Friday, February 25, 2011

Sharon Lee Williams - Your Place Or Mine (1989)

Sharon Lee Williams is well known in the Canadian music industry, but she only ever released one single as a solo artist. She did manage a hit as part of the group Sway and their remake of Ottawan's "Hands Up" in 1987 (which I also mentioned on The Isle in the Chantal Condor post. ;) and contributed vocals to the work of many other artists. Her only solo release was released a couple of years after the Sway hit, and the original is very 80s pop/R&B. The 'Your Place Mix' is a lot faster and has a very Pointer Sisters-ish sound, and the 'My Place Mix" is a lot funkier. But my fave is the 'Percusappella'. Sharon is still involved in the music industry and has even been a vocal coach for Canadian Idol. She currently runs her own vocal coaching company out of Toronto, MusicEnt Productions.

Download Your Place Or Mine

1
Your Place Or Mine (Your Place Mix)
2
Your Place Or Mine (Original 7 Inch)
3
Your Place Or Mine (My Place Mix)
4
Your Place Or Mine (Percusappella)

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Sonia Papp - Undercover Lover (1988)

Here is our next Canadian dance diva, Quebec's Sonia Papp. There is very little info available on this little lady, even though she released three albums in 1990s - the first two, in 1990 and 1993, (with the spelling of her first name chanced to Sonya) very dancey pop albums, and the last, in 1993, much more pop rock. I have all three albums and plan on featuring them on The Isle Of Deserted Pop Stars in the future, so I'll leave the details to a minimum here. Suffice it to say, this was her first single, a Hi-NRG number with a light house touch that remains her best known song. It was produced by John Farley, who also worked on Pobi's "Dance With Me", also featured here, and later with Nancy Martinez. Enjoy!

Download Undercover Lover

1
Undercover Lover (Dance Mix)
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Undercover Lover (Power 45)
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Undercover Lover (Dub Mix)

Kim Esty - Make You Mine (1988?)

I have once again neglected this blog, and I apologize, but I return with peace offerings - a slew of pop-dance singles by Canadian female singers. I featured Kim Esty on the Isle Of Deserted Pop Stars already, so go there for more info on the lady. This single was one of her first, independently released somewhere in the late 1980's (the single itself doesn't say). It's a mid-tempo dance pop song (the version on her Variety Show and Best Of is a newer, ballad version) that was her first collaboration with Barry Harris from Thunderpuss, who would guide her to later success. The Hi-Bias and RPM mixes change the pace to housey and hip hop-ish respectively. And it also features one of the first remixes by Barry's future Thunderpuss partner Chris Cox. A lovely track that began a lengthy career in pop music.

Download Make You Mine

1
Make You Mine (The Chris Cox Mix)
2
Make You Mine (Original Mix)
3
Make You Mine (The RPM Mix)
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Make You Mine (The Hi-Bias Mix)
5
Make You Mine (Radio)
REMEMBER to let me know if any links are down in the COMMENTS of whatever song you're looking for and I'll try to reup them ASAP. :)