Dystopian Dance Party

Tag: nile rodgers

  • Jheri Curl June: Nile Rodgers’ “Let’s Go Out Tonight”

    If there’s ever been an artist who embodied proto-Jheri Curl Music without ever quite crossing over into J.C.M. proper, it’s Nile Rodgers. As the guitarist and co-producer behind disco innovators Chic, Rodgers played a key role in the creation of the more streamlined “post-disco” sound; yet by the early ’80s and the dawn of what we call the Jheri Curl Era (JCE), he had taken a left turn from the majority of his acolytes, moving in more of a pop direction with his solo debut Adventures in the Land of the Good Groove and high-profile productions for the likes of David Bowie, Madonna, and Duran Duran.

    Rodgers’ second album, 1985’s B-Movie Matinee, is no exception; it isn’t quite Jheri Curl Music, though it certainly has elements in common–dig, for example, the electro-style programmed bassline and bright, brassy synths that open “Let’s Go Out Tonight,” one of two singles released from the album (and, incidentally, the only one of Rodgers’ solo singles to crack the Hot 100). But then again, J.C.M. itself was kind of on the wane by 1985; and even if it isn’t quite orthodox Jheri Curl, how could I refuse myself the opportunity to share this absolutely bonkers video, which features Rodgers (wearing some kind of futuristic Cosby sweater) bringing a Japanese Bunraku marionette to life, taking her out on a date, and then seemingly turning into a marionette himself? Besides, Nile Rodgers wrote the Soul Glo jingle; even if his rhythm guitar style hadn’t influenced virtually every artist we’ve written about for Jheri Curl June, that alone would ensure his place in JCM history remains secure.

    We’ll be back tomorrow with more picks from the latter-day JCE; in the meantime, playlists are below.

  • Jheri Curl June: Mystic Merlin’s “Mindreader”

    This track by Mystic Merlin is a great early Jheri Curl song: funky but still mellow, with a real horn section and a clear disco bent with its Nile Rodgers-esque guitar riff. Mystic Merlin was initially a novelty band who incorporated magician acts in their live shows. Their 1982 album Full Moon continues with the mystical, magical motif. Many of the track titles include some reference to magic, and the album cover (see above) is an image of the band dressed in harem pants and turbans and posed with a scimitar, an hour glass, and a genie lamp, all in front of what is ironically a waning gibbous moon.

    The final track on the album, “Mindreader,” opens with the verse: “I know what you’re thinking / by the look in your eyes / I’m a magician / and a master of disguise / but I can’t disguise this feeling / and it’s very plain to see / you can tell I’m digging you girl…” That’s right folks, magicians need love too.

    Full Moon would be Mystic Merlin’s last album with singer Freddie Jackson, who went on to have a successful career as a solo artist.

    We’ll be back tomorrow with more magical Jheri Curl picks. Playlists below:

    https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4DHwfbLgF2W2Xp2ZpqcDdg?si=39b728bf1e3449cc

  • Jheri Curl June: Madonna’s “Lucky Star”

    Look, I know we called this final week of Jh3ri Curl Jun3 White Boys’ Week, but I think we would be remiss to talk about jheri curl music’s appropriators without a shoutout to the anointed queen of all swagger-jackers: Madonna. Almost a decade before she brought a sanitized version of Harlem drag ball culture to Middle America with her 1990 smash “Vogue,” the future Material Girl was attempting to crack the R&B charts with her debut single, 1982’s “Everybody”–which, in a brazen act of reverse racial passing, released with a 12″ cover designed by Lou Beach, featuring contemporary “urban” signifiers like brownstone buildings, graffiti, a police officer, a few anonymous children of color…and Madonna’s white ass nowhere to be seen.

    © Sire Records
    © Sire Records

    The ruse didn’t last long, of course; when a music video for “Everybody” was released in early 1983, it became evident that the newcomer who’d been burning up the “Black” charts was as white as the driven snow (I mean, those dance moves alone). But even later that year, when she released her self-titled debut album sporting her now-iconic peroxide-blonde New Wave Marilyn Monroe look, it was easy to hear why so many early listeners had her pegged as an African American artist. Just listen to “Lucky Star,” the album’s fourth and highest-charting single. All the ingredients for jheri curl music we described in our video back at the beginning of the month are present and accounted for: from the crisp, clean-sounding guitar and bass to the Oberheim OB-X synthesizer and Linn drum machine–two tools of the trade that should sound very familiar to fans of Madonna’s 1980s dance-pop peer, Prince.

    So yes, Madonna did jheri curl, and she did it well. But like many a swagger-jacker before and after her, it didn’t take long for her to move on; by her next album, 1984’s Nile Rodgers-produced Like a Virgin, she was taking her sound in a more self-consciously pop-oriented direction. But I have to admit, I still have a soft spot for Madonna’s short-lived jheri curl era–and for the days when the words “Madonna” and “Black” didn’t produce an instant wince of second-hand embarrassment. Go ahead, white girl. You really were the luckiest by far.

    Spotify and YouTube playlists below:

    (more…)

  • Jheri Curl Cinema: Coming to America (1988)

    When we decided to expand the focus of Jheri Curl June last year to include cinema, I knew there were two films I absolutely had to write about: Purple Rain and Coming to America. As it turned out, I was only able to work the former into our schedule. This year, however, I’m making amends.

    Coming to America, directed by John Landis in 1988, has done more for the continued relevance of the jheri curl than any other cultural force save, perhaps, for Michael Jackson. Run a Google Image or YouTube search for “jheri curl”–which I have, many more times than I should probably admit, in the course of my duties for this blog–and references to Coming to America will almost certainly be among the first hits. For that matter, just bring up the movie in conversation, and chances are the scenes you remember will be jheri-curl-related: the couch stained with activator grease, Randy Watson and Sexual Chocolate (see above), fuckin’ Soul Glo. Coming to America isn’t just Jheri Curl Cinema: it’s practically cinema about jheri curls.

    (more…)

  • Jheri Curl June: Grace Jones’ “I’m Not Perfect (But I’m Perfect for You)”

    For our second day of JCJ Ladies’ Week, we’ll be looking at a mid-’80s track by Grace Jones. The Jamaican-born style icon is probably best known for her androgynous looks and outlandish behavior, but she is in fact a prolific model, actor, and musical artist.

    “I’m Not Perfect (But I’m Perfect for You),” from Jones’ 1986 album Inside Story, was produced by ex-Chic frontman Nile Rodgers and is easily her most accessible song. Musically, it conforms to the now-mainstream sound that jheri curl music had brought to the pop market. But Jones’ signature, commanding contralto voice still sets it apart as distinctly her own.

    (more…)