Welcome to Poptastic Confessions! This blog is dedicated to glorious, unashamed alternative pop music! We hope to share new music with you that you might not have heard before because it is usually overlooked by the masses. Of course, we'll always encourage you to buy the music legally to support the artists. Enjoy! —Davearama, editor of Poptastic Confessions
Hello Again! Another singer famous from the 80s is back with a new song. That's right, Belinda Carlisle has a new song out called "Sun" and it is dancey! Hooray!
Belinda recently did a TV show called "In bed with Joan Rivers" where Joan interviews Belinda in bed. It's very entertaining as Joan asks a lot of great questions. You can watch it here. Belinda said that her son found this new song and thought it would be great for her. I think it is a great return. And I hope you will support her by buying the track. There is even a campaign to get the song in the Billboard Top 100. Here is the official video ... Someone turn on the air conditioner! Ha! It looks awfully hot in there!
And please download "Sun" from iTunes. <---Click there for the iTunes link. And you might as well pick up the rest of her hits on her new "Best of" if you don't have them!
Dear Poptastic Readers, It's been a busy week. And exciting, too! With all of the marriage equality love in the air! Anyhoo ...
Last Saturday, I saw Jody Watley in concert and it was a dream come true seeing her perform live. The show was amazing and Jody was in prime form. And her hair was incredible. Loved it!
Last month, I wrote a blog entry about Jody's new song "Cold Enough" with French Horn Rebellion. I also wrote a quick history of career. In all honesty, I wish I would written more about just how much her music has meant to me over the years. Perhaps words can't describe it, or I feel it too personal to share here. But her songs have been very important in the soundtrack of my life. A couple of days before the show, I tweeted Jody Watley telling her that we were coming to the show. To my surprise, she tweeted me back!
Saturday morning before the show, I got out my 45 singles for "Looking For A New Love", "Don't You Want Me" and "Some Kind Of Lover." I also found my cassette tape of her debut album. I decided I would take them with me. I have more vinyl, tapes and CDs ... but I didn't want to drag everything in. I thought these would be small enough to handle. My hubby Arturo and our friends Janice and Mourad went out to dinner at the venue. Yoshi's sushi was delicious! And then we went to the show. I really appreciated the three of them coming along. And they enjoyed the show, too.
Mourad, Janice, Davearama and Arturo
The show opened with a new song called "Nightlife." It is wonderful new track that had me searching on iTunes for it. But it isn't out yet, hopefully soon! And I'll let you know here when it is. In the meantime, you can hear it on YouTube as fabulous dancer named Princess Lockeroo is waacking to it ...
Throughout the show, Jody interacted with the audience. She told us stories about her career. She was so appreciative of the audience, and although it may sound a bit silly to say, you could definitely feel the love of the audience. Everyone was having a great time.
During the show, Jody came out and walked through the audience. She didn't come by where we were sitting, so Arturo and Janice urged me to go to the pathway where she would walk back to the stage. I just grabbed two of my 45s to hold up so she would see I was a fan. Well, Jody saw me and said ... "You're name is Dave, right?" "Yes," I said. "I recognize you from Twitter! See I'm not one of those artists who ignore their fans." I'm not sure if she said anything else right then as my mind was racing. And she was still in the middle of the song when this exchange happened. We had gone to the 8 p.m. show, and there was a 10 p.m. show. So we weren't able to stick around to meet her after the show, as we had to get home to the kids. Even though I didn't get to officially meet Jody, I left on a high! It was a dream come true seeing her in concert. And it was unbelievable that Jody actually knew my name! And outside the venue, I was recognized as the "Twitter guy!" I had also tweeted Jody while waiting for the show to start, letting her know it was a full house. She tweeted me back Monday morning ...
It was a great time, indeed! And now I've been listening to Jody's albums nonstop. I can't wait for her new album this year. You better believe I'll be reviewing it and promoting it here. And who knows, if I'm lucky ... perhaps I'll even get to interview Jody for Poptastic Confessions! Fingers crossed! Please like Jody's official Facebook page. You can follow her on Twitter. Bookmark her official website. Visit her blog! Watch her videos on YouTube. And purchase Jody's music on iTunes.
Hello Poptastic Readers, Sorry it has been over two weeks since the last update, but life gets busy. While I was a away, the Swedish pop group Le Kid have released a glorious new single called "We Are Young." That is the good news. The bad news is that it might not be available in your country just yet. But they are working on that!
So what does the new song sound like? It's great slice of pure pop. It is indeed POPtastic! The vocals by Helena and Johanna are divine. And the music by Märta and Felix is uplifting. This is anthem. You're going to love it. Although now that I am in my early-40s, I feel a bit silly singing along to the words "We are young." Hahaha. But my middle name is Youth so that should make it OK for me to be forever young. ~;-) Unfortunately, there isn't a video yet. I'm not sure if the band is filming one. Hopefully so! I did read there might be a lyric video coming soon. However, the band has made the song available on Soundcloud and they want you leave your comments. Listen to the new song here ... Would you like for Le Kid to release music in your country ... Let them know! In the meantime, you can ...
Dear Poptastic Readers, The Swedish group Army Of Lovers are back with a brand new song called "Rockin' The Ride." The song was part of Sweden's Melodifestivalen (their song selection to see who represents the country in the Eurovision Song Contest). The song didn't win, but is available on iTunes now!
Who are Army Of Lovers? They are dance pop band best known for their songs in the 90s that controversially mixed religious topics with sex. The original lineup of the band was Alexander Bard, La Camilla and Jean-Pierre Barda.
The second album quickly followed in 1991 and it was called "Massive Luxury Overdose." It featured their biggest hit ever: "Crucified." However, after the second single, "Obsession" ... La Camilla parted ways with the group. Her replacement was Michaela de la Cour.
For the third album in 1993, "The Gods of Earth and Heaven", the band added another female singer, Dominika Peczynski. They had another massive club hit with "Israelism" and two more singles followed ... "Le Plage de Saint Tropez" and "I Am."
The fourth album in 1994 was called "Glory, Glamour and Gold" and featured the singles "Lit De Parade", "Sexual Revolution" and "Life Is Fantastic." More turmoil. Michaela left the group. And La Camilla came back! Just in time for "Les Greatest Hits" in 1995.
The band took a break for a few years and came back in 2001 for another greatest hits compilation with some new songs. It was called "Le Grand Docu-Soap." It contained the singles "Let The Sunshine In" and "Hands Up." After that ... no more ... until now. But over the years ... Alexander Bard has been the busiest with music. He helped form and write songs for Alcazar. And he even gave Annikafiore her stage name! Alexander even has a cameo in their video for "Crying At The Discoteque."
Dominika didn't return to the Army Of Lovers this time because the reunion was meant for the original trio to get back together. However, I think Dominika will join the Army Of Lovers again. In the meantime, Happy Hoes continues as there is a new song called "Nemesis" to be released later this spring. And Army Of Lovers have new greatest hits compilation out on March 4 called "The Big Battle of Egos" and it contains 4 new songs.
For the latest and greatest news about Army Of Lovers and all things related, please check out the FABulous Army Of Lovers Network website. It is AMAZING! And remember, their new song is on iTunes now. You can see their Melodifestivalen performance here ... Enjoy!~
Hello Poptastic Readers, Every now and then, I'm in the mood for a melancholy song. And just this past week, one landed in my mailbox in form as a press release. The song is called "Dwntwn Kds" by Mike Taylor and it is quite good.
Now usually, I like vowels in my song titles, but I'll look the other way for this one. Who is Mike Taylor? I'd not heard of him before. But this is him ...
The press release says, "Singer, songwriter, producer, rapper and director Mike Taylor was born in Philadelphia to a jazz musician father who raised him immersed in music and culture. This led Mike to experiment with rock, jazz, hip-hop and R&B groups, a theater dance group, as well as DJ'ing which he still does today in both his hometown and Los Angeles. As a solo artist he’s combined elements of his previous endeavors creating a vibrant sound that falls somewhere in between The Roots, Peter Gabriel, Prince and Paul Simon." The press release goes on to say about the video, "Philly-born, L.A.-based artist Mike Taylor returns with a new video for his song “Dwntwn Kds.” Conceived, directed and edited all by himself, the clip for this uptempo pop anthem goes for an 80s documentary feel and entices the viewer to peak into the vibrant and culturally rich world of Philadelphia, the place that serves as a source of inspiration for Mike. At the same time it aims to capture the spirit of opportunity and dreams that defines Los Angeles. The video features cameos by Mike’s friends and collaborators Justin Tranter & Cole Whittle of Semi Precious Weapons." And that pretty much describes the video ... Here it is ... Too bad his doesn't pay his taxi driver. It doesn't make me like him very much. Tsk-tsk.
And, if you are fan of "Downton Abbey" ... someone has made a video of clips of the show to the song. It's very well done. See it here. Mike Taylor's music is available on iTunes. Please support the artist. If you'd like to hear more of Mike, head over to his Soundcloud page where he does a really nice cover of Ke$ha's "Your Love Is My Drug."
Dear Poptastic Readers, The fabulous Jody Watley has a new song out now and it is funky, groovy and lots of fun! The song is called "Cold Enough" and it is by the group called French Horn Rebellion featuring Jody Watley and the song on their "Love Is Dangerous" EP. You're going to love it!
The new song is great. And it so refreshing to hear Jody Watley sing new music again. You see, I was in high school when Jody's debut album came out in 1987. To this day, when I think about that album I remember listening to the cassette tape on my walkman while I mowed by parent's yard in Indiana. It contained the massive hits "Looking For A New Love", "Don't You Want Me", "Some Kind Of Lover" and "Still A Thrill." As well as the ballad "Most Of All."
Jody's second album "Larger Than Life" came out in 1989 when I was a freshman in college. And it was equally fantastic. It had three top 10 hits in the US ... "Real Love", "Friends" with Eric B and Rakim and "Everything." The fourth and final single from the album was "Precious Love."
Jody's third album "Affairs Of The Heart" in 1991 was a bit more mature with less dance songs and more slow and mid-tempo songs. However, the singles were quite dancey. "I Want You" and "I'm The One You Need." The wonderful ballad "It All Begins With You" was the final single from the album.
Although I lost track of Jody after that album, she continued releasing albums. "Affection" came in 1995, "Flower" in 1998, "The Saturday Night Experience" in 1999, "Midnight Lounge" in 2001.
I finally caught back up with Jody a few years ago with the release of her album "The Makeover" when she so eloquently and soulfully covered Madonna's "Borderline." And then with a fantastic song that I absolutely loved called "A Beautiful Life."
Ever since then, I've followed Jody on her Official Facebook Page as well as her Official Website. I think she is an amazing artist and her songs have been part of the soundtrack to my life. And this year, she adds a new song to 2013 with "Cold Enough." I hope you will support her and buy buying the song on iTunes. Remember, it is listed under French Horn Rebellion, not Jody Watley. You can listen to the song on YouTube here ...
I'm hoping to see Jody in concert for the first time next month in Oakland! I can't wait!
Hello Poptastic Readers, Recently, my friend Jason emailed me about a new artist called Betty Who. Just who is Betty Who? Well, she's an Australian indie pop artist, and she has a fabulous new song called "Somebody Loves You."
"Somebody Loves You" is a lovely little song that has a happy melody with a retro feel to it. If you love fun, pop songs ... this one is for you!
The video for "Somebody Loves You" is super cute! It's a flashback to the 80s with leg warmers, bright colors and lots of smiles.
But it gets better. Betty Who recently commissioned a remix contest for "Somebody Loves You." And guess who has remixed it? Our lovely Italian friend Giuseppe Piol! And he is done a fantastic job. You can hear Piol's remix here. Please check out Betty Who's Official Facebook Page. And her Soundcloud page.
