Boom's Ladies of the 80's Exclusive Interview- Catching Up With Lil Suzy

(Photos: La-Entertainment)

ICYMI:

Fans of freestyle music really don't need much of an introduction when it comes to Suzanne Casale Melone, who is better known in these circles as Lil Suzy. Music has been in her blood since birth and by age five, Suzy was already discovered, thanks to her dead-on covers of Madonna and Tina Turner classics, and opening for the likes of The Village People. Suzy had her first record contract with Fever Records by the age of eight and was peddling her first song, “Randy” like a pro.

“Take Me In Your Arms”. Suzy's most popular single was released from her very first studio album, Love Can't Wait, more than 20 years ago and it remains a freestyle classic. 

While Suzy still travels the country, often performing to huge crowds in Freestyle Explosion shows, she has managed to do so while maintaining a very full family life.

Lil Suzy is undoubtedly a top notch performer, but Suzanne is an equally fabulous mom-of-three that treasures the opportunity to be hands on with her kids every single day. If you have checked out any of Suzanne's social media then you already know that she has a great sense of humor and is as down to earth as it gets. I was fortunate enough to be able to steal a few minutes of Suzanne's time recently and she was happy to dish on still being Lil Suzy in between school, her kids swim lessons and quality family time.

Cate Meighan: What's it like to escape your normal life every few weeks to perform and are you all still very close in real life, to some of the people that you tour with?

Lil Suzy: I love it. During the week I'm Suzanne, the wife and stay at home mom. Then, on the weekends I get to be the fun and sassy Lil Suzy! I've always said that Lil Suzy is like my alter ego. I've known Angel Mercado of The Cover Girls since I was 8yrs old and I'm now 36. We were label mates and I opened up for her (them) all over NYC. She is now married to my Manager/booking agent, Latif Mercado, who has been a part of my life and career since I was 5! So them, I consider family. I'm a good 10-15 yrs younger than almost everyone else in my freestyle genre. So I didn't have much in common with anyone besides performing with them way back in the day and that has pretty much stayed the same.

CM: I know that you have three small kids now and family is your priority for sure now. Is it hard to leave them behind or does working help keep you balanced?

LS: Oh my god! I used to be such a calm easy going, go with the flow kind of person. Since I've had my kids, I'm a huge worry wart. I'm very blessed and lucky to have my parents and an amazing mother in law to watch my kids while I'm away performing. My husband and I are very firm on only our parents watching our kids. Also, I don't take more than 2 shows a month. I also make sure I fly in, the morning of the show and I'm on the first flight back the next morning after performing.

CM: If you could have any other job, what would you be doing?

LS: I'm actually a registered medical assistant. I went to school for that in my 20's, in between recording and performing. Before that, I ran and owned a nail salon for two years. I've always been drawn to health care and I did actually work part time for an OBGYN for 3 years because I wanted to feel what it was like to have a "normal" job. I'm a people person and I really enjoyed helping and caring for the patients. Once my youngest starts school, I'm considering going back to school to be an RN. I'm not sure though. I'll have to wait and see where life takes me these next few years.

CM: Flash forward 5 years when your kids are all in school and your life as a mom is a bit more settled, what do you hope to be doing?

LS: Maybe I'll be a nurse! Maybe my kids will be involved in many more extra curricular activities and they'll need me to help them follow their dreams and goals. If my family is happy and thriving, then I'm happy. I'm just very thankful that my husband works hard and is a successful business owner. I have the luxury to be home to take care of everyone. That was all I've ever really wanted. I never pictured myself as being a big pop star. I've always wanted to be married, have kids and be able to stay home to raise them. Very old fashioned, and my husband and I have been on the same page with that since before we were even engaged.

CM: Tell me something about Suzanne that would surprise me!

LS: Oh, I'm very spontaneous. I love tattoos and piercings, but I'm pretty shy and very self conscious. It's kind of weird for someone to feel those things and be able to perform in front of thousands of people! Haha!

CM: What would you like to say to the fans that have followed you for decades?

LS: Thank you! Thank you for loving my music and the genre of freestyle as a whole. Thank you for waiting in those long lines for meet and greets and then still being so excited just to meet me. I'm still touched when a fan tells me how a particular song of mine helped them through a rough time, or how they related to a song. Or better yet, had a first kiss with a partner or spouse to my songs. It still blows my mind! Thank you also for introducing your children to my music! I recently did an all ages event in Dallas, Texas. and I was floored by the amount of pre-teens and teens that were there with their parents. They singing along to every song I performed that day! I left that show humbled and so very grateful for all of these opportunities that I still have to perform regularly.

Check out Lil Suzy's official site for more info on all upcoming shows! If you have a chance to snag tickets for an upcoming Freestyle Explosion show then I'd suggest you do it because you're guaranteed to have a great night! 

Currently Booming: 'Kate & Allie' Halloween Episode (1986)

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Boom's Ladies of the 80's Exclusive Interview- Catching Up With Lil Suzy

(Photos: La-Entertainment)

ICYMI:

Fans of freestyle music really don't need much of an introduction when it comes to Suzanne Casale Melone, who is better known in these circles as Lil Suzy. Music has been in her blood since birth and by age five, Suzy was already discovered, thanks to her dead-on covers of Madonna and Tina Turner classics, and opening for the likes of The Village People. Suzy had her first record contract with Fever Records by the age of eight and was peddling her first song, “Randy” like a pro.

“Take Me In Your Arms”. Suzy's most popular single was released from her very first studio album, Love Can't Wait, more than 20 years ago and it remains a freestyle classic. 

While Suzy still travels the country, often performing to huge crowds in Freestyle Explosion shows, she has managed to do so while maintaining a very full family life.

Lil Suzy is undoubtedly a top notch performer, but Suzanne is an equally fabulous mom-of-three that treasures the opportunity to be hands on with her kids every single day. If you have checked out any of Suzanne's social media then you already know that she has a great sense of humor and is as down to earth as it gets. I was fortunate enough to be able to steal a few minutes of Suzanne's time recently and she was happy to dish on still being Lil Suzy in between school, her kids swim lessons and quality family time.

Cate Meighan: What's it like to escape your normal life every few weeks to perform and are you all still very close in real life, to some of the people that you tour with?

Lil Suzy: I love it. During the week I'm Suzanne, the wife and stay at home mom. Then, on the weekends I get to be the fun and sassy Lil Suzy! I've always said that Lil Suzy is like my alter ego. I've known Angel Mercado of The Cover Girls since I was 8yrs old and I'm now 36. We were label mates and I opened up for her (them) all over NYC. She is now married to my Manager/booking agent, Latif Mercado, who has been a part of my life and career since I was 5! So them, I consider family. I'm a good 10-15 yrs younger than almost everyone else in my freestyle genre. So I didn't have much in common with anyone besides performing with them way back in the day and that has pretty much stayed the same.

CM: I know that you have three small kids now and family is your priority for sure now. Is it hard to leave them behind or does working help keep you balanced?

LS: Oh my god! I used to be such a calm easy going, go with the flow kind of person. Since I've had my kids, I'm a huge worry wart. I'm very blessed and lucky to have my parents and an amazing mother in law to watch my kids while I'm away performing. My husband and I are very firm on only our parents watching our kids. Also, I don't take more than 2 shows a month. I also make sure I fly in, the morning of the show and I'm on the first flight back the next morning after performing.

CM: If you could have any other job, what would you be doing?

LS: I'm actually a registered medical assistant. I went to school for that in my 20's, in between recording and performing. Before that, I ran and owned a nail salon for two years. I've always been drawn to health care and I did actually work part time for an OBGYN for 3 years because I wanted to feel what it was like to have a "normal" job. I'm a people person and I really enjoyed helping and caring for the patients. Once my youngest starts school, I'm considering going back to school to be an RN. I'm not sure though. I'll have to wait and see where life takes me these next few years.

CM: Flash forward 5 years when your kids are all in school and your life as a mom is a bit more settled, what do you hope to be doing?

LS: Maybe I'll be a nurse! Maybe my kids will be involved in many more extra curricular activities and they'll need me to help them follow their dreams and goals. If my family is happy and thriving, then I'm happy. I'm just very thankful that my husband works hard and is a successful business owner. I have the luxury to be home to take care of everyone. That was all I've ever really wanted. I never pictured myself as being a big pop star. I've always wanted to be married, have kids and be able to stay home to raise them. Very old fashioned, and my husband and I have been on the same page with that since before we were even engaged.

CM: Tell me something about Suzanne that would surprise me!

LS: Oh, I'm very spontaneous. I love tattoos and piercings, but I'm pretty shy and very self conscious. It's kind of weird for someone to feel those things and be able to perform in front of thousands of people! Haha!

CM: What would you like to say to the fans that have followed you for decades?

LS: Thank you! Thank you for loving my music and the genre of freestyle as a whole. Thank you for waiting in those long lines for meet and greets and then still being so excited just to meet me. I'm still touched when a fan tells me how a particular song of mine helped them through a rough time, or how they related to a song. Or better yet, had a first kiss with a partner or spouse to my songs. It still blows my mind! Thank you also for introducing your children to my music! I recently did an all ages event in Dallas, Texas. and I was floored by the amount of pre-teens and teens that were there with their parents. They singing along to every song I performed that day! I left that show humbled and so very grateful for all of these opportunities that I still have to perform regularly.

Check out Lil Suzy's official site for more info on all upcoming shows! If you have a chance to snag tickets for an upcoming Freestyle Explosion show then I'd suggest you do it because you're guaranteed to have a great night! 

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Currently Booming: Classic Rock Playlist

RIP Pete Burns: Dead Or Alive - 'Come Home With Me Baby'

Wow, 2016 has claimed the life of another supremely talented artist that launched to notoriety back in the 80's. Dead Or Alive's Pete Burns suffered a massive cardiac arrest on Sunday, Oct. 23, leaving family, friends and fans in shock. 

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Throwback- 'Rocky Horror Picture Show'

 For the record, I'm not so old that I remember the cult classic hit when it first rolled into a limited number of theaters. No. But Fox's recent reboot of this does take me back to my freshman year of high school.

Up until then my knowledge of Rocky Horror was limited to the fact that our local shopping mall movie theater showed it every Saturday night and honestly, I only knew that because it was listed on the big sign out front. It was the very last thing listed and it seemed like "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" always seemed to be missing a letter.

In ninth grade my homeroom was in one of the main freshmen art rooms and it was like nothing I had ever seen before. While I've mentioned my dad's love/obsession with music and how that influenced me, my mom's creativity also rubbed off. She was always an artist of some sort. I actually remember her being in art school when I was in preschool and going to the library with her every week. She would check out books on commercial art while I got... whatever and then we would go for lunch at a little drugstore luncheonette nearby. I still remember looking at copies of our daily newspaper to find my mom's drawings. Way back in the 70's and early 80's any store advertisements were drawn and she used to do the ads for women's wear. She also had a perfume ad that was used for a major campaign and I remember her working on a greeting card line that featured a little girl with a magical purse.

So anyway, back to me. I was raised surrounded by art supplies and creativity so walking into this classroom was surreal. Real talk, it was probably pretty shitty if you weren't into art. It was the size of about three classrooms put together and we sat at huge wooden tables that seated 8 people. The tables were coated in paint, pastel and every other medium available. There was artwork from floor to ceiling, no lie. Mr. Kingsley put things up really high to dry and while it looked like a disaster I don't think he ever actually lost anything. I ended up having him for art, which I chose as an elective so that meant I spent 90 minutes in his class twice a week.

It was in his class that I got to know a girl named Kim. I had known her for a few years but never spent any real time with her until 9th grade. She and I were the only girls at our table and as luck would have it, all eight of us really were into art, so it was cool right from the start. It was early 1986 and after a few months together we had all really bonded. Mr. Kingsley, well he was a trip. Super quiet and always wore a layer of guyliner. He smoked in his closet and let the guys chew (remember when THAT was popular???) as long as they hid their spitters if the principal walked in. As long as we did our work he left us alone and encouraged us to talk from bell to bell.

Talk we did. Kim's obsession was The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

She talked about it nonstop and was super excited because her mother was allowing her to go to the midnight showings at the mall each week. Since she was able to go Kim decided to dress up as her favorite character, Columbia. Back in the 80's not only did people go to the movie every week but they also dressed up and reenacted it in front of the screen and Kim was picked to be our theater's unofficial official Columbia.

She would take pictures every weekend and bring them into art class on Monday to show us. I have to wonder if she still has a stack of those photos and if so does she crack them out to show her kids now? Anyway, after months of hearing about Columbia and Magenta and Riff Raff a few of us decided to go to the show with Kim. That was a one-time thing because none of us really saw what it was that kept Kim running back for more, but Rocky Horror gave this girl life all the way through high school.

I shared a lot with my table mates in that art class. On the good days we won the coin toss and controlled the radio, dissected Heather Locklear's marriage to Tommy Lee and counted down until we weren't freshmen anymore. On the bad days we cried over a classmates death in a car accident, fought over art supplies and vented about real life problems at home. On one particularly bad day in January of 1986 we, like the rest of the school, had our classroom television tuned to the live launch of the Challenger Space Shuttle. It was the first time that a teacher was chosen to go into space, making it a groundbreaking mission. When the Challenger broke apart a little over a minute into its launch our whole class screeched, a sound that seemed to echo through the entire school.

That old art classroom may have been the messiest in the school, but looking back it kind of feels like one of the most valuable spaces in the building. Those walls, to this day, hold an awful lot of  personal history for thousands of kids that have passed through over the years. Make ups and break ups, secret revelations, historical moments in American history, oh and of course, tons of creativity and the birth of a few very successful artists as well. I used to think that Mr. Kingsley was just flying by his ass and doing the bare minimum to keep his job. Now I get what he probably did decades ago. The very best thing that he could do was to create a space for kids to come and just "be" for awhile. Rocky Horror Picture Show and all.

I still can't believe it's 40 years old. I'm thinking it's time to take another look at the flick to see if my impression has changed. God only knows what seeing the real Columbia in action will remind me of!

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Pebbles- 'Girlfriend'

Girl, you must resist
Don't let him squirm his way into your heart
No, girl, I must insist
You've got to stop the fool before he starts
Just remember how he was so untrue
With all the tacky things he did to you
No need to signify 'cause he's not worth your time
You need to find someone that's true to you.

Do you remember Pebbles (AKA Perri Reid, the ex-wife of LA Reid)?  She is currently an Atlanta-based minister, "Sister Perri" and before that she sizzled in the music industry for putting together a little girl-group known as TLC. Yeah, that chick. Before all of those things she had her own recording career back in the late 80's to the early 90's and her work was all over the charts. In the fall of 1987, Pebbles  "Girlfriend" was pretty much my anthem. I was 16, in 11th grade and just about every friend that I had was dealing with a cheating boyfriend. "Girlfriend" was basically early Sister Perri preaching at us all to move on and find a better dude.

Apparently my friends and I weren't the only ones that appreciated Pebbles insight because "Girlfriend" made it to #5 on Billboard's Hot 100 and did really well on the dance charts, as well as in the UK. I actually can remember listening to Open House Party with my tape recorder ready so that I could grab this song, hopefully without too much interruption by John Garabedian. You guys know what I'm talking about, right? How you would wait all day for a song only to have a DJ talk into the beginning & cut off the ending?

Anyway, I watched the "Girlfriend" video again this morning for the first time in forever and it still resonates. I can see Sister Perri in the making here. I also do remember a second video that got a lot of play on MTV. It was the dance remix that featured more of The Deele (LA Reid and Babyface's group from back in the day before they were worth a mint) rapping in the background.

Currently Booming: 'American Bandstand'- Crush On You - The Jets

Currently Booming: Make This- Ghostbuster Martini

This has a great fruity taste but it looks disgusting. Perfect for Halloween. 

Ingredients

• 3 drops Irish cream

• 1 oz Melon liqueur
• 1 oz Peach schnapps 

1. Pour the peach schnapps and melon liqueur into a cocktail shaker with ice.
2. Shake well.
3. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
4. Add the Irish cream drop by drop into the center of the drink.

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Currently Booming: 80's Synth Playlist

Exclusive Interview: Tiffany Returns with Phenomenal Vocals on 'A Million Miles'

If you came of age in the '80s and I say "Tiffany" a visual instantly comes to mind doesn't it? You're seeing the red hair, the jean jacket and the lyrics to "I Think We're Alone Now" are probably about to be stuck in your head (you're welcome) for the rest of the day. That stunning teenager has evolved into a phenomenal female vocalist and fortunately for all of us, she has just released a brand new album. Tiffany has taken some deeply personal issues and used them to pour her heart and soul into each and every track on A Million Miles. The end result is an album that we can all connect with via one song or another (mine is "Fall Again") and there is always extra emotional comfort in numbers, right?

I recently had a chance to chat with Tiffany about A Million Miles and what it's like to still be performing after all of these years.

Daily Boom: Tell me about A Million Miles.

Tiffany: A Million Miles feels like an extension of my very first album and I think it really reconnects listeners to me, just me. When I first came out all of those years ago it was about image- the hair, the 80's clothes, the mall tours- my real vocal ability wasn't the main thing that was pushed. I was really living in the excitement of the moment back then. Now people who listen are saying, 'Wow, she's a real vocalist!' and I really am! The new album features several ballads and it's honestly the music that I've heard in my head for years but never really dug into until now.

DB: What else makes this record different from your previous work?

T: While A Million Miles feels like 'old Tiff' to me it really does connect to some pretty deep emotions. For writing purposes I've really kind of dug into my personal life and connected with some of the recent losses in my life due to things like cancer and addiction. The title track is really about missing people and how hard that is, not just for me, but for everyone. Life is filled with so many unexpected things and they can be pretty devastating at times. I've lost my dad and my best friend both to cancer and then a close cousin to addiction. I miss sharing everyday things with all of them and that impossible distance is something that everyone can understand.

DB: After listening all the way through I have to say that your voice sounds different, maybe even stronger than ever.

T: (Laughing) Well, thank you, after years of purposely trying to be raspy I'm understanding that the high notes are actually much easier for me to hit. I've also learned that the key to longevity is real voice discipline. I'm really very grateful for my voice and at this stage in the game I really am doing everything possible to protect it! I've also found a comfort zone in that I love what I'm doing. I've surrounded myself with positive, supportive people and we're having a lot of fun. Fun is definitely the key.

DB: 2016 is really shaping up to be a great year for you. I've noticed that you're taking part in a lot of the freestyle shows that are playing across the country. How has that experience been for you?

T: I'm actually working on some new (old) tracks today for those cool freestyle shows. I want to lengthen some of my old favorites so that the audiences can really get into them a little more. I love the resurgence of the 80's and I'm so thrilled to be a part of it. I love the excitement of those shows and I really enjoy being a part of them. I love really looking out at those people who have spent their hard  earned money on a night of 80's fun and ya' know what? We're all looking pretty great. It's so hard to work, have kids- juggle all of the adult responsibilities and get it right. I think people need to be a little easier on themselves because they're really still rockin' it. We come from a great time period and by this age we really know who we are. That's all something to celebrate.

DB: You've got new music out, you're reworking some of the old stuff and your schedule is pretty full. What's next for you?

T: I have several random pop up shows scheduled throughout the spring and summer. I'm also hoping to start to tour in support of A Million Miles later this year. Because of the intimacy of the album I really want to do shows in smaller venues to help to set a distinct mood. I'm hoping by August or September to have some of these shows added to my schedule. I also have my at-home concert series that will continue. Opportunities keep rolling in and I couldn't be happier with where my career is headed.

Click HERE to buy A Million Miles.

Check out "Right Here",  the first single off of A Million Miles below!

Tiffany's official site
Tiffany on Facebook
Tiffany on Twitter
Tiffany on Instagram

Currently Booming: Freestyle Friday Safire- 'Let Me Be The One'

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Van Halen 'Dreams'

Run, run, run away

Like a train runnin off the track

Got the truth gets left behind

Falls between the cracks

Standing on broken dreams

Never losin' sight, ah

Spread your wings

We'll get higher and higher

Straight up we'll climb

We'll get higher and higher

Leave it all behind

Thirty years ago this past summer Van Halen's "Dreams" was holding pretty steady on Billboard's Hot 100. It was the second single off of the band's 5150 album and it was performed during the Sammy Hagar era of the band. Nearly 20 years after the release of 5150 Hagar finally admitted that "Dreams" is one of his very favorite songs from his days in Van Halen. That might explain why he is prone to perform it in his solo gigs. 

There were actually three different videos made for this song but the MTV generation heavily favored the one that featured the Blue Angels so that became this songs visual calling card. Do you agree with Sammy? Is "Dreams" really one of the best songs that Van Halen has in their catalog? It has actually always been one of my very favorites. I can remember listening to the album when it was first released and thinking that this song was IT. How about you?

Currently Booming: Daily Boom Hump Day Playlist

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Culture Club - 'Time (Clock Of The Heart)'

Don't put your head on my shoulder
Sink me in a river of tears
This could be the best place yet
But you must overcome your fears
In time we could've been so much more
But time is precious I know
In time we could've been so much more
The time has nothing to show
because
Time won't give me time
And time makes lovers feel
Like they've got something real
But you and me we know
We got nothing
but time

When Culture Club's "Time (Clock Of The Heart)" was first released back in 1982 it was basically a stand alone single that just so happened to really take off. It eventually hit number two on Billboard's Hot 100 and that paved the way for the London new wave group to break through in the U.S. Culture Club went to have numerous hits such as "Miss Me Blind" and "Karma Chameleon" but I think that "Time" might be the one that has held up the best. As for the group itself, Culture Club does still perform and lead singer Boy George has spent part of this summer doing shows with Cyndi Lauper.

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Eurythmics 'Here Comes The Rain Again'

Here comes the rain again
Raining in my head like a tragedy
Tearing me apart like a new emotion

I'm not sure how it is wherever you're reading this from, but it rained all weekend here. Not that I mind it. I actually seem to be more productive when it rains. The weather also reminded me of a favorite 80's song by the Eurythmics. "Here Comes the Rain Again" hit the charts back in 1984, you know, when synth music was in its heyday and for good reason.

I still remember the very first time that I heard this song. I was in middle school and had gone to a friend's to do homework. We were watching Entertainment Tonight and back then the show would often end with a video premiere. Truth be told, they really would only show one verse of the video but it was still kind of a big deal. One verse was plenty for me though and by the end of that same week my allowance was being spent on the 45 which I played constantly.

"Here Comes the Rain Again" easily remains one of my favorite Eurthmics songs to this day. Check out the video below and tell me, is it one of yours too? 

Currently Booming: Sassy Magazine

Do you guys remember Sassy magazine? It was the alternative to typical teen magazines, created by the incredibly talented Jane Pratt way back in 1987. Instead of looking for the perfect outfit to wear on a date with the perfect all-American-boy, Sassy readers were more invested in actual social issues and dealing with real life rather than the fairy tale that the other pubs served up each month. 

Sassy was the first thing that I looked at that made me want to write, just like that. It seemed like a dream career to be able to use my voice to make people think by challenging the ideas that the had already formed on their own. Back then I had no idea that being a writer would also be a somewhat devastating career path because it is filled with self doubt, rewrites, brutal editors and did I mention self doubt? And that's on the good days!

Researching a project that I'm working on has meant actually getting my hands on some of the things that shaped me as a teen and this week, that included old copies of Sassy. 

I actually remembered one of the issues, dated 1989. I remember buying it and carrying it with me for an entire month until Pratt rolled out the next issue. Once I picked it up I think the instincts just kicked in because I automatically flipped it over to read what was written on the binding, because there was always a message.  This time I looked at Sassy from a different perspective. 25 years later I know that I've made it. I know that whatever inspiration was in those pages, it stuck It has pushed me through years of wondering on-and-off why I chose this business in the first place.

I couldn't put my finger on any one thing now that obviously sucked me in all of those years ago. Instead I just ended up making peace with the idea that back then, Sassy was supposed to be that catalyst that gave me a clue about what my career might be.

When I'm stuck up against a deadline for a job I don't like, it's likely Sassy's influence that helps me to keep pushing through. When I tackle serious topics and the feedback is wonderful, well I owe all of that to Sassy as well. It was Pratt that first taught me how to talk about uncomfortable things and to trust that I'd survive on the other side of them. 

I have teen daughters now and ironically enough, I found myself handing over the 26-year-old issues of Sassy to them yesterday. Not only does the advice still stand, but the conversational style still beats anything at all currently on the market for this generation. 

Freestyle Friday Flashback: Sweet Sensation- 'Love Child'

Currently Booming: 80's New Wave Playlist

90's Nostalgia: The Scorpions -'When You Came Into My Life'

You make me dream

By the look in your eyes
You give me the feel, I've been longing for
I wanna give you my soul
All my life
Cause you are the one I've been waiting for
I've been waiting for so long
When you came into my life
It took my breath away
And the world stopped turnin' round
For your love

When you hear "The Scorpions", songs like "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and "No One Like You" probably first come to mind and why wouldn't they?  The Scorpions are considered heavy metal royalty and they are one of the longest running bands to still grace a stage. Rudolf Schenker and lead vocalist Klaus Meine first teamed up all the way back in 1965 and every album that the German group has released in the last FIFTY years has had their unmistakable imprint on it.

The Scorpions have found success by mixing ballads in with their rock anthems, most of which have been penned by Meine. He admits that many of these songs have been inspired by his wife of 40 years. "When You Came Into My Life" was first released back in 1996 and I think it's one of their best even if not the Scorpions most popular power ballad. Check out the live unplugged performance of it from 2013 below.

Currently Booming: Early 80's Metal Bands (1980-84)

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Currently Booming: Power Ballads Playlist

Currently Booming: Shalamar Reloaded's New Video for 'The Mood' is Out!

I know that there has been a lot of Jody Watley here in the last week but really, when something is good can there really be too much of it?  Not in this case and especially now that Jody and her group Shalamar Reloaded have just dropped a new video. "The Mood" was shot in Hawaii and the visuals are memorable- for several reasons. Besides that this is simply a great, smooth song that proves just what each of the trio (Watley, Rosero McCoy and Nate Allen Smith) brings to the table in Shalamar Reloaded (SRL). Check it out for yourself below!

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Teena Marie- 'Lovergirl'

Coffee, tea on me baby
Touche a la'
My opening line might be a bit passe
But don't think that I don't know I'm feeling for ya
Cause I got a vibe on you the first time that I saw you saw you

Yesterday I spent quite awhile listening to Teena Marie's Starchild from 1984. I have been on a real Tee kick lately, thanks to THIS GUY over here & his radio show, The Power Hour. It all started with my accidentally stumbling onto this clip of Jeanette Jurado's cover of "Portuguese Love" which just blew me away,

Once I realized that it was originally Teena Marie's song made me go back through Lady Tee's catalog of music and I had forgotten just how much of her stuff I actually love. I remember when Starchild first came out because her song "Lovergirl" was a huge hit. Like, it was played every 3.5 hours on the radio like clockwork and the video was constantly popping up on MTV. Not that I was supposed to know that because at that point in time my mom had banned MTV from our house. I remember sneaking it while upstairs and going to my grandmother's to freely watch videos.

The only problem there was that in 1984 my grandmother didn't have MTV so I was at the mercy of America's Top Ten countdown which had video clips and of course, Friday Night Videos. You remember that right? It came on at midnight and everyone tried to stay awake long enough to watch even if they had MTV, just because. 

So anyway, I knew that the video for "Lovergirl" was in heavy MTV rotation but I never caught a glimpse while at home. I had to finally see it late at night while at my grandmother's and I remember it being sandwiched between Madonna and Phil Collins. I was stunned that such a big, soulful voice came out of such a tiny pale chick. I knew Teena was tough though because she ran with Rick James and even though I was only 12-ish I totally understood what being his (sometimes) other half had to entail. 

While Starchild made me happy as a kid, as a grown woman I totally appreciate the unbelievable range of talent that Lady Tee had. It's a damn shame she left us so soon.

Currently Booming: 90's Soul Playlist