Twenty years later, it’s hard to believe that the woman on “American Idol” who appears to be incapable of stringing together a complete sentence was once the hottest chick in the game, but…between 1989-1991 or so, Paula was right up there with Madonna and Janet. Actually, if you pull Madge’s “Immaculate Collection” out of the equation, Paula’s two hit albums, 1988’s “Forever Your Girl” and 1991’s “Spellbound”, outsold Madonna’s entire recorded output from 1989-1996, which consists of three studio albums and a movie soundtrack. Her influence might not have been as far-reaching, but there was definitely a period when she was the preferred option.
While songs like “Opposites Attract” and “Rush Rush” haven’t exactly aged well from a musical standpoint (and the less said about the horrific videos for both, the better), “Straight Up” retains it’s flavor two full decades after it launched Paula’s career (and if we can backtrack for a second, keep in mind that this was the third single release from “Forever Your Girl”…how many labels these days would burn two singles from an artist before breaking them out?). Paula has never been the world’s greatest singer (in the understatement of the year), but she laid into this track with enough attitude to offset her limited vocal capability. Combine the attitude with a relentless backing track and you have a song that served as an anthem to all the ladies out there who were taking no shit from sometimey guys.
Plus, the lady could dance her ass off back in the day. The video’s still mesmerising to watch.
…And can someone tell me why she looks exactly like Lisa Lisa on the single cover?
Who knew sitting on your ass could be so exhausting? After a day at the beach, I’m maxin’ and relaxin’ and ready for another edition of the Sunday Shuffle. Let’s get started!!
Track 1: “Room To Breathe” by Downtown Science
Downtown Science was a rap group consisting of Sam Sever (who at that point was best known as one of 3rd Bass’s producers) and Bosco Money (who had one of the most unfortunate rap handles ever invented). It took me ages to track this CD down on half.com, as it’s been out of print for ages. This song has a very airy quality to it with a looped piano riff and a fairly easygoing backbeat for the average hip-hop record. I like it more for the beat than anything else. Another thing worth noting is that Bosco Money sounds a LOT like 3rd Bass’s MC Serch. This album is also notable for featuring the recording debut of noted female MC The Lady of Rage. Wonder if she’s still rockin’ rough and stuff with her Afro puffs.
2. “Everloving” by Moby
“Play” was Moby’s lightning in a bottle. I haven’t particularly cared for anything before or since (actually, I kinda gave up on him after being completely unimpressed by “Hotel”), but, damn, “Play” is such a good album. This song has a very hazy, new age-ish quality to it, like a very slightly more caffeinated Enigma (without the Gregorian monk chants).
3. “My Ex-Girlfriend” by Tony! Toni! Tone!
“Sons of Soul” is one of the five best R&B albums of the Nineties. The smoothness of this track sort of obscures the fact that the chorus of the song goes “My ex-girlfriend is a ho”. It comes off as more funny than misogynistic. It’s got a pretty neat doo-woppy mid-section, too. Damn, what happened to the R&B band? There’s Mint Condition, The Roots, and…
I guess it ain’t cool for black folks to play instruments anymore.
Track 4: “I Miss You” by Bjork
OK, Bjork’s always been kind of weird, but as her career has progressed, her albums have gotten more and more obtuse. Her first couple of albums at least placed her weirdness in a danceable, poppy framework. Now, it’s basically just like “I don’t get it”. I hate most dance music made after 1990, but this and the rest of “Debut” is pretty damn good. Wacky horn part too.
Track 5: “Diamonds & Pearls” by Prince & the New Power Generation
This is one of the few songs-perhaps the ONLY song-where Prince plays second fiddle to another artist. In this case, Rosie Gaines hits this one out of the park. It’s one of Prince’s more lyrically slight songs, but this is one of those cases where the feeling overrules the somewhat Hallmark-ish sentiments. I’d post the video, but I don’t want to feel Prince’s high heel in my ass, so let’s just skip it for right now.
Track 6: “Trying People” by De La Soul
Hip-hop isn’t exactly overflowing with tearjerkers, but this song is near the top of my list. Over a dreamlike Laura Nyro sample (this song was one of several things that made me investigate her music further), Pos and Dave deliver subdued, mature meditations on life. Sounds simple enough, but man, rarely is hip-hop so nakedly emotional. Yet another stamp on De La Soul’s status as the most criminally underrated hip-hop act EVER.
Track 7: “Possibly Maybe” by Bjork
Wow…I wasn’t expecting iTunes to go Bjork crazy on me tonight. After the relative nuttiness of “I Miss You”, “Possibly Maybe” is the calming rain after. Just Bjork and a heartbeat of a drum machine. A perfect way to end this week’s seven. Good night.
I’ll be honest-I can’t really judge instrumental proficiency. Hell, there are very few artists that I can identify by the tone of their instrument. The only ones I can think of off the top of my head are David Sanborn…and Patrice Rushen. Rushen’s piano playing (whether on the acoustic or electric) has a certain warmth to it that makes her singles completely recognizable before she even utters a word.
1982’s “Forget Me Nots” is an exercise in musical simplicity. Show me the keys and I could probably play the piano part. Rushen’s vocal is delightfully breezy and fairly plain-spoken. Even the standard Eighties sax solo sounds unfussy and relaxed. The song reminds me of summer, of backyard barbecues, and of roller skating-although I didn’t hit a skating rink for the first time until 1985, so I don’t know where that comes from. It also reminds me of Will Smith’s “Men in Black” and George Michael’s “Fastlove”, considering both songs heavily rely on “Forget Me Nots” as their musical base.
Rushen started off as a fairly standard jazz/fusion artist before being convinced to actually sing. Her wispy voice and her youthful good looks (now in her fifties, Rushen literally looks half her age) along with her musical proficiency helped her score a handful of R&B hits, with her peak period being 1979-1984. She also had an early musical association with Prince. I’m not sure if the piano solo on “Sexy Dancer” is her, but it certainly sounds like her. There’s also a rumor that 1979’s Prince song “I Feel for You” (later covered by Chaka Khan) was written both for and about Patrice.
After the hits died down towards the end of the Eighties, Patrice became one of the most sought after instrumentalists in the industry. She served as musical director for Janet Jackson’s 1993 “janet.” tour, and has also been the musical director for the NAACP Image Awards, the People’s Choice Awards, the Emmys and the Grammys. Pretty impressive to rise to the top in an area where you don’t see many women, much less women of color.
This is another one of those cheesy early Eighties videos. You have to laugh at the simplicity. I can’t find an embeddable version, folks, so you’re just gonna have to go here…
