Eighties hitmaker Taylor Dayne is back and she’s singing as great as ever.
On Valentine’s Day, many of us express our feelings for the special people in our lives by giving cards, candies and flowers. I like to give music as a token of my affection because, when it’s appropriate to the recipient, music feels personal and thoughtful. Here’s what I’m giving six of my loved ones who fall in the following categories:
Alternaqueer: Bob Mould - “District Line” (Anti-) The openly-gay virtuoso behind seminal post-punk outfit Hüsker Dü as well as ’90s alt-rock band Sugar has a new solo album in stores and it’s a corker. “District Line” shows Mould in fine form with a fab mix of power chords, melodic accessibility and sharp lyricwriting. My favorite among the album’s 10 tracks are “Shelter Me,” a great rock song driven by House music beats and synth stabs, and “Who Needs To Dream,” a man-chases-man power-pop tune with a great hook. Mould is at top form on “District Line” and that’s saying something.
Contempo R&B Fan: Tamia - “Between Friends” (Plus 1 Music Group) Tamia’s golden voice first thrilled R&B fans on “You Put A Move On My Heart,” a track from Quincy Jones’ “Q’s Juke Joint” (1994). She advanced to a Grammy-nominated solo career with chart-topping hits like “Stranger In My House,” “Missing You” (with Brandy, Gladys Knight and Chaka Khan) and “Spend My Life With You” (a duet with Eric Benet). “Between Friends” finds the singer creating on her own terms, free of label intrusion. She self-financed the album and wrote and recorded it with friend and producer Shep Crawford. The resulting 15 songs boast a maturity that R&B rarely even aspires to these days.
Guppie Hipster: Shelby Lynne - “Just A Little Lovin’” (Lost Highway) Shelby Lynne stunned critics with 2000’s career-defining “I Am Shelby Lynne.” The album (her sixth) won her a Best New Artist Grammy (!?!) and drew endless comparisons to the late Dusty Springfield’s blue-eyed soul classic, “Dusty In Memphis.” Now, after two more releases, Lynne delivers “Just A Little Lovin’,” a collection of songs made famous by British songbird Springfield. Lynne maintains a lovely restraint while reinterpreting such tracks as the title cut, “I Only Want To Be With You,” “The Look Of Love” and “Anyone Who Had A Heart.” My only quibble is that Springfield’s signature tune, “Son Of A Preacher Man,” isn’t included.
Lost In The ’80s: Taylor Dayne - “Satisfied” (Intention Music) Taylor Dayne’s fifth studio album, her first new release in a decade, thinks it’s still 1988 — and that’s a good thing. “Satisfied” is a winning collection of pop songs and power ballads aimed squarely at listeners raised on Top 40 radio. The throwback production evokes the right sort of nostalgia (i.e. the kind that doesn’t seem merely reheated) while Dayne’s pipes are as powerful as ever. (She chooses her leather-lunged moments wisely.) Highlights of the set include lead single “Beautiful,” a cover of Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Under The Bridge” and the title cut.
Stuck In The ’70s: Ashford & Simpson - “The Warner Bros. Years: Hits, Remixes & Rarities” (Rhino/WB) This two-disc set is a treasure-trove that collects the R&B and Disco hits of husband and wife duo Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson from 1973 to 1982. Disc one contains 14 tracks. Six of them were released as promo-only 12-inch remixes (created by Valerie’s brother Jimmy Simpson). These out-of-print recordings sell for hundreds on music collector sites. Disc two features more than an hour of new versions by such current remixers as Tom Moulton, Dimitri From Paris, Joe Claussell and Joey Negro.
Theatre Queen: Linda Eder - “Greatest Hits” (Rhino/Atlantic) Linda Eder might be the best-loved Broadway belter of this generation. It’s easy to understand why after listening to this stirring set that culls 15 tracks from four albums (and nine musicals, including “Funny Girl,” “Man Of La Mancha,” “Gypsy,” “La Cage Aux Folles” and her star-making vehicle “Jekyll & Hyde”). Also included is Eder’s reading of “Over The Rainbow,” the song she watched Judy Garland sing in a TV broadcast of “The Wizard Of Oz” that turned her eight-year-old world upside-down.
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