Author: zachary.hoskins@gmail.com

  • Jheri Curl June: Vanity’s “Under the Influence”

    I’ve been sitting on this song for the last seven years holding out to see if maybe, just maybe, Vanity’s music would appear on streaming services and we could add it to the Spotify playlist. Unsurprisingly–and, like Eddy Grant‘s absolute fuckin banger “Electric Avenue,” with which we kicked off the festivities this year–that doesn’t seem…

  • Jheri Curl June: Bonnie Pointer’s “If the Price Is Right”

    Earlier this week, we mentioned that Bonnie Pointer had departed the Pointer Sisters for a solo career in the late ’70s. Her third album, 1984’s If the Price Is Right, still has remnants of the disco sound of her former musical output, but soaked with Jheri Curl juice. Even the album cover features a glossy…

  • Jheri Curl June Fredi Grace & Rhinestone’s “Tight”

    Fredi Grace & Rhinestone was a trio from Atlanta, Georgia consisting of Fredi Grace, Rosalind Sweeper, and Keith Rawls. “Tight,” the titular track off their second (and last) album, is a sparse, funky opener with soaring vocals by lead singer Grace. On a side note, Grace’s tensile strength must be incredible, because after nearly six…

  • Jheri Curl June: The Pointer Sisters’ “Automatic”

    If there’s one thing to be said about Jheri Curl Music, it’s that–much like its namesake hairstyle–it’s remarkably gender-neutral: Many of the genre’s greatest tracks were sung by women. That’s why every Jheri Curl June, we designate one week as “Ladies’ Week” to celebrate the contributions of woman artists to our most beloved style. And…

  • Jheri Curl June: The Egyptian Lover’s “I Cry (Night After Night)”

    Like yesterday’s spotlight artist the Jonzun Crew, the Egyptian Lover is a pioneer of the Jheri Curl-adjacent hip-hop subgenre electro (or, as they liked to call it on the West Coast, electro-hop). Way back in our first-ever Jheri Curl June, we even called his 1986 club hit “Freak-a-holic” “the ultimate jheri curl track.” And certainly,…

  • Jheri Curl June: Jonzun Crew’s “Space Cowboy”

    The Jonzun Crew’s 1983 debut album Lost in Space contains several electro staples, but more importantly for our purposes, it features the Jheri Jam (TM) “Space Cowboy.” All I have to say about this song is that it fuckin’ rules. Just listen to that silky synth and funky bassline. Marvel at Michael Jonzun’s glorious Jheri…

  • Jheri Curl June: Trouble Funk’s “Good Times”

    Last month, I bought a house in Columbia, Maryland–putting me, for the first time since I moved to the “DMV” region in 2014, closer to Baltimore than Washington, DC. So, now that I’m a safe distance from the erstwhile Chocolate City, I have a confession to make: I don’t particularly care for go-go, DC’s main…

  • Jheri Curl June: Slave’s “OOOHH”

    We’ve already covered Slave not once, but twice in the seven years that we’ve been celebrating Jheri Curl June here at Dystopian Dance Party: First in 2015, with 1980’s “Watching You”; and then in 2017, with 1983’s “Turn You Out (In & Out).” But, Slave is my absolute favorite and they have bangers for days,…

  • Jheri Curl June: Prince’s “Jungle Love”

    We’ve talked a fair amount about Prince, who would have turned 63 today, as one of the architects of the genre we call Jheri Curl Music: Most notably in our very first Jheri Curl June Special back in 2014, but also in various JCJ entries and profiles on his former colleagues (Sheila E, the Time,…

  • Jheri Curl June: Four Tops (feat. The Temptations)’ “Hang”

    Four Tops teamed up with labelmates the Temptations for this toe dip into the pool of Jheri curl juice, 1983’s “Hang.” With lyrics about working hard to get by in a difficult world, “Hang” belongs alongside Zapp‘s “Playin’ Kinda Ruff” on any Jheri curl playlist. If you too feel like your life is an endless…