre solo career. She released one album Kim
Appleby in 1990 which gave her two Top 10 hits. I bought the
album, its somewhere in a mountain of cassettes that I refuse to
dispose off. It's a good pop album with R&B dance influences.
Many of the songs were co-written with Melanie before her passing.
Kim is no longer seen in the public eye but I hope she has
fond memories of her career, even though she lost her sister in the
process. Mel and Kim brought an urban flavour to pop music which was
brilliant for young black kids like myself, heavily influenced by the
R&B and Reggae of our parents. Despite the lyrics of their most successful
song, Mel and Kim were very RESPECTABLE.
