Dystopian Dance Party

Author: Callie

  • Jheri Curl June: Ian Isiah’s “Princess Pouty”

    Jheri Curl June: Ian Isiah’s “Princess Pouty”

    Our final song for Jheri Curl June 2K23 ties together all of our themes from this year. Brooklyn-born Ian Isiah grew up singing in gospel groups; he has collaborated with Blood Orange, and also supported him on tour; and this track, 2020’s “Princess Pouty,” was produced by Chromeo.

    If Blood Orange’s “You’re Not Good Enough” was the more understated funk of early J.C.M., than this song is what I was referring to when I wrote about “big glossy synthesized horns and harder beats.” As an exemplar of Jheri Curl Music, “Princess Pouty” is in the same category as the funky maximalism of Midnight Star’s 1986 album Headlines.

    So that’s it; another Jheri Curl June in the rearview mirror. I know we haven’t been overly consistent these last few years, but next June is JCJ’s aluminum anniversary (yes, I just looked that up), so that pretty much obligates us to do something special. We’ll see you then; in the meantime, enjoy the playlists!

  • Jheri Curl June: Chromeo’s “Sexy Socialite”

    Jheri Curl June: Chromeo’s “Sexy Socialite”

    Welp, our seat-of-our-pants M.O. finally caught up with us yesterday when I just straight-up forgot to write a post… whoops. But before I flagrantly shirked my duties as Jheri Curl June co-curator, I had planned to highlight a song by long-running French Canadian J.C.M. revivalist duo Chromeo.

    I got into Chromeo sometime between the release of their 2004 debut album She’s in Control and 2007 followup Fancy Footwork. Since then, I’ve dipped in and out of engagement as the effectiveness of their schtick has waxed and waned for me (in brief: loved the first two albums, was lukewarm on 2010’s Business Casual, back on board for 2014’s White Women, was underwhelmed again by 2018’s Head Over Heels, and haven’t heard much after that). To be honest, I think She’s in Control is always going to be my favorite; their newer stuff (by which I mean everything more than a decade into the current century) is just a little too slick for my tastes. But today I’m giving the nod to “Sexy Socialite” from White Women because, what can I say, I’m a sucker for a good Time reference (if you know, you know). It also doesn’t hurt that it’s one of the album’s hardest grooves, and I enjoy how guest vocalist “Ozzie” shows up as the titular “Sexy Socialite” to speak for herself and problematize the song’s essentializing themes. Gosh, it’s almost like singer Dave 1 was a literature professor (fun fact, he was)!

    We’ll be back later today (probably) with one more post for Jheri Curl June 2023. In the meantime, you know what to do:

  • Jheri Curl June: Blood Orange’s “You’re Not Good Enough”

    Jheri Curl June: Blood Orange’s “You’re Not Good Enough”

    One of the things that has always endeared me to J.C.M. is its ability to mix an extremely fun, funky sound with a certain melancholy. Songs like René and Angela’s “I’ll Be Good,” anything off of Prince’s 1999 album or most of the SOS Band’s discography, have a way of expressing heartbreak and longing in a way you can dance to.

    Dev Hynes, also known as Blood Orange, built a career off of this very sound, which is clearly rooted in the synthesized heartbreak of ’80s R&B, but with modern pop sensibilities. With its warm synthesizers, chirpy guitar, and shuffling beat, “You’re Not Good Enough” has many of the hallmarks of early J.C.M., particularly from Prince’s first few albums. It has that muted, almost hazy feeling that J.C.M. had until about 1983, when big glossy synthesized horns and harder beats took over. Even the music video (below) has a look similar to Prince’s 1981 performance on SNL.

    We’ll be back tomorrow to highlight more post-Jheri Curl jams; in the meantime, playlists are below:

  • Jheri Curl June: Cindy’s “Must Be Lucky 〜愛の国へ〜”

    Jheri Curl June: Cindy’s “Must Be Lucky 〜愛の国へ〜”

    Mayumi Yamamoto, also known as Cindy, was a prominent Japanese R&B singer and songwriter. Throughout the 1980s, she worked with Japanese fusion musicians as well as Stevie Wonder, who produced her debut album! In previous years, we’ve talked about how late-era Jheri Curl Music morphed into New Jack Swing, but Cindy’s 1990 song “Must Be Lucky 愛の国へ〜 (Ai no Kuni e)” is a great example of the other route, veering into ’90s dance music.

    Believe it or not, it’s already our final week of Jheri Curl June 2K23! We’re doing something a little different for the last four days, highlighting the lasting legacy of Jheri Curl Music with some “J.C.M. Revival” picks from the 2000s and later. In the meantime, listen to the rest of this year’s picks on the playlists below:

  • Jheri Curl June: Full Force’s “Old Flames Never Die”

    Jheri Curl June: Full Force’s “Old Flames Never Die”

    Okay, so we covered Full Force back in our very first year of Jheri Curl June, but the song I picked wasn’t their best by any means and I got in some jabs at the group. Though I still stand by those jabs, Full Force deserves better. Every time I watch the House Party movies, I’m struck by the fact that their role as the bullies is one of the best parts of the films (seriously, try to watch House Party 3, 4, or 5 and tell me I’m wrong,) and their “Ain’t My Type of Hype” is THE most memorable song in the first movie, appearing during the iconic dance-off scene.

    But even before House Party, Full Force were successful producers and hitmakers in their own right. And their second album, Full Force Get Busy 1 Time, is wall to wall late-era Jheri Curl bangers. “Old Flames Never Die” even sounds a bit like, dare I say, an unreleased Prince track from the early ’80s, or a song that would feel at home on the Time‘s first album. It’s simple and funky, with a little New Wave-y flare and a fun interpolation of Sly and the Family Stone‘s “Everyday People.”

    So, there you go, I’ve managed to finally write something about Full Force without roasting them because, despite all appearances, I actually love Full Force. I mean, they are an ’80s R&B group with Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure character bodies who all dress like “Macho Man” Randy Savage and have Jheri curls. What is there NOT to love?

    We’ll be back tomorrow to wrap up week three of Jheri Curl June 2K23! In the meantime, check out the rest of our picks this year in the playlists below:

  • Jheri Curl June: Oran “Juice” Jones’ “The Rain”

    Jheri Curl June: Oran “Juice” Jones’ “The Rain”

    It’s amazing that in the nearly 10 years we’ve been doing Jheri Curl June, we have never picked Oran “Juice” Jones. It seemed like such a glaring oversight that I actually looked back through our playlists and blog posts from previous years to make sure I wasn’t picking a duplicate song. But no: here we are, in our ninth year of Jheri Curl June, finally inducting Oran “Juice” Jones.

    If you read yesterday’s post, then you’re already familiar with what Carl Carlton would do if another man touched his mama jama. Well, “The Rain” is basically a list of what Oran “Juice” Jones would do if his mama jama touched another man. This includes, but is not limited to: emptying his bank account, cancelling all his credit cards, and threatening to run up on her and do a Rambo. Basically, just short of shoving jewelry up his ass and dumping urine on his hair like Razz P. Berry in the SNL parody.

    Enjoy this and other infidelity jams on our playlist below:

  • Jheri Curl June: Evan Rogers’ “Don’t Jump to Conclusions”

    Jheri Curl June: Evan Rogers’ “Don’t Jump to Conclusions”

    If we’ve learned anything from our writeup on L.A. Reid back in 2016, it’s that if there is a successful songwriter and producer from the last 30 or so years, they probably had a Jheri Curl album of their own in the mid-’80s. Well, here is Evan Rogers, one half of a hitmaking duo with Carl Sturken who would later produce for everyone from Evelyn “Champagne” King to Christina Aguilera, and even help to build thee Robyn Rihanna Fenty‘s career.

    Sturken and Rogers would eventually form the group Rhythm Syndicate and score a couple of hits in the ’90s, but back in 1985, Rogers released his solo album Love Games, which contains the very System-sounding song “Don’t Jump to Conclusions.” That’s our pick for the day, but the whole album is a bounty of mid-decade Jheri Curl Music: including “Full-Time Lover,” a slow jam duet with the aforementioned Evelyn King, and even a cover of Prince‘s “Private Joy.” Now that we’ve discovered Sturken and Rogers’ place in the Jheri Curl June Extended Universe, I’m sure we’ll be hearing more from them, whether as artists or producers.

    But for now, here’s this month’s playlist. We’ll be back on Monday for more Jheri Curl June!

  • Jheri Curl June: Alicia Myers’ “Appreciation”

    Jheri Curl June: Alicia Myers’ “Appreciation”

    I have a theory that most, if not all, of the best music can be traced back to the Midwest. This is especially true of funk and R&B. In fact, if we put a dot on the map every time we inducted an artist into Jheri Curl June, the biggest clusters of dots would be in Ohio, Minnesota, and Michigan.

    Alicia Myers is from Detroit, Michigan and was in the band One Way (who we previously inducted for their bouncy hit “Cutie Pie“) before going solo in 1980. She is best-known for the gospel-infused “I Want to Thank You,” a club staple, particularly in NYC. 1984’s “Appreciation” also sounds like it could be a praise song, but with an infectious synth riff, slap bass, and house music piano.

    Here’s the playlist so you can appreciate the rest of this years’ Jheri Curl June songs! See you tomorrow.

  • Jheri Curl June: Steve Arrington’s “What Do You Want from Me”

    Jheri Curl June: Steve Arrington’s “What Do You Want from Me”

    We have long extolled the virtues of both Steve Arrington‘s actual Jheri curl and his Ohio-grown bouncy funk in relation to the three–time JCJ-inducted band Slave. However, not only could I easily put Arrington on the playlist every single year, but this year, I specifically wanted to give attention to his second group, Steve Arrington’s Hall of Fame, with this 1984 jam, “What Do You Want from Me.”

    Released the same year Arrington converted to Christianity (he would later become a licensed minister), this is a love song, but on closer listen also sounds like it could be a gospel song about serving Christ. At least the first verse does; then it devolves into moaning and talking about making love. But for my money, this song has a lot of the same love/sex/god themes that Prince was working with throughout his career, though with a lot less angst. It radiates so much warmth that it could only be on an album called Positive Power. I mean, just look at that beautiful backlit curl! It’s enough to make anyone a believer!

    And with that, Steve Arrington’s Hall of Fame has officially entered the JCJ (and just plain J.C.) hall of fame. As always, playlists are below:

  • Jheri Curl June: Tomoko Aran’s “ひと夏のタペストリー (Hitonatsu no Tapestry)”

    Jheri Curl June: Tomoko Aran’s “ひと夏のタペストリー (Hitonatsu no Tapestry)”

    Tokoko Aran is a City Pop artist who put out a slew of albums on Warner Bros. during the 1980s, including this track, “ひと夏のタペストリー(Hitonatsu no Tapestry)” from 1983’s Fyukukan.

    “Hitonatsu no Tapestry” would sound great in a mix with George Duke’s “Shine On” from 1982 and George Benson‘s “Give Me the Night” from 1980. Though “Hitonatsu no Tapestry” shares some similarities with both of these songs, it incorporates more synths instead of a horn or string section, which is consistent with how Jheri Curl Music sounded after Prince’s 1999 album was released, and would sound for the rest of the decade. By 1983, R&B was shedding the remnants of Post-Disco and sounding much more cold and synthetic as it entered into the Jheri Curl golden age of the mid-’80s.

    But, you can relive the first couple of years of J.C.M. by listening to our playlists, here: