Pretty Poison from variation new wave to variation freestyle an Eighties success story

I just added even more to this blog post.
Philadelphia based Pretty Poison broke with Catch Me I'm Falling.  But they actually had a string of single releases and ep.'s before that.  NIGHTIME  NIGHTIME DUB  CATCH ME

There's download stuff sprinkles all throughout this post.
a pretty zip
More Pretty

I love Jade Starling's vocals, their look was very big hair 80's. Here's her MySpace

I'm enclosing a zip which features several versions of Nightime including the totally electrifying dub and the Shep Pettibone Mix and their huge #8 hit from 1987 Catch Me.  And another zip which contains a funky version of Nightime entitled In the Heat of the Night.   The original 12" release made it up to #14 dance in 1984.  Catch Me took it up to #1 and then the re-release with new mixes of Nightime peaked at #13 in 1988.  I didn't really follow their other releases though When I Look into Your Eyes squeaked out a Top 10 dance spot in 1988 too. 

Here are the lyrics to Nightime:

Come, feel the steady rhythm of the nightlife

And hear excitement in the air.
Baby, when the night comes down, 
You know where I can be found, 
Dancing in a midnight fantasy.

Chorus:
In the Nightime
Blame it on the Nightime.
In the Nightime
Baby, that's the right time.

I feel a strange desire in the moonlight
Dreams of another dance in my eyes.
Baby, when the stars shine bright, 
Dance with me all through the night.
Be my lover til the light of day.

Chorus:
In the Nightime, 
Blame it on the Nightime.
In the Nightime yeah, 
Baby, that's the right time.
Right time for me.

Nightime is the right time
Nightlife is for me.
Dancing til the break of day, 
No place I'd rather be.

Nightime is the right time; 
Nightlife is for me.
Dancing til the break of day, 
No place I'd rather be.

In the Nightime, blame it on the Nightime.
In the Nightime, baby, that's the right time.
In the Nightime, blame it on the Nightime.
In the Nightime, yeah, baby, that's the right time.
Right time for me.

Nightime is the right time
Nightlife is for me
Nightime is the right time
Nightlife is for me
Nightime
Nightlife is for me.

All in all it's a sound I can really appreciate.  Not quite freestyle, not quite electro and not really house either.  It's a unique record and is clearly influenced by many sounds at the same time.  When it was originally released on Svengali in 1983 it went pretty much unnoticed and under the radar.  It took the more commercial sounding Catch Me to give Nightime it's second life.  Here I've enclosed their entire Laced e.p. from 1983.  It's sort of new wave and not quite as straightforward dance as their later releases.  If  you click on the title of this blog you will be directed to my ebay listing for this collectible e.p.  LACED EP

A1		Seal It With A Kis	3:57
A2		Let Freedom Ring	6:15
B1		Expiration	3:59
B2		Tempest Nightmare	5:15

Their first single from 1981 is very rare and very new wave.  It's called Gimme Gimme (your autograph).  It was on the label Poison Pops and was only released as a 7" single.

NO TEARS

I'm adding their goth single from 1982 No Tears and it's b side.

super early pretty poison

And finally their goth single Expiration from 1983.  A real Kennel club Philadelphia classic.

Time to Move Carmen

Just in case you thought you had my number, I'm going to throw something different out at you.

Time to Move by Carmen is a delicious piece of electro freestyle groove.  Think Debbie Deb crossed with Newcleus.  TIME TO MOVE

This number from 1985 is pretty obscure.  I'd imagine it got some plays at The Funhouse.  Certainly not anywhere I was going that year.

Carmen went on to have a number of other releases on other labels.  I don't really know those but this one tickled me just right. I'd like to hear the one she did with C-Bank in 1990.

Nu Shooz

Nu Shooz originally formed in 1979 and featured 12 members.  But nothing much happened for them the first few years.  In 1985 as a husband and wife duo "I Can't Wait" came out and they broke out.  But in a roundabout way, ironically the Peter Slaghuis mix from the Netherlands is what broke the record.  In fact it was HUGE at The Paradise Garage, and played as an import.  Apparently Larry Levan would toy with it mixing it for as long as a full half hour.  Then it went pop.

It eventually made it all the way to #2 on the U.S. R and B charts and #3 on the pop charts, while making it to #1 in Canada and on the U.S. dance chart.  While in the U.K.  I can't Wait peaked at #2.  Furthermore it was fully embraced by the Latin Freestyle community who embraced the song as their own, though this lily white couple from Portland, Oregon were certainly not Latino.

 The follow-up single "Point of No Return" was equally as pleasing but it didn't have the chart impact of "I Can't Wait" so they are sort of considered one hit wonders.  Though they were even nominated for a Grammy as best new artist.

In 1988 their last hit was "Should I say Yes" which went Top 20 R and B though the track "Are you Lookin' for Somebody Nu" became another hit on the dance chart.

HAVE SOME SHOOZ

MORE SHOOZ MIXES

Newcleus

Brooklyn trio Newcleus were the definitive Electro act.  Though they only released two full albums.  They had a nice string of seminal electro/freestyle hits. Block party favorites they originally started in 1977 as Jam-On Productions.

I'm surprised that I haven't blogged about them before because I was so into them.  Their sound really touched my soul.  I'm kind of surprised that they weren't much huger chart successes then they were because it seemed to me that their music was so ever-present at the time.  The idea that they had to speed their vocals to resemble the Chipmunks in parts was definitely part of the magic.  Their biggest pop hit "Jam on It" took it up to #56 on the U.S. Top 100.  Though several of their songs made the R and B Top 40.

I also think that their sound has held up very well.  It certainly makes me want to shake my tail in 2017.

Their first release Jam on Revenge was in 1983 which I've mentioned before is the legendary year for me and my going to the disco youth.  Their sound certainly mixed in very well with the Italo Disco which I hold so close to my heart and for which most of my blog is dedicated.

But with a vocoder and Jonathan Fearing on the mix how could they go wrong anyway?

Their songs have also been used in a few video games including Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX, Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 2 and DJ Hero 2, the latter even featured a newly re-recorded version.

By the mid 80's they still had a few releases but their sound was sort of on the decline as that hot new genre "house music" was making for the greatest impact on the dance floors.  I will thank my friend DJ Chris Baron for turning me on to Cyborg Dance and Space is the Place.  He even did a genius edit of Cyborg Dance.  In 1985 I was in D.C. and heard an awful lot of Hi Nrg and early House so progressive Electro like this wasn't on my radar and my trips to New York City were few and far between because I was studying.

A FEW OF THE BEST NUCLEUS TRACKS
Cyborg Dance and Space is the Place
The debut single Jam on Revenge

I have to admit I also love this sound because it reminds me of Shaun of the Dead, a film I really love and featured Electro obsessed characters.

Don't Stop the Rock Freestyle

Nothing like a group having the name of a genre.  And that was even before it started to have it's biggest run of hits.  In fact Miami Electro act Freestyle started charting in 1983!  

I think my favorite Freestyle single is Don't Stop the Rock from 1985.  It seemed to so perfectly sum up a big part of the scene.  At once so Fun House and yet so clearly a foreshadowing of the sound that would be the more commercial freestyle sound.  I'm just a big fan of the vocoder.  If it's in the song I'm probably gonna love it.  Anything that reminds me of a robot singing puts a smile on my face.

DONE STOP THE ROCK

"Pretty Tony" has his name on a quite a few records I love, he was actually a member of Freestyle.

Now pardon me as I go break dance in the living room.

Do ya wanna get away? Shannon and the fabulous Jimi Tunnel

Freshened Links
THE MIGHTY SHANNON

I know a place in paradise and it's definitely this Shannon single for me.  Her fourth to chart on the U.S. dance chart and another #1 notch on her lipstick case.  It features all the magical components of the fiercest of freestyle electro from the mid 80's period form the genius mixing and production of Ligget and Barbosa to the as usual uncredited background vocals of my hero Jimi Tunnel. 

Here I also include the Hot Tracks remix which probably only the die hard Shannon fans in here even have.

Brenda Shannon Greene was born on May 12th 1957 in Washington, D.C. and wouldn't you just know I was living in D.C. during her prime so I'm sure I got extra exposure.  Lord knows I've seen her live at least five times.

do ya wanna get a Shannon zip?

CHANGE ON ME by CYNTHIA A FREESTYLE QUEEN

Freestyle is my other passion.  I've decided to dedicate my blog primarily to Italo Disco.  But today I feel like exposing my readers to a freestyle record that I really enjoy.

Cynthia has had a long string of hits, starting in 1988.  Change on Me was her second release.  She had many releases on MicMac and then got signed to Tommy Boy.  Actual pop success eluded her but she did become a star in the genre.

CHANGE ON ME ZIP

Cynthia is of course the Cynthia from the huge freestyle duet Dreamboy/Dreamgirl with Johnny "O" 

Honey to a bee Tina b a Freestyle Electro Masterpiece

Produced and arranged by Arthur Baker and John Robie and edited by The Latin Rascals need I say more?  Tina Klein had the great fortune to marry Arthur Baker and he did what he could to promote his wife.  But she was good, damn good.  Her voice can be heard on classics like Africa Baambataa's Jazzy Sensation and Nothing's Gonna Come Easy before her signature record Honey to a Bee was released in 1984.  She was a member of Goon Squad and Rocker's Revenge to boot.

I will be forever in debt to Matthew Drudge for turning me on to this song.  He is undoubtably the biggest freestyle fan I have ever met and his obsession with John Robie was well documented.  

But he unlike me didn't friend him on Facebook.

get your hands on the bee

NEW AXEL V EXTENDED EDIT

Tina b. also appears on the Beat Street soundtrack.

January, February was O.K. but it was no honey to a bee.

We'll buzz around and around until we come alive

let's fall in love

like honey to a bee

you've got a love who stick to me

like crepes, cakes and wine

ooh your love is right on time

like honey to a bee

like honey to a bee

your love is right on time

busy busy like a bee aha aha  your love stung me

busy busy like a bee aha aha your love strung me

my name is Tina b coming straight from the hive 

I need some honey to keep alive

you look to me like  a real hum dinger you better watch or I'll lose my stinger!

busy bee busy bee busy bee

Running Information Society mid 80's perfection

Minneapolis band Information Society first release in 1983 the Insoc. ep is purely new wave but flopped.  It's not really anything to write home about and sounds like a lot of the new wave of that period.  But not many can claim to have a lyric as stupid as "I believe that Exxon saved my soul."

Then the next year they struck pay dirt.  Running is undisputedly one of the 5 most important records of the 80's.  First release on the tiny Minneapolis label Wide Angle it was later picked up by Tommy Boy where it was revamped and it became the quintessential sound of ELECTRO and a perfect example of early latin freestyle.  Though they were not latin and not from Miami or New York, go figure.
A RUNNING ZIP

The Tommy Boy versions featured freestyle royalty, The Latin Rascals, Albert Cabrera and Tony Moran on the edits (it was all about the edits).  And it was one of Little "Louie" Vega's earliest remixes along with Joey Gardner.

Honestly it's almost difficult for me to write about this record.  I feel so emotionally attached to it.  It features all the qualities that I adore about top-notch freestyle from the yearning vocals to the melancholy vibe to the highly danceable electronic perfection.  Oh the breaks!

I know that they had more pop success and even dance chart success with later hits (even hitting #3 pop and #1 dance in 1988 with What's on Your Mind) but for me this band peaked and and made it's mark with Running.  The only song of theirs that's an absolute must.

In 2001 a new version took them to #2 on the dance charts, as did a new version of What's on Your Mind took them up to #4.

ALISHA not just Baby Talk

Born in Brooklyn, N.Y. April 16, 1968, Alisha Ann Itkin in art ALISHA came onto the scene in 1984.  With a sound truly influenced by Madonna yet with the pulse on the N.Y. underground ELECTRO scene she had her moment.  Unfortunately her career peaked before even hitting the age of 20.

Though she had three albums one in 1985, one in 1987 and the last in 1990 to me it was all about that debut album.  With both Mark Berry and Shep Pettibone on her team how could she lose?  An impressive 5 twelve inch singles were released off an album with only 6 songs!  How's that for working the marketing to the fullest?  She was also one of the few NON latino artists embraced by the FREESTYLE community.

In December 1985 she had her biggest hit when Baby Talk went to #1 on the Billboard Dance Chart.  But I think my favorite was Stargazin' because it was the least played out and I really love the lyrics.  Just a few years older then Alisha I too had stars in my eyes at the time.  But I guess I just had to content myself with being one of the most fashion forward and in your face kids on The American University quad.  AN ALISHA ZIP

PEOPLE MAGAZINE FLUFF PIECE FROM 1986

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FREESTYLE and ELECTRO in my EBAY store new stuff added regularly