Dystopian Dance Party

Category: jheri curl june

  • Jheri Curl June: The System’s “The Pleasure Seekers”

    Most of our choices for Jheri Curl June so far have fallen between 1981 and 1983, and for good reason: those years were arguably the high point of jheri curl’s Golden Age. But as we reach the second half of our month-long celebration, I wanted to also shift our focus to the second half of the decade, and the evolution that took place for jheri curl music in those years. And who better to do that with than the System?

    A partnership between singer/guitarist Michael “Mic” Murphy and session keyboardist David Frank, the System formed in 1982 and, thanks to Frank’s expertise in studio technology, quickly developed into one of the jheri-curl era’s most sonically sophisticated meldings of electronic production and pop-R&B songwriting. In fact, by the time of their third album, 1985’s The Pleasure Seekers, their sound was almost too sophisticated: all of the various synthesizer tones, electronic percussion sounds, and other assorted studio trickery make the title track sound a bit schizophrenic, almost like a more radio-friendly Art of Noise rather than conventional jheri-curl. But if you think I’m calling the System’s JCM credentials into question, you’ve got another think coming: I mean, just get a load of Murphy’s hair in the video, which is surely a contender for the Jheri Curl Hall of Fame if ever I’ve seen one. It’s like Prince‘s Purple Rain-era hair had a baby with Little Richard’s jheri-pompadour, and then left that hair-baby out in the rain for several hours. In short, it’s glorious.

    You know the deal: playlist after the jump, see you again tomorrow!

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  • Jheri Curl June: Klymaxx’s “Meeting in the Ladies Room”

    What would Ladies’ Week be without a tribute to Klymaxx: one of the few all-female, self-formed groups in pop music history? Meeting in the Ladies Room, Klymaxx’s fourth studio album, was co-produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and went platinum with four successful singles, one of which was the title track.

    The song–written by another trio of Jheri Curl June veterans, Reggie and Vincent Calloway and Boaz Watson of Midnight Star (hence the “stealth” “Freak-a-zoid” reference)–opens with Klymaxx singer/drummer Bernadette Cooper muttering about the behavior of the other women in the club who are eyeing her man, while dropping a few subtle hints at her financial status: “I had to leave my condo to come to this / Well, I’m back, but this time I’m with my man / And these women are putting their hands all over his / Yamamoto Kansai sweater that I bought.”

    Granted, the rest of the song is about dolling yourself up in the bathroom to look better than those other women, who are apparently succeeding at rubbing up on your boyfriend. These themes of female competition, beauty as a source of power, and uncontrollable male sexuality do somewhat downplay the concept of a successful woman who can buy her man designer clothes. But can we all agree that it’s pretty progressive just to have a group of women who could play their own instruments, weren’t put together by a Svengali to fit a caricatured male fantasy, and recorded songs about topics relevant to women?

    (P.S. I think it’s worth noting that the pop-arty video above was not only directed by Devo co-founder Gerald Casale, but also featured a young Vivica A. Fox as one of the “BW”s in the club. The more you know.)

    Playlist below the jump; see you next week!

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  • Jheri Curl June: Mary Jane Girls’ “All Night Long”

    The Mary Jane Girls were essentially Rick James’ answer to Vanity 6: the girl group Prince constructed as the prostitute foil to The Time‘s pimp image. In this case, though, Rick James might have actually one-upped his longtime rival; for their 1983 American Bandstand performance of “All Night Long,” the girls look like they were literally picked up off the corner on the way to the studio.

    James originally conceived of the Mary Jane Girls project as a solo act for his backup singer, JoJo McDuffie. The other members of the group couldn’t sing: hence why this clip is a lip-synced performance of the studio recording. Check out that choreography, though!

    The Spotify playlist continues to grow after the jump:

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  • Jheri Curl June: Mtume’s “Juicy Fruit”

    Ladies’ Week continues with “Juicy Fruit,” another jheri-ballad from 1982 by Mtume. The band is named for its founder and lead songwriter, former Miles Davis percussionist James “Mtume” Forman; but the voice you hear front and center in “Juicy Fruit,” as well as the band’s other hits, is female co-vocalist Tawatha Agee. And it’s the interplay between Mtume’s lush arrangement and Agee’s sensual vocals that make this possibly the sexiest jheri-curl song ever. When Agee sighs “I like it” at the beginning of the song, you know the juicy fruit she’s talking about ain’t made by Wrigley.

    The video above knows it too, with all those softcore closeups of a full-lipped brunette eating oranges while Mtume creepily looks on. And speaking of juicy, check out the jheri curl on keyboard player Philip Field…now that’s sexy.

    You know the drill: Spotify playlist after the jump, and we’ll be back tomorrow with more woman-powered jheri curl.

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  • Jheri Curl June: Evelyn “Champagne” King’s “Love Come Down”

    It’s Day Two of our informal Ladies’ Week for Jheri Curl June, which means it’s time to break out the Champagne. “Love Come Down” is the first single from Evelyn “Champagne” King’s 1982 album Get Loose, and it’s as frothy and ebullient as her liquid namesake, with one of those irresistible computerized synth-basslines early-’80s jheri curl did so well. “Love Come Down” did get an official video in which King and a Billy Dee Williams lookalike share a picnic lunch on the beach. But I’d rather highlight this 1982 clip from Solid Gold:

    Why, you ask? Three words. Silver. Satin. Pants.

    Check the Spotify Playlist after the jump, and we’ll see you tomorrow!

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  • Jheri Curl June: The S.O.S. Band’s “Tell Me If You Still Care”

    Friday was the 55th birthday of James Samuel “Jimmy Jam” Harris III: former keyboardist for The Time and, with partner Terry Lewis, one of the main architects of the “Minneapolis Sound”–or, as we call it in these parts, good old-fashioned jheri curl. As usual, though, Mr. Jam was overshadowed by his almost-birthmate and former boss Prince, who turned 56 on Saturday and was the subject of Friday’s Jheri Curl June special article. But I wanted to make amends, so to make up for last week’s snub, we’re kicking off Week Two of Jheri Curl June with one of the earliest projects by Jam and Lewis’ Flyte Tyme Productions: “Tell Me If You Still Care,” a classic cut from the S.O.S. Band’s 1983 album On the Rise, and a shining example of the jheri-curl ballad.

    The S.O.S. Band originates from Atlanta, not Minneapolis; though you’d never know from the song, a Jam/Lewis original that brings the same smooth, pristine, soulful yet eminently radio-friendly sound that would soon drive bigger hits by the likes of Janet Jackson and the Human League. Unlike those later hits, though, “Tell Me If You Still Care” is still fully rooted in the R&B sound: it’s basically quiet storm with a nice, slick, dreamy sheen, and singer Mary Davis’ vocals are the perfect combination of soulful and ethereal. Plus, there’s that bizarre slow-motion video, which is so pop-surreal I wouldn’t be surprised if you told me it was directed by a moonlighting David Lynch. And the male lead sports a rare example of the white man’s jheri curl–what more could you ask?

    Apparently, though, not everyone was pleased by Flyte Tyme’ work with The S.O.S. Band: during work on the album, Jam and Lewis were grounded in Atlanta by a blizzard, which caused them to miss a Time concert in San Antonio and led to their being fined and then fired from the group by Prince. But look at it this way: their replacements, Mark Cardenas and “St. Paul” Peterson, went on to play with Jesse Johnson’s Revue and front The Family, respectively; Jam and Lewis proceeded to become one of the most successful musical production teams of the ’80s and ’90s. No disrespect to Jesse or The Family, but I think it’s pretty clear who got the short end of that stick.

    As always, the Jheri Curl June Spotify playlist can be found after the jump. And hey, since Callie is out of town until Wednesday, I decided to make an executive decision and deem this week of Jheri Curl June Ladies’ Week, since the S.O.S. Band is just the first of several female-fronted acts I plan to highlight. Who said jheri curls were just for men? See you tomorrow!

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  • Jheri Curl June Special: Prince

    I think we’ve already established that we are huge fans of Prince here at the ol’ DDP, so we have to do something to celebrate his 56th birthday tomorrow, June 7–especially when that birthday falls right at the end of the first week of Jheri Curl June. And besides, if we’re really going to celebrate jheri curl music this month, it’s important to acknowledge that Prince practically invented it: he was the first R&B artist to popularize the use of synthesizers instead of horns, a major cornerstone of the jheri-curl sound. So today, instead of choosing just one Prince track for Jheri Curl June, we’re going to present an informal history of Prince’s role in the jheri-curl movement, musical and otherwise.

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  • Jheri Curl June: Dazz Band’s “Joystick”

    In my introduction to Jheri Curl June, I noted that jheri curl music is an inherently hybrid, polyglot genre, blending funk and soul with rock, disco, and pop. Another prominent influence–one that spawned its own subset of JCM, better  known to the less folically-obsessed as electro-funk–is the robotic, heavily synthesized form of dance music known as electro. One could detect traces of electro-funk in yesterday’s selection, Midnight Star’s “No Parking on the Dance Floor.” But its influence is even more evident in today’s: the title track of the Cincinnati, Ohio-based Dazz Band‘s 1983 album Joystick. With its vocodored vocal hook, throbbing drum machine beat, lyrics drawing from the imagery of those newfangled vidya games, and washes of “futuristic” synthesizer squiggles, the debt “Joystick” owes to the likes of Afrika Bambaataa is obvious. But it’s still very much a jheri-curl song, as evidenced by this 1984 Soul Train appearance:

    See, if you couldn’t figure it out from the album cover detail above, an arcade/Atari joystick looks kinda like a dick. So, the Dazz Band helpfully suggest, “just take control of the stick” and they’ll “let you play around.” It’s a ridiculously sophomoric premise, and the band’s explanatory dance moves are performed with absurd conviction. But still, you have to kind of admire the historical moment that allowed a bunch of grown-ass African American men to claim that “love is just like a video game” and come across as smooth, rather than…well, nerds.

    We’ll be back tomorrow with a very special installment of Jheri Curl June. In the meantime, keep up with our Spotify playlist after the jump!

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  • Jheri Curl June: Midnight Star’s “No Parking on the Dance Floor”

    Today’s Jheri Curl June entry is the title track from Midnight Star’s 1983 album No Parking on the Dance Floor. It has all the necessary ingredients of a classic jheri-curl track: a squealing synth line, bass that pops like crazy, and a camp-as-hell introduction that threatens, “if you don’t get a move on that body, I’ll be forced to give you a ticket–so get…WITH IT!” Plus, impossible as it might sound, the video is even better:

    It’s one of those great ’80s videos that take the concept of the song and make it blissfully, absurdly literal. So a traffic jam turns into an impromptu dance party, with the nine members of Midnight Star–whose own spectrum of jheri-curl lengths and shapes is right up there with that of Jesse Johnson’s Revue–serving as funky pied pipers, leading frustrated drivers to step out of their cars and join the fun. Then, at 1:35…is that…is that Prince? Well, no, of course not, though they sure took pains to make it look that way. But this is one party that doesn’t even need a random breakdancing Prince-alike to make it awesome. Midnight Star, I’ll get stuck in traffic with you any time.

    Check out the Jheri Curl June Spotify playlist after the jump!

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  • Jheri Curl June: Jesse Johnson’s “Be Your Man”

    Jesse Johnson’s birthday was Sunday, so this is a little bit of a belated birthday tribute. “Be Your Man,” from Jesse Johnson’s 1985 debut solo album Jesse Johnson’s Revue, is quintessential Minneapolis jheri curl funk: the pounding drum machine beat, heavy bassline, glossy synth “horns” (which he calls out in a James Brown-esque band leader style), and of course, the tiny funky guitar noodling.

    The video showcases Jesse as basically the dark-skinned, pink version of Prince. Plus, together the members of Jesse Johnson’s group exhibit six variations of jheri curl shapes:

    © A&M Records
    © A&M Records

    Check back tomorrow for another song, and remember to follow along with the Jheri Curl June Spotify playlist (after the jump).

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