From left: Scissor Sisters
and Kylie Minogue
When Bette Midler says that she is going to give us a little bit more leg, do not expect her to be pulling her skirt up any higher, rather she is adding another leg to her wildly successful Kiss My Brass Tour, showcasing her most recent CD, a tribute to Rosemary Clooney. The Divine Miss M will resume her set starting in October, stopping in Chicago at the United Center on Nov. 3.
The most 'misunderstood' in the family, LaToya Jackson, has a new song out on the dance charts, but catch this, her name isn't on it. She wanted to release 'Do You Wanna Dance' to DJs and have it played without the snickers that usually accompany her name, so the song is simply listed as by Toy. I actually forgot that LaToya made music and her new cut has remixes by Chris Cox. During this euro-dance number she toys with us, singing about dancing with different boys and girls as long as their rhythm is right and having onlookers question her gender, typical Jackson family woes. Her double-disc album Startin' Over is due out in September on Ja-Tail Records with her real name on it.
Soul singer Lisa Stansfield has her latest album The Moment ready for a fall release on ZTT records featuring her new single 'Treat Me Like a Woman.' Not only is the Moment produced by Trevor Horn (Pet Shop Boys, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Tina Turner, Seal, Grace Jones), but Lisa also does a cover of Prefab Sprout's hit from the 80s 'When Love Breaks Down.'
She revealed in an interview that she is a lesbian, then had a baby with Donal Lunny, an Irish folk singer. She ripped up a picture of the pope, then became a priest. Last year Sinead O'Connor announced her retirement, but alas is back under her moniker Bernadette Marie, singing with Irish Glenstal Abbey Monks. Sinead wanted to shed the woes that are associated with her name, since she says she is no longer the loud-mouthed 20-year-old she is known for. Sinead even tried changing her image by letting her hair grow longer, but when somebody asked if she was Enya, the clippers came out.
The bad boys of techno-rock, Prodigy, finally have their new album ready, Always Outnumbered Never Outgunned is due out in September on Maverick and it will be worth the wait. This album's highlights are collaborations from actress turned rocker Juliette Lewis and the Gallagher brothers from Oasis.
Although having Oasis working with Prodigy may seem a bit odd, Liam Howlett from Prodigy and Liam Gallagher are paired off with the Appleton sisters, Natalie and Nicole, formerly of British girl band the All-Saints.
White hot and mostly queer band the Scissor Sisters are returning to Chicago Sept. 15 to the Metro to promote their self-titled debut CD, out now on Polydor. Their current single 'Take Your Mama' is breaking out of the video bars and is now getting airplay on VH-1. After touring Europe and the U.S. earlier this year, the Scissor Sisters returned to Europe this summer, where their CD finally hit No. 1 on the charts. Plus they are working in the studio with Australian sex kitten Kylie Minogue, rumor has it that the track will be one of the new songs on her upcoming greatest-hits package—yes she is releasing another one.
The most and best sampled song of the summer is 'Dare Me' by the Pointer Sisters. This song was a No. 1 dance hit for them back in 1985 and sadly, one of their last top-40 pop hits. Dave Armstrong reworks the song into a hook-ladened, club-friendly number called 'Make Your Move' on Tommy Boy, while Junior Jack turns it into a big-beat house jam using just a keyboard riff from the original. Junior Jack's version, 'Stupidisco' is from his Nettwerk album Trust It. Both songs are quite similar and sample only the chorus brilliantly.
Eighties moody pop rockers Tears for Fears reunited and have their first studio album Everybody Loves a Happy Ending set for a mid-September release on Universal Music Enterprises. Since parting ways, lead singer Roland Orzabal released two Tears for Fears albums without musical partner Curt Smith as well as a solo CD, while Smith worked on his own solo CDs. This is the first collaboration they have done since their album The Seeds of Love from 1989.
Kristine W. is hoping to score her 9th consecutive No. 1 Club Airplay hit with her latest single 'Wonder of it All,' which was remixed by Escape vs. Gomi and Al B. Rich from its lush, down-tempo version into a dark house number. Kristine reigns in clubland, as she has surpassed the records set by Madonna and Janet Jackson for having consecutive chart-topping dance songs in Billboard magazine. Kristine is currently touring different gay pride events promoting her latest CD Fly Again, out now on Tommy Boy.
— Additional reporting by Tony Peregrin
