As a part of her ongoing support of the gay community, Crystal Waters is headlining the Windy City Black Pride's She Jams Music Festival on Friday, July 1 at the Museum of Science & Industry. The 'Gypsy Woman' and '100% Pure Love' singer is joined by the acclaimed drummer Ubaka Hill and the all0women jazz outfit Straight Ahead on the bill, which is presented jointly by Pow Wow, Inc. and the Literary Exchange.
The Taste of Chicago boasts a diverse card with disco diva Donna Summer, Morris Day & The Time and Moby, all performing in the Petrillo Music Shell. Just don't expect the First Lady of Disco to be singing her sultry song 'Love to Love You Baby' during her set on June 28, but she will surely belt out favorites like 'Last Dance' and 'I Feel Love.' Best known for his role in the movie Purple Rain, Morris Day is slated to do 'The Bird' and other The Time favorites on Wednesday, June 29. Moby, who was in town earlier this year during the first leg of his tour for his album 'Hotel,' will be headlining the 4th of July show with his dance, blues and rock hybrid.
Missing the great women of jazz? Martyr's will host Billie holiday, Bessie Smith and Ella Fitzgerald: A Estrojam Tribute to the Ladies of Early Blues & Jazz. An elite caliber of Chicago vocalists will be joined by the Windy City's foremost jazz musicians on June 30 to benefit Estrojam. To ready the audience to bop, swing lessons will be given prior to the show.
The late Sylvester is saluted in Joshua Gamson's biography on the disco siren, The Fabulous Sylvester: The Legend, the Music, the 70s in San Francisco via Henry Holt and Co. Sylvester passed away from AIDS complications in 1988, but left behind anthems like 'Do You Wanna Funk,' 'You Make Me Feel Mighty Real' and 'Dance Disco Heat' plus he introduced the backing group The Two Tons O' Fun, who would later rename themselves The Weather Girls with their hit record 'It's Raining Men.'
Let's hear it for the Boy! The '80s pop band the Culture Club is releasing another best-of collection. Unlike the prior retrospectives 'At Worst the Best Of' and 'VH-1 Storytellers,' the latest incarnation 'Greatest Hits' includes the overlooked songs 'White Boy' and 'Mistake No. 3' as well as singles from the Culture Club's reunion CD 'Don't Mind if I Do.' Still need more of the Boy? Check out 'River Sessions' a live import CD from a 1982 promotional tour of the quartet's debut album 'Kissing to Be Clever' featuring the ageless hits 'Time ( Clock of The Heart ) ' and 'Do You Really Want to Hurt Me.'
One of Boy George's many tabloid rivals Dead or Alive is finally releasing a double disc of extended remixes, simply titled '12' Collection' via Sony International. The sure-fire hits 'You Spin Me Round Like a Record,' 'Brand New Lover' and 'Baby Come Back' are included here. Reissues have been tying Dead or Alive diehards over, but fans are ready for new material—Pete Burns' band's last albums with any new material were 'Nukleopatra' and 'Fragile.'
Yes's classic MTV staple 'Owner of a Lonely Heart' takes a new flight with a remix by Max Graham. The handsome DJ adds a heart-pacer-like beat, which keeps the song ticking under the familiar guitar riffs and keyboard chords. While the original version's video focused on a man's downward spiral, the new version is a light-hearted affair with school boys becoming capitalist entrepreneurs purely to see models dance in bikinis.
Another buzz-worthy item is 'Anniemal' by the Norwegian pop singer Annie. Her debut will take all listeners on an express ride back to the carefree days on playing music from the ghetto blaster and dancing under the flowing fire hydrant in the street. Finally released stateside this summer on Big Beat Records, this young woman's album has garnered much attention with the NME single of the week 'Bubblegum' and the track 'The Greatest Hit,' which samples Madonna's first club hit 'Everybody.'
D.H.T.'s recent trance remake of Roxette's hit single 'Listen to Your Heart' leaves me missing the original Swedish duo. While Roxette had upbeat pop hits, the band's ballads had a certain self-defeating agony to them, which made these songs relatable. Roxette's slipped disc 'The Ballad Hits' draws all of the duo's love songs for a collection that does not seem drawn out. A variety of tempos and rhythms accompany Marie Fredriksson belting out her heart's woes, reminding us that there was more to this group than just the hits we hear regularly in the supermarket like 'It Must Have Been Love' and 'Fading Like a Flower.' The band even knows they are sugar sweet by having raspberries in the form a heart in a bowl of cream on the album's cover. Roxette is currently working on new material and Marie just released a solo album 'The Change' abroad. No word if 'The Ballads Hits' companion CD 'The Pop Hits' will be out domestically.
