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  WINDY CITY TIMES

Pop Making Sense
by David Byrne with Tony Peregrin
2007-10-24

This article shared 2976 times since Wed Oct 24, 2007
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The musical based on the film Desperately Seeking Susan is about to take to the stage in London. Oddly, the accompanying music is not derived from the songbook of Madonna, the movie's star. The production will 'get into the groove' with beloved Blondie tracks, including the number-one hits Call Me, Heart of Glass, Rapture and The Tide Is High. Deborah Harry even wrote the song Moment of Truth especially for the show.

Harry just released another solo album, Necessary Evil, and was one of the main draws during this summer's True Colors Tour. Slated to hit the road again in November and December, the enigmatic New Yorker will leave Chicago fans 'two times blue' with no dates in the Windy City, but she will be in nearby Milwaukee on Tues., Nov. 20. Like she did during the True Colors Tour, the Atomic singer will only play her solo material, promising to keep her Blondie work separate. Per an interview with Billboard magazine, Harry hinted that another Blondie album and tour are in the works.

Erasure shared the bill on the True Colors Tour with Harry. The industrious duo recently issued Storm Chaser, a remix EP of songs from the album Light At The End Of The World, which came out earlier this year. This nine-track set just keeps pulsating with beats. Cyndi Lauper chimes in on the duet Early Bird, proving to be one of Andy Bell's best duets since remaking No More Tears ( Enough Is Enough ) with k.d. lang for the soundtrack to Coneheads. Two bonus mixes are available exclusively when the entire EP is downloaded.

Somebody asked me about a song that was played during the Victoria's Secret lingerie runway spectacular. The only leads were that it was sung by a female singer and the number samples Depeche Mode's Personal Jesus. Without missing a recycled guitar riff, I knew right away it was Jamelia's underappreciated Beware of the Dog. It is a pity how this British talent is virtually unknown stateside. When I first heard a clip of the song during the Brit Awards, I had no idea Jamelia already had three solo albums out overseas. Insisting that she is not giving up on music to focus on modeling, Jamelia issued a retrospective this summer titled Superstar—The Hits. Also heavily involved in charitable causes, Jamelia launched a fragrance Rougeberry that benefits MTV's Staying Alive Foundation to help raise awareness about HIV and AIDS. Also she has posed au naturale for PETA's anti-fur campaign. Realizing how several acts like Gabrielle, The Gossip and Anastacia are considered best-kept-secrets here, I remain thankful for import shops.

Like Jamelia, Rihanna knows a thing or two about using somebody else's song as the foundation to land a hit. Her chart-topping S.O.S. ( Rescue Me ) borrows from Soft Cell's Tainted Love and Shut Up and Drive contains traces of Orgy's version of Blue Monday. Her latest, Don't Stop The Music, infectiously lifts the chant from Michael Jackson's Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'. As the third single from her third album, Good Girl Gone Bad, Rihanna's Don't Stop The Music already is a smash in the clubs, thanks to the Jody den Broeder peak-hour remixes.

Continuing to be the voice of the people, John Mellencamp just recorded the song Jena. On his Web site, the heartland singer posts that Jena is 'a condemnation of racism, a problem which I've reflected in many songs, a problem that still plagues this country today.' The chorus pleads, 'Oh, Jena, take your nooses down.' Expect this controversial cut to appear on Mellencamp's forthcoming album, while the video is already on YouTube. Mellencamp is touring this fall with stops in Champaign, Ill., on Sat., Oct. 27 and Rockford on Wed., Nov. 14.

One never knows Dot Allison's next move. This British singer-songwriter extraordinaire breezes through genres so masterfully, she makes them her own. Whether it is her acoustic tour alongside the troubled Pete Doherty or her electronic pairings with Death in Vegas, Allison's artistry thrives as a chameleon. No exception is made on her latest Exaltation of the Larks. Like on her solo debut Afterglow, Allison favors the acoustic guitar with the keyboards assuming a lesser presence. As heard on tracks like the standouts Quicksand and Thief of Me, she completely removes traces of her big-beat 2002 opus We're Science. Her breathy vocals recall Mazzy Star's Hope Sandoval and Sarah McLachlan, while the dreamy music seems to be set at a folk festival with Moby helming the soundboard. Exaltation of Larks is out now as an import via Cooking Vinyl.

Be it the weather, politicians, mass transit or work, everybody has something to gripe about. It may seem like only Mary Poppins could turn woes into something to sing about. Enter Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen, who are transforming locals's maladies from city to city into The Complaints Choir. The Chicago installment is scheduled to take place at the Museum of Contemporary Art on Sat., Nov. 3 at 1 p.m. and again at 3 p.m. as part of the Chicago Humanities Festival. A video crew is following the pair, with a documentary on the Complaints Choir due out in 2009.


This article shared 2976 times since Wed Oct 24, 2007
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