Dystopian Dance Party

Tag: evelyn champagne king

  • Jheri Curl June: Evan Rogers’ “Don’t Jump to Conclusions”

    Jheri Curl June: Evan Rogers’ “Don’t Jump to Conclusions”

    If we’ve learned anything from our writeup on L.A. Reid back in 2016, it’s that if there is a successful songwriter and producer from the last 30 or so years, they probably had a Jheri Curl album of their own in the mid-’80s. Well, here is Evan Rogers, one half of a hitmaking duo with Carl Sturken who would later produce for everyone from Evelyn “Champagne” King to Christina Aguilera, and even help to build thee Robyn Rihanna Fenty‘s career.

    Sturken and Rogers would eventually form the group Rhythm Syndicate and score a couple of hits in the ’90s, but back in 1985, Rogers released his solo album Love Games, which contains the very System-sounding song “Don’t Jump to Conclusions.” That’s our pick for the day, but the whole album is a bounty of mid-decade Jheri Curl Music: including “Full-Time Lover,” a slow jam duet with the aforementioned Evelyn King, and even a cover of Prince‘s “Private Joy.” Now that we’ve discovered Sturken and Rogers’ place in the Jheri Curl June Extended Universe, I’m sure we’ll be hearing more from them, whether as artists or producers.

    But for now, here’s this month’s playlist. We’ll be back on Monday for more Jheri Curl June!

  • Jheri Curl June: Lillo Thomas’ “Sexy Girl”

    Lillo Thomas is something of a renaissance man. Besides being a former world-class sprinter (he qualified for the 1984 Olympics, but was prevented from participating due to a car accident), he is also an actor, painter, and of course, a singer. Thomas provided vocals for several Jheri Curl June veterans including Evelyn “Champagne” King and Kashif. He also worked with Paul Laurence, a Jheri Curl June inductee from earlier this month. In fact, Thomas’ “Sexy Girl”–not to be confused with the 1984 jam by the late Glenn Frey–was cowritten by Laurence.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Go5JPaa_1mc

    “Sexy Girl” begins as your standard late-era Jheri Curl song with a thumping, New Jack Swing-esque beat; but the chorus, where Thomas’ vocals reach a soaring falsetto, is where the song really takes off. Unfortunately, “Sexy Girl” is not available on Spotify, and there is no official video, but I did find this vertically-oriented video of a shirtless guy Harlem Shaking to it that will just have to suffice. I think it does:

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  • Jheri Curl June: Kashif’s “Ooh Love”

    Last month, we recorded our annual Memorial Day podcast, a budding tradition in which we commemorate (and lightly mock) many of the important musical artists we’ve lost since the previous May. And this time, one of those artists was especially bittersweet: former B.T. Express keyboardist, producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and dope-moustache-haver Kashif. As I said on the podcast, he’s someone we’d wanted to spotlight for a long time–and we did, sort of, with our 2014 post on one of his finest productions, Evelyn “Champagne” King’s effervescent “Love Come Down.” But now that we’ve finally got around to covering his solo work, he’s no longer here to appreciate and/or be mildly offended by it.

    Kashif’s music tends to lie on the smoother, more refined end of the JCM spectrum–call it sophisticurl. His 1984 album Send Me Your Love, from which today’s selection is taken, features contributions by Whitney Houston and Kenny G (and Al Jarreau, another recent passing we commemorated in last month’s podcast). For our purposes, though, we’ll go with one of the more club-friendly tracks: “Ooh Love,” which combines everything we love about vintage Jheri Curl–programmed drums, ultra-wet guitar, bubbling synth-bass–with one of Kashif’s most passionate vocal performances. Granted, it still pairs better with a fine wine than, say, cognac, but that just makes it respectable. This is Jheri Curl Music for the grown and sexy set. As-salāmu ʿalaykum, Kashif.

    We’ll be back next week with more Jheri Curl June–playlists below!

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  • Dystopian Listening Party Podcast: Memorial Day, 2016-2017

    Well, here we are: for the second consecutive year, we’re turning Memorial Day weekend into a time of remembrance for the many great artists we lost since last May. But because this is still Dystopian Dance Party, and we’re constitutionally incapable of being reverent for more than a few minutes at a time, please be aware that the resulting podcast is about 70% wake, 30% roast (well, maybe 60/40). Just believe us when we tell you it’s all coming from a place of love. Hopefully, while everyone good continues to die and leave us trapped on this smoldering husk of a planet, we can at least entertain you (and ourselves) with our impressions of “The Force M.D.’s Meet the Fat Boys”… R.I.P. to Trisco Pearson. Show notes below.

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  • Jheri Curl June: Evelyn “Champagne” King’s “Love Come Down”

    It’s Day Two of our informal Ladies’ Week for Jheri Curl June, which means it’s time to break out the Champagne. “Love Come Down” is the first single from Evelyn “Champagne” King’s 1982 album Get Loose, and it’s as frothy and ebullient as her liquid namesake, with one of those irresistible computerized synth-basslines early-’80s jheri curl did so well. “Love Come Down” did get an official video in which King and a Billy Dee Williams lookalike share a picnic lunch on the beach. But I’d rather highlight this 1982 clip from Solid Gold:

    Why, you ask? Three words. Silver. Satin. Pants.

    Check the Spotify Playlist after the jump, and we’ll see you tomorrow!

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