Although I'm a '70s baby, I was an '80s young lady and that decade moreso than any others defined my musical tastes. I listened to everything back then--from Scritti Politti to The Dazz Band to Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton to Kurtis Blow. But by and far two of my favorite artists from the era of fluorescent colors, fingerless gloves and lace everything were Madonna and WHAM! I still keep the old school hits from these artists in heavy rotation on the iPod. So imagine my sheer delight upon coming across two new school artists, Detroit's Monica Blaire and Philly newcomers The ReBeL Yell, who have taken '80s songs from my faves and updated them for the '00s.
I love what both artists bring to their respective remakes. Blaire takes Madonna's Pop confection "Material Girl" and transforms it into a soaring, soulful ballad with a full orchestra and choir backing her up. Dare I say that I like her version, which can be found on her upcoming Back to the Future, Vol. 1, better than the original. The ReBeL Yell (made up of Domini Quinn SupaStar, Khari Mateen and The Roots' James Poyser) stays true to the original funk of WHAM!'s "Everything She Wants" but add more electro-soul to the mix with a dash of Hip-Hop thrown in. This is one of my favorite WHAM! songs, so topping the original would have been a hard feat, but The ReBeL Yell get an A for effort. I'm definitely looking forward to hearing more from these cats whose debut album, Love & War, drops in August.
Monica Blaire: "Material Girl" Refix
The ReBeL Yell: "Everything She Wants"
Monica Blaire [Official][MySpace]
The ReBeL Yell [MySpace]
