She’s Every Woman

It’s been long over due, but here we are with only a few days left of broadcasting and I wanted to feature one of my favorite DIVAS, Chaka Khan.
Chaka Khan (born Yvette Marie Stevens on March 23, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter whose career has spanned four decades, beginning in the 1970s as the frontwoman and focal point of the funk band Rufus. Often cited as the Queen of Funk, Khan has won ten Grammys and has sold an estimated 200 million records worldwide (Wikipedia)
She is without a doubt one of my favorite female vocalists (I seem to have so many!)
Tune in over the next few days as I will put her in regular rotation.

Yes We Can Can

As I became more musically aware as a teenager in the 80’s, The Pointer Sisters, became one of my favorite girl groups with their hits such as Automatic, Dare Me, Jump (For My Love) and Neutron Dance.
One of my earliest memories of one of their songs came from 1980, I think I was in grade 6 and our class went on a school trip to the city (I was living in Saskatchewan at the time and the field trip was to the city of Prince Albert) among the activities of the day was a visit to a Roller Disco! I was so excited, I had my permed hair, velour striped pull over and a black satin jacket!
Along with hearing the popular disco tracks of the time, I remember hearing “He’s So Shy” for the first time and loved it so much, it had the perfect roller skating tempo in my opinion and that was the first time the Pointer Sisters entered my consciousness.
Fast forward to now and I look back and appreciate the music from these sisters now more than ever, especially some of their 70’s music including one of my all time favorites “Yes We Can Can” from their 1973 self titled album.

When Will I See You Again?

We are pleased to present The Three Degrees as our Featured DIVA’s of the week! The longest running female vocal group in history, the group now consists of Helen Scott, Valerie Holiday, and Freddie Pool.

The Three Degrees are an American female vocal group, formed in 1963 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The group has always been a trio, although there have been a number of personnel changes and a total of fifteen women have represented the group so far. The original members were Fayette Pinkney, Shirley Porter and Linda Turner. The most successful line-up was Fayette with Sheila Ferguson and Valerie Holiday, these three being responsible for recording the 1974 single “When Will I See You Again“, which was a huge international hit, peaking at #2 in the US and topping the UK Singles Chart. – Wikipedia

The Three Degrees well known for their soulful voices, beautiful gowns, and fabulous stage shows. They are known all around the world for songs like “When Will I See You Again”, “Dirty Ol’ Man”, “Take Good Care Of Yourself”. They have been continuously touring for more than 40 years and still touring to this day. – http://www.thethreedegrees.com/

Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?

Funk-rock-disco act “Labelle” consisting of Patti Labelle, Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash with their soaring vocals, funky rhythms and glam-rock costumes really made an impact on the 70’s music scene. Originally Patti Labelle and the Blue Belles, formed in the 1960’s along with Sundray Tucker (who left the group before their first recording and was replaced with Cindy Birdsong who also left in 1967 to join The Supremes) They performed mostly doo-wop music and had a change in image and musical direction in the early 70’s.
The line “Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?” was made famous by their 1975 #1 hit “Lady Marmalade”
We will be featuring the music from these dynamic and diverse performers over the next week. ***Please note that music from the group as well as some of their solo music will be played in rotation***

I’m learning to dance all over again.

One of our favorite vocalists, Lorraine Johnson, a Disco, R & B, and Gospel artist originally from Huntsville, Alabama.

Her earliest known recording is “Can I Hold You To It” released in May of 1973 on Atlantic.
Between 1973 and 1977 she worked in and around Muscle Shoals, Alabama doing background work for various producers. She caught the attention of music producers, the late Moses Dillard and Jesse Boyce.
The duo produced her two albums at Prelude Records.
She had some hits – “The More I Get, The More I Want”, and “Feed The Flame”.
She did session work as backing vocalist in such artists as L.T.D., Les McCann, Saturday Night Band
After her two albums, she turned to gospel music where she initially had started from.
(-Discogs)

We will be featuring music from Lorraine in regular rotation over the next week!

Buy the Lorraine Johnson album, “The More You Want” here!

Buy the Lorraine Johnson album, “Learning To Dance All Over Again” here!

Aussie Diva Week!

Australia has produced a lot of talented artists and musicians.

This week as Pop! goes disco, we are featuring one of my all time favorites, Olivia Newton-John.I had such a major crush on her going all the way back to seeing her on screen for the first time in “Grease”

Helen Reddy, probably best known for “I Am Woman” did some disco, who knew?
Helen and Olivia go way back to their early days in showbiz appearing together on Australian TV in the 60’s. Both have had successful careers, especially in the 70’s.
As for sisters, Kylie and Dannii Minogue, they have been actresses and performers most of their lives. Kylie got her start on the Australian soap, “Neighbours” and was picked up by UK producers, Stock, Aitken and Waterman in the 80’s and the hits started coming. Younger sister, Dannii started out in talent shows and another soap opera “Home And Away”
This week we play “Diva Roulette” a spin of the wheel and randomly one of these four divas will play, one per hour!
I would have liked to have featured Tina Arena (she has a soft spot in my heart for singing the duet “No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)” with Donna Summer on Live and More Encore) However I don’t have any dance music from her yet. If I manage to find some, I’ll throw it in the mix!