RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

Mikaela Straus came out loud and proud last year with her first single, "1950" under her professional moniker, King Princess. This song, about imaging the time when people had to keep their sexuality a secret, brought the now twenty year old Bronx native plenty of attention. This lead to her meeting musician/producer, Mark Ronson who featured her on a track on his latest album, "Late Night Feelings" and signed her to his label, Zelig. Now King Princess has just released her debut studio album, "Cheap Queen". This self-described genderqueer singer-songwriter explores issues facing today's LGBTQ youth and creates pop anthems that will not only speak to them but anyone feeling alone and isolated.





Here is a selection of some new songs that perfectly merges together music and image:









During this year's "Black Girls Rock!" celebration, three of hottest female dance vocalists from the '90's came together to perform their big hits from the era. Check out Robin S. ("Show Me Love"), Crystal Waters ("Gypsy Woman") and CeCe Peniston ("Finally") who take us back and deliver glorious live renditions of their songs.



And we close with some thrilling duets by some great singers. We have Mamas & Papas vocalist, Cass Elliot teaming up with John Denver on a cover of the melancholy ballad, "Leaving On a Jet Plane". Cheryl Lynn and the very missed Luther Vandross delivering some vocal dynamics on their live version of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's "If This World Was Mine" during an appearance on "Soul Train".

MY TUNE OF THE DAY

The tune that I'm loving today is the 1994 international hit, "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters, a song I hadn't heard in such a long time but still sounds quite fresh.

This singer had no real intention of starting a music career despite her father being a jazz musician and her great aunt was vocalist and film star, Ethel Waters. After Crystal graduated from college, she went to work as a tech for a Washington DC parole board. However, Waters later found herself gravitating towards music but first as a writer. She teamed-up with a production team called The Basement Boys. After she cut a demo for dance artist, Ultra Naté, the boys loved it but thought it was perfect with Crystal singing the track. This song, "Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)" became a world-wide smash reaching number eight on the U.S pop chart and number one on the dance chart in 1991. "100% Pure Love" was the lead single from her follow-up album, "Storyteller" which made it to number eleven on the pop chart and once again to the top spot on the dance music chart.

These two songs were the highlight of Crystal Waters' career but she had six other chart-topping dance hits which included "Making Happy" and "Relax". Ms Waters has only recorded three albums with the 1997 self-titled album being her last to date but has occasionally released new music over the years. The singer recently lent her vocals to a Chris Cox & DJ Frankie track "Oh Mama Hey" which hit number one on the dance chart last March.

"100% Pure Love" - Crystal Waters (1994)

 As a bonus, here is the music video of the first hit by Crystal Waters: