Adult Karate

Plug Research Presents

Adult Karate’s Sophomore Album

My Friends Are Internet And I Want To Break You Open

Genres Spanning New Wave, Electronic and Indie/Dream Pop

Set for Release on July 31, 2020

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Two Advance Singles out June 26 & July 17

Adult Karate (the musical moniker for versatile artist K.C. Maloney) is poised to release his second album, My Friends Are Internet And I Want To Break You Open, on July 31, 2020, on tastemaker label Plug Research. More than a year and a half in the making, this new album is a true expression of the artist’s musical evolution, a culmination of both his personal life journey and the integration of his various musical influences. This dynamic, boundary-crossing release defies genre pigeonholing and seamlessly glides between musical styles while Maloney’s candid, sometimes confessional lyrics and reverbed-out vocals hold the whole picture together. Two singles (both with B-sides) will precede the album release: “Euphoria” will be available on June 26, and expect “Keep Your Love” on July 17, 2020. For more information, please visit https://www.adultkaratemusic.com.

My Friends Are Internet… is Adult Karate’s most wide-ranging effort to date, adeptly mixing and crossing over genres from acid house to disco to indie rock, all the while maintaining the kind of tender introspection that lies at the heart of Maloney’s music. Listening to the album, you get the sense that Maloney has hit his stride after working through a troubled past marked by addiction and issues around sexuality and identity—that there has in fact been a kind of trial by musical fire that’s both inspired and fed the artist’s journey through these personal issues/demons. One might interpret Maloney’s musical growth from the first Adult Karate release LXII, which the artist has said was “mostly an excursion into dark electronic music and slowed-down deep house” to the genre-bending ride that is My Friends Are Internet… as the artist’s finding more confident musical footing and integrating all the various aspects of his musical personality into one enthralling whole. The result is a powerhouse of an album—catchy, haunting, introspective, celebratory. 

Photo:
Natalie Arriola

Lead Single “Euphoria” out June 26

Adult Karate’s first single, “Euphoria" (with "Fighters" on the B-side), which comes out this Friday, June 26, is, according to Maloney himself, “by far the poppiest-sounding music I’ve ever written.” Indeed, its four-on-the-floor drumbeat and catchy, Interpol-esque guitar hook recalls the best indie rock of the aughts more than the dark electronic roots where Adult Karate began, but Maloney’s plaintive lyrics and strong vocal performances, along with the crescendo-ing, electronic-leaning choruses, make this one of his crossover-genre masterpieces. “Euphoria” lyrically mines the process of forgetting an ex, a familiar yet timeless subject that Maloney describes poignantly: “It’s not an easy thing to do, but it’s necessary.” It’s a song for shoegazing as much as it is for taking a long, breezy drive with the top down—there’s something in it for fans of genres spanning electronic, dance and rock.

Second Single “Keep Your Love” out July 17

“Keep Your Love”—with "Those Words/Robot 36C" on the B-side—the second single off of All My Friends Are Internet… was born from an idea Maloney originally worked on for his second EP, Indoors. What started out as more of a deep house track grew into more of a “dark disco kind of thing,” with an infectious groove built from live drums and looped guitars layered in lockstep. Outgrowing the house beat and moving toward the organic drum track changed the feel of the song completely, and opened the door for one of the strongest vocal performances on the album. On the lyrics to “Keep Your Love,” Maloney says, “It’s about the passage of time and how unforgiving it can be. Fear of aging and all that. Partly inspired by some health issues I’ve been going through the past few years.”

• Artist page: https://www.adultkaratemusic.com
• Label’s artist page: http://www.plugresearch.com/2018/08/adult-karate-2
• Artist’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adultkarate
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/adultkarate
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3i8FZ52lJ8BJ7QWHl5xNvs 

Saturday Sounds: Prom Night

Be Afraid, Or Not... Prom Night: Original 1980 Motion Picture Soundtrack by Paul Zaza & Carl Zittrer World premiere of the original score and disco songs from the  1980 cult slasher film, featuring unreleased music To be released on May 10th Want to hear something really scary?

Perseverance Records presents the long awaited official release of the 1980 cult classic Prom Night Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Perseverance worked closely with Carl Zittrer and Paul Zaza to locate and unearth the original masters and all music recorded for the film including unreleased disco songs and score not used in the final production, never heard before anywhere. This marks the first official and complete CD release of the Prom Night soundtrack. While the songs themselves have made appearances on a notorious Japanese LP and eventual bootleg recordings sourced from it, there was no official release of the songs - partially because the movie was made in the waning days of the disco fever.  This soundtrack features four different aspects of the music. First it opens with a re-creation of the score as it appears in the film - or as close to it as it could be assembled from the separate elements. Next is the score that wasn't used in the picture. Then come the disco songs in approximate order - but omitting the Blue Bazaar songs that were not featured in the movie and were used only as filler for the bootleg Japanese LP. The last portion of the album is dedicated to the songs that don't appear in the picture yet are as intrinsic to the sound of Prom Night as the songs that made it. "I remember seeing Prom Night during its release in 1980, when disco was still the craze. I was determined to obtain a copy of the soundtrack and to play the theme song at my senior prom only to find that it was never released. I spent years looking at the audiophile catalog at Tower Records hoping to find a release date but no luck. Now, after almost 40 years, my dream has now become a reality! Fans alike are now able to enjoy the soundtrack!" - Silvio Barretta, Producer Prom Night is a 1980 cult classic horror thriller directed by Paul Lynch (RoboCop, Xena: Warrior Princess, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Star Trek: The Next Generation) and stars Jamie Lee Curtis as Kim Hammond and Leslie Nielsen as Mr. Hammond. The movie focuses on four middle school children, Kelly Lynch, Jude Cunningham, Wendy Richards, and Nick McBride who hide the truth of what happened six years ago to ten-year-old Robin Hammond the day her body was found near and abandoned convent. They swore never to tell anyone of how they taunted Robin, backing her into a corner, frightened, when falling to her death while standing on a window ledge. But on that day, six years ago, someone else was there, watching, and now seeks revenge on prom night!

Tracklist + Additional Info: https://mvdb2b.com/s/PRD098  Pre-order: https://mvdshop.com/products/paul-zaza-carl-zittrer-prom-night-original-1980-motion-picture-soundtrack-cd

Take A Ride On Your Disco Stick

Look! It's Linda Clifford...!!!

FOUR CLASSIC ALBUMS FROM R&B LEGEND and “FIRST LADY OF DISCO” LINDA CLIFFORD TO BE RELEASED ON AUGUST 24 BY BLIXA SOUNDS

 

Newly re-mastered editions of Linda Clifford’s classic hit-filled Curtom solo albums return on Blixa Sounds. Features bonus 7” single versions and 12” Disco Mixes of her chart-topping smashes produced by Curtis Mayfield and Isaac Hayes.

Blixa Sounds keeps the music coming with series of re-mastered reissues. 

 

On August 24, Blixa Sounds, a new Los Angeles based label, will release four classic albums by American R&B and Disco Icon Linda Clifford, If My Friends Could See Me Now (1977), Let Me Be Your Woman (1979), Here’s My Love (1979), and I’m Yours (1980).

 

Linda Clifford emerged as a powerhouse vocalist during the 1970s, bridging pop, R&B, and disco with her phenomenal voice and electrifying stage presence. Her #1 Billboard disco hits, including “If My Friends Could See Me Now,” “Runaway Love,” “Gypsy Lady,” “Red Light” (from the Grammy-nominated Fame soundtrack), “Shoot Your Best Shot,” and “It Don’t Hurt No More,” accompanied her American Music Award nomination for “Favorite Female Disco Artist” (1979). Her marathon version of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” even yielded a Top 20 hit in the U.K. Blixa Sounds celebrates Clifford’s white-hot streak from 1978-1980 with four albums originally released on Curtis Mayfield’s Curtom label, featuring productions by Mayfield, legendary Motown arranger Gil Askey, and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame icon Isaac Hayes.

 

Currently based in Chicago, Linda Clifford is still spellbinding audiences with her solo performances and sold-out shows alongside Martha Wash, Evelyn “Champagne” King, and Norma Jean Wright as the First Ladies of Disco, recently climbing the Top 10 Billboard dance charts with a remix of “Show Some Love” (2015). However, If My Friends Could See Me Now, Let Me Be Your Woman, Here’s My Love, and I’m Yours show where it all started.

 

After years of singing jazz and releasing one-off singles, including a minor hit on the R&B singles chart with Mayfield's "(It's Gonna Be) A Long Winter" (1973) for Paramount Records, the Brooklyn-born singer made with her full-length Curtom debut with Linda (1977). "Curtis was such a poet," Clifford says. "He had a way with words that everyone could relate to. His poetry was so magnificent.”

 

If My Friends Could See Me Now, Clifford’s second Curtom album, propelled her to international success. The title track hailed from the Broadway musical Sweet Charity (1966). Clifford herself had even appeared in Bob Fosse's 1969 film version starring Shirley MacLaine years before completely recasting the song for the dance floor. “I had no idea that the song affected so many people the way that it affected me,” she says. “In spite of everyone saying, 'Oh it's disco,' it was not just disco. It was pop. It was R&B. It was dance. It was everywhere! You couldn't turn the TV on without hearing it being played at some sports event.”

 

Her recordings of "If My Friends Could See Me Now," "Gypsy Lady," and "Runaway Love" would all crown the summit of Billboard's disco chart for the entire month of May 1978. The album itself rocketed up the album charts, landing inside the R&B Top 10 and peaking at #22 on the Billboard 200. Accolades poured in from industry trades: Cashbox named Clifford "Top Female Vocalist," Billboard awarded her "Most Promising New Disco Artist of 1978," and Record World honored Clifford with "Best New Female Vocalist" and "Best Pop Album.”

 

The following year, Clifford’s double LP Let Me Be Your Woman arrived via Curtom’s partnership with RSO Records, home to the Bee Gees and the blockbuster soundtracks to Saturday Night Fever (1977) and Grease (1978). The album became Clifford’s second highest-charting album on the Billboard 200 (#26) with standout cuts like “Don’t Give It Up” (#15 R&B) and her sizzling, ten-minute cover of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” (#11 Disco). The latter tune landed in pop culture history when it helped ignite the aerobics phenomenon on Jane Fonda’s Workout Record (1982).

 

By the end of 1979, Clifford released another full-length set for Curtom/RSO, Here’s My Love. Produced by famed engineer Juergen Koppers (Donna Summer) and Philly soul legends Norman Harris & Ron Tyson, the album spawned Clifford’s eighth Top 40 R&B hit (“I Just Wanna”). Billboard proclaimed, “The range of Clifford’s style is shown to great advantage as she gets down to a funky beat, sings a sweet ballad and keeps feet dancing on hot disco tunes.”

 

After recording The Right Combination (1980) with Curtis Mayfield, Clifford sparked the Fame soundtrack with the #1 disco hit “Red Light,” also featured on her final Curtom/RSO set, I’m Yours. Written and produced by Isaac Hayes, I’m Yours brought Clifford back to the top with “Shoot Your Best Shot.” Coupled with several television guest spots on Soul Train and American Bandstand, including two hosting stints on The Midnight Special (NBC), Clifford regularly performed at the nation's hottest discotheques. "I worked Studio 54 so many times, it was like a second home to me," she says. "The people there treated me so well. The crowd always seemed to enjoy my show and I always had a good time with them. It was the place."

 

Beyond Clifford’s successful tenure with Curtom, she signed with Capitol Records and released I’ll Keep On Loving You (1982). The album generated another #1 single (“Don’t Come Crying to Me”) and featured “All the Man That I Need,” later popularized by Whitney Houston. She recorded two albums on the Chicago-based Red Label, Sneakin’ Out (1984) and My Heart’s On Fire (1985), and continued releasing a series of Top 20 dance hits throughout the ‘90s and ‘00s while establishing herself as a successful jingle singer for top brands like McDonald’s, Maybelline, and Tropicana. In 2005, she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chicago Music Awards and received the GEMA Foundation’s “Golden Mic Award” in 2014 for her contributions to music. James Arena also profiled Clifford in his best-selling book First Ladies of Disco (2013).

 

40 years after Linda Clifford began ascending the pop, disco, and soul charts, Blixa Sounds has remastered If My Friends Could See Me Now, Let Me Be Your Woman, Here’s My Love, and I’m Yours from the original master tapes. Each album is packaged in a lavish gatefold sleeve and features several bonus tracks making their appearance on CD for the first time ever. With these four releases, Blixa Sounds tells the definitive story of why Linda Clifford remains a disco and soul icon to all generations of music lovers.

 

Amazon retail links:

• If My Friends Could See Me Now - click here
• I’m Yours -- click here
• Let Me Be Your Woman -- click here
• Here’s My Love -- click here

Serving Donna Summer Realness: Lady Gaga

Dancing Queen
Lady Gaga

"It wasn't love, it wasn't love
It was a perfect illusion (Perfect illusion)
Mistaken for love, it wasn't loveIt was a perfect illusion (Perfect illusion)" - Perfect Illusion, Lady Gaga

After a powerful ballad, 'Till It Happens To You that should have won the Oscar over that anemic Bond Theme crooned by Sam Smith, and a cracker jack collaboration with Tony Bennett - Lady Gaga is back to pop music with a vengeance. Her latest single Perfect Illusion has dropped!

This is powerhouse dance, pop stuff with a twist of rock thrown in for good measure and the smartest thing our Lady has done? She took a cue from the late great Donna Summer, let me explain.

I was never a huge fan of disco/dance in the eighties, but Ms. Summer was the exception to that rule. Why you are asking? Because of really excellently produced, written and most of all sung dance music, "yes" her powerful vocals were the focal point of the music, Perfect Illusion is that kind of dance music, simply the best the genre can offer.

You go Gaga! If this is any indicator of what the rest of the album is going to be like, well count me in! Teaming up with Mark Ronson does a Lady good!!!

Listen to Perfect Illusion after the jump!

Go Gaga at:
www.ladygaga.com/

Shake Your Booty With Tootie!

Here and Ready to Twerk!
Kim Fields

Hey all you people who made it through the 80's, it's time to get nostalgic. Because, Kim Fields who played Tootie on the iconic of the time series The Facts Of Life is breaking out her boogie shoes for season 22 of Dancing With The Stars.

Fields, who now appears on the Bravo reality show Real Housewives Of Atlanta. Will be showing you how all that time in dance clubs paid off. Kidding, or perhaps I'm not.

Whatever happens all you people yearning for some fond memories of the 80's should definitely tune in. I am sure Kim will not make you ride on a bummer with her dancing prowess.

So, can I get a pair of roller skates and a brand new key high five?!

Yep, that's the spirit, I knew I could count on you guys!

Kim on IMDB:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004917/?ref_=nv_sr_5

KC and the Sunshine Band, Yep, Disco Never Died

I'm With The KC and the Sunshine Band

KC AND THE SUNSHINE BAND PROVES DISCO NEVER DIED WITH NON-STOP ON-SCREEN APPEARANCES SINCE THE 70s INCLUDING 2015 BLOCKBUSTER HIT, KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE 

Celebrating Over 40 Years Together, The Band Transcends Over 200 Musical Appearances in Films, Television Commercials, TV Shows and Video Games 

I knew it in 20013 when I had an exclusive interview with KC himself, this band would hit the comeback road in a big way...thus I jumped at the chance to exchange sound bites with the legendary man himself check it out at the link below, and here's what he and his posse are up to now!!!

My Chat with KC: http://mshinafelt.blogspot.com/2013/03/shake-your-booty-kc-and-sunshine-band.html 

It's been over forty years since KC and The Sunshine Band danced onto the music scene, transforming the landscape of pop music, and creating a signature sound spanning generations young and old. With sales of over 100 million records, nine Grammy nominations, three Grammy Awards and an American Music Award, they are still known today as one of the most progressive bands of the 70s; and in the midst of a millennial, digital age, their music is still discovered daily by millions around the world through its continual placement in top box office movies, TV commercials, TV shows and video games. This month, the band celebrates international recognition with 1984 hit "Give It Up," licensed for use in one of the leading scenes in blockbuster action movie, KINGSMAN: The Secret Service -- marking over 200 on-screen musical appearances for KC and The Sunshine Band. Whether the scene is fun and light-hearted or violent like in KINGSMAN, (where "Give It Up" plays as the villain acts out his infernal plan), and new Australian indie film, Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead, (where "Get Down Tonight" is the anthem of choice as the lead character, a mad scientist, goes to town on terrified, live "cadavers" in his lab), KC and The Sunshine Band seems to have created an R&B, funk and disco infused soundtrack for pretty much every type of scene imaginable, whether its scored by music supervisors out of irony, or logic. "It makes me happy to know that my music has withstood the test of time," said Harry Wayne "KC" Casey. "Disco and funk have never really gone away. Look at Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars' current No. 1 Billboard smash, "Uptown Funk." That song takes it back to the sound of my day. I'm glad to see my musical style being preserved not only on-screen but in current radio hits too." Over the past forty years, the list of films and commercials KC's music has been summoned for is seemingly endless. In the early 70s, at the height of the KC and The Sunshine Band phenomenon, they made their on-screen debut with "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty," in Top of the Pops and The Brady Bunch Hour, before "That's The Way I Like It," made its way into a comedic skit inSaturday Night Live. Then, in the 80s, 90s and early 2000s, viewers and KC were reacquainted once again in Deuce Bigalow, Blow, Legally Blonde, Austin Powers, Saving Silverman, Rush Hour, The Simpsons, Dr. Dolittle, Forrest Gump, The Players Club, Space Jam, Picture Perfect and She's So Lovely, to name a few. More recently, in 2010, Sun Life Financial enlisted KC and his band as actors in its TV ad, humorously commissioning the band to change their name to the "SunLife Band," and their Saturday Night Fever hit, "Boogie Shoes," made its resurgence in 2014 in a Raisin Bran commercial. Other modern-day hit series like Scandal, The Big Bang Theory, Dancing With The Stars, Lovelace, Three Many Weddings, and the East Enders have all featured KC's music within the past two years. Furthermore, this March, Director Mark Moormann and Beacon Films, LLC will bring the music and career legacy of KC and The Sunshine Band to the Miami International Film Festival in the feature-length documentary, THE RECORD MAN, capturing the life of KC's long-time producer and record executive Henry Stone. Though so much history is written, KC and his band are not ready to call it quits. Their long-awaited new album Feeling You! The 60s, will impact stores, iTunes and Amazon on Tuesday, March 10. A tribute to the era that shaped H.W. Casey into the revolutionary artist he became in the 70s, the brand-new release is part one of the two-partFeeling You project, and features covers of songs by sixties legends Bob Dylan, Ben E. King, The Kinks, The Righteous Brothers, Jackie DeShannon, Aaron Neville and many more. “I’m excited for my fans to hear this album,” said KC. “I really went outside of the box vocally and creatively. Feeling You! The 60s is autobiographical, showing how I feel about love, life and the world through the music of that era.” Pre-order the album on Amazon here: http://hyperurl.co/kcthe60samazon, and look for it on iTunes beginning March 3. Fans who purchase the album early will receive the "instant grat" free track download from the album, "You Really Got Me," (originally recorded by The Kinks). KC and The Sunshine Band On Tour: 02.25 Soul Train Cruise / San Juan, PR 03.20 Hard Rock Hotel and Casino / Hollywood, FL 03.05 Fallsview Casino Resort / Niagara Falls, Ontario 03.06 Fallsview Casino Resort / Niagara Falls, Ontario 03.20 Hard Rock Hotel and Casino / Hollywood, FL 03.21 Seminole Casino Immokalee / Immokalee, FL 03.26 Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino / Lemoore, CA 04.11 Busch Gardens / Tampa, FL 04.18 Seven Feathers Casino – Grand Ballroom / Canyonville, OR 04.19 Snoqualmie Casino Ballroom / Snoqualmie, WA 05.31 Heineken Music Hall / Amsterdam, NL 06.01 Hammersmith Apollo / London, UK 07.04 A Capitol Fourth Independence Day / Washington, DC 07.11 Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheatre / Peachtree City, GA 07.17 Three Rivers Festival / Ft. Wayne, IN 08.08 Tropicana / Atlantic City, NJ 08.20 Indiana State Fairgrounds / Indianapolis, IN 08.29 Monticello Grand Casino / Santiago, Chile 08.30 Monticello Grand Casino / Santiago, Chile 10.03 University of Buffalo Stadium / Buffalo, NY To learn more about KC and the Sunshine Band and to find more details about their upcoming tour dates, visit heykcsb.com.

"Lolley" Bop

Electronic music's best-kept secret, Sophia Lolley, set the international dance floor ablaze two years ago with the release of "Da Bop”, her English language interpretation of WTF!’s  cover of Irena Santor's 1968 novelty hit "Piosenka O Sąsiedzie". EDM fans from all around the world began clamoring for more from the spirited British singer and this month, the wait is finally over!  Sophia Lolley's self-titled EP, featuring “Da Bop” 

Sophia describes her sound as theatrical disco pop, however the album is sprinkled with colorful music of varying styles including an undeniable cabaret influence born out of her love for 1940's artists like Doris Day and Glenn Miller. 

 She admits to having multiple personalities, running the gamut from serious to loving, reserved to gregarious, feral to gracious, and fun loving to drama queen.  "I’m a falconer. I go fly-fishing. It took me nine times to pass my driving test. I hate vegetables. I have lots of animals including a pet magpie, sparrow hawks, tortoises, hens, cattle and the occasional badger. I also smoke big cigars." 

All of her personas are reflected in the EP that was born from a series of collaborations over the last five years between Peace Bisquit and Count De Money, the production team that produced and mixed "Da Bop”. 

The EP begins with "Live That Day”, a song Sophia wrote as a tribute to her grandmother who died four years ago. "Grandmama was a huge inspiration to me,” she says. “Her motto was ‘everything will always be ok' and she was right. The song is about looking on the bright side of life because it is there."Sophia’s magical musings are also captured in “Everybody Loves It”, a song that encourages all to appreciate the lovely gloriousness of life. 

“The idea for the EP was to create a collection of Sophia Lolley songs that fans could dance to at a bar or pop on during a cocktail party or at fashion runway show,” says Bill  Coleman of Peace Biscuit. 

Sophia Lolley is thrilled the EP and future projects will take her out of England.  Though she loves her hometown of rural Devon – she calls it the best county in Britain – there are no musical influences or excitement there.  She’s anxious to come to the states, particularly Texas.  “I’ve always wanted to go to Texas to see if there are still cowboys," she says.

Get a "Lolley" Bop this Halloween:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/sophia-lolley/id905676083

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sophia-lolleyI-Like-it-Electric/180702801992972

Running With "Scissor Sisters"

Scissor Sisters: Live in Victoria Park - London 2011 on DVD Feb 19   Brand new concert from London's Lovebox Festival,  released for the first time ever on DVD!   According to the Chinese New Year, 2013 is my year! Yes I am the year of the snake.....woot! So how fitting that this year would give birth to the release of a concert DVD from one of the best bands I have ever seen live, because like tits, you can not see the Scissor Sisters on the radio either! Here they come on DVD, are you ready?! Scissor Sisters: Live in Victoria Park! Yep, it's going to be a great 2013! The Scissor Sisters certainly need no introduction, having toured around the world, collaborated with the likes of Elton John and Kylie Minogue and sold millions of albums. Bono from U2 describes the band as "the best pop group in the world." Every one of their 4 albums reached the top 5 in the UK charts, with their first two albums making the #1 spot. Their most commercially successful single, I Don't Feel Like Dancin' (2006), charted at #1 in the UK and throughout Europe. They have released 18 singles to date. This brand new DVD contains the stunningly electrifying performance from the Scissor Sisters at Victoria Park in London, on 17 July 2011. Colourful and glitzy as ever, the New York outfit who brought garish costumes and twisted disco sounds to the capital, fully embraced the weekend's flamboyant spirit. Tracks: Night Work Any Which Way  Laura  Take Your Mama  Kiss You Off  Fire with Fire  Comfortably Numb  Paul McCartney  Filthy / Gorgeous  I Don't Feel Like Dancin'  Invisible Light Bonus Tracks: Harder You Get  Running Out Cut me gently with a "Scissor Sister" at: http://www.scissorsisters.com/

She's "Just Frenchie"

Frenchie Davis, the name brings many things to mind, after stealing the national spotlight on the first season of NBC’s “The Voice” as a Top Four Finalist, as well as season two of “American Idol” her single “Love’s Got a Hold On Me” is currently a Billboard Dance Hit Smash.

She is currently working on her debut LP “Just Frenchie” a collection of original material written specifically for her. Having conquered Broadway as a cast member of “Rent” and the Grammy nominated revival of “Ain’t Misbehavin” Ms. Davis has it going on.

With a Christmas single due to drop and her recent “coming out” Frenchie is a force of nature, not to mention a vocal powerhouse to be reckoned with.

Frenchie truly desires only one thing: “I want to live my life to inspire people to be brave and courageous, to believe in themselves and never take no for an answer.”

MS: I was playing “Love's Got a Hold On Me” right before you called, when I was listening to it, not that you sound like her, but you remind me a lot of Donna Summer.

FD: Oh my gosh, that's a huge compliment, I love her!

MS: The reason for the comparison is Donna was the only Disco I could stand as vocals were the focus, not just the music and the beat.


FD: Exactly! That's what I've been wanting to do with my upcoming album and this single. Bring good strong vocals back to dance music. I grew up listening to dance music, people like Jocelyn Brown and Martha Wash, so the dance music I grew up with featured singers with big voices.

MS: Not to get too personal, but you sort of kind of, pseudo came out recently.


FD: It wasn't something that I planned on doing, because far as I was concerned everyone who needed to know, knew about my sexuality. My friends, my family, my loved ones, the person I am sleeping with. At the end of the day those are the only people whose business it is really. It's interesting when someone uses the phrase coming out when in actuality I had already been out. I do recognize the significant difference between being open and honest with your loved ones and allowing media scrutiny into your personal life. So, did I allow the media into my personal life? “Yes” I was doing a media interview and I answered a question honestly and that answer ended up being a headline: “Frenchie Davis Comes Out”.

MS: Yeah, I read about it on The Huffington Post just before you called, I think it being out there helps other people.


FD: It was important to just be honest and not give ambiguous answers in interviews to me. I like to tell it like it is.


MS: You still consider yourself bi-sexual and I know there is a lot of animosity towards that in the Gay Community.


FD: One of the things that made it so important to me to be who I am, is not only to combat Homophobia in the straight community, but to also help combat Bi phobia in the Gay Community. I have the same take on Homophobia in the Black Community that I do on Bi phobia in the Gay Community, I think it's apalling that a group of people that know what it's like to be discriminated against can justify bigotry towards another group of people. I get certain groups of people may not understand it, but unless you are screwing me, you don't need to fucking understand it.


MS: So, you really didn't come out, you got real.


FD: Exactly!


MS: Hows your album “Just Frenchie” coming along?

FD: Yes, I am “Just Frenchie” (laughs) I decided to name it that because I have been on all these reality shows and people are familiar with my voice, but they are hearing me sing other people's songs. This will be the first time I am singing songs that haven't been sung by anybody else, they are just me. It's going to be mostly dance music I definitely will throw on a few power ballads, but knowing me, there will probably be numerous dance mixes for those power ballads. It's exciting to be able to merge my love of soulful singing with my love of dance music.


MS: You are also releasing a Christmas single really soon.


FD: I want the single to be perfect, I meet people all the time that say” “My Mother loves you” we watched you on “The Voice”. So I am doing this for all the Mom's out there that love me.


She's “Just Fenchie” at: http://www.frenchiedavis.org/

R.I.P. - Donna Summer

I first stumbled upon Donna Summer's music when I was a teenager and Disco was hot! Although it was never my favorite type of music Donna elevated Disco to a whole new level with her powerful vocals and spot on song interpretations.

I will always remember the first Donna Summer album I was given as a Birthday present, "Bad Girls" - That was a very Happy Birthday indeed.

Donna thank you for some great memories, you will always be Disco to me.