Ronee Martin - Soul Of My Heart (1997)

Veronica "Ronee" Martin was born on 24 November 1953 in Columbia, Virginia, and upon graduating high school she moved to Washington D.C. to live with her mother. At age six, she became fascinated with music and would begin performing solos in church, with her tastes gradually evolving from gospel to country to Motown, and she would begin performing professionally as she entered adulthood. She worked as a backing vocalist for artists like Wynton Marsalis and Patti LaBelle, and also worked with Van McCoy, who produced the group Destiny that she was a part of. They were the opening act for two more late greats, Aretha Franklin and Eddie Kendricks, and they also toured with Special Delivery. She then moved to California to record demos for Burt Bacharach, Carol Bayer Sager, Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Alan Rich, Jud Friedman, and Gerry Stober. She was also a song-writer, and wrote the lyrics for 'This Is Love', which was recorded by Gladys Knight on her 'Good Woman' album. After signing to the Soundwings Record label in 1985, she released her debut album, 'Sensation', which featured guest appearances from Hubert Laws, Joe Sample and Tom Scott. In 1995 Bruce Walker (former general manager of MoJazz and Motown A&R VP), announced that they had just found their very own Anita Baker, and signed her to his label, where she started working on her second album, with a release date set for June/July 1996, later delayed to April 1997. Promotional CDs of 'Soul Of My Heart' were distributed, but the transition at Motown at that time did not favour adult orientated music, and so the album was cancelled and remains unreleased. Nothing much more was heard from Martin for 20 years, until she appeared on the eleventh season of 'America's Got Talent', competing against other artists such as Grace VenderWaal. MoJazz missed a trick in not releasing 'Soul Of My Heart', as it really is an excellent soul/R&B album, and so here it is for you to enjoy. 

Track listing

01 As Long As I'm Loving You  
02 Good To Be Loved  
03 When It Comes To Me 
04 No Trouble At All  
05 Finally Over You  
06 It's Spring Again  
07 I Believe In Love  
08 The Pressure's On  
09 I Can Smile Again  
10 Anything For You  
11 A Better Man 
12 Giving Up  

Yummy Bingham - Black Radio (2005)

Following on from the recent post from Tha' Rayne, here is an album from Elizabeth T. Wyce "Yummy" Bingham, following the band's split. She was born on 7 January 1986 to R&B producer Dinky Bingham, and is the god-daughter of Chaka Khan and Aaron Hall. With a lineage like that it's no wonder she went into the music business, and in 2000, aged 14, she was recruited by producer KayGee to form the group Tha' Rayne, and signed to Arista Records. The group recorded an album, and appeared on a bunch of labelmates tracks, including Jaheim's 'Fabulous' that hit #1 on the US Billboard Adult R&B chart for three weeks from February 2003. Tha' Rayne released the single 'Didn't You Know', which peaked at #76 in September 2003 on the US Billboard R&B chart, but their debut album , 'Reign Supreme', never came out and the group disbanded in 2005. While a member of Tha' Rayne, Bingham was also getting a name for herself as the appointed vocalist of veteran hip-hop group De La Soul, being featured on various of their songs, and accompanying them on tour between 2000 and 2004. From 2003, Bingham started to collaborate with various artists, getting writing and/or vocal credits on songs from Patti LaBelle, P. Diddy, Christina Aguilera, Mary J. Blige, Busta Rhymes, Nas, Mýa and Monica. At age 18, Bingham became the youngest female CEO of a major-affiliated label, and the youngest female record executive, forming the label "Muzic Park" with Grammy award-winning beatmaker Rockwilder. 

She was the label's first signing, through a record deal with Motown in the US and Island Records in the UK, and released the singles 'Come Get It', 'Is It Good To You' and 'One More Chance', with her debut album 'The First Seed' appearing in the UK in October 2006. She continued writing and recording for other artists, and gave birth to her daughter Aviela in September 2007, after which she took some time out of the record industry to do Gospel/Inspirational music, but eventually returned to secular R&B in 2010 with a new song called 'Circles', that was featured in the movie 'King Of Paper Chasin'. In 2005 she had released a mixtape titled 'Black Radio', which was assembled as part of a planned promotional campaign for 'The First Seed', but due to the album generating a lukewarm single in 'Come Get It', that failed to catapult itself to the top of the Billboard charts, its US release was cancelled, and it was instead only released overseas, leaving 'Black Radio' indefinitely postponed. Many tracks and freestyles on 'Black Radio' do not appear on the album, or anywhere else but this mixtape, and with the addition of an out-take from the album, even fans who already own 'The First Seed' should definitely give this a listen. 

Track listing

01 Rockwilder Intro/It's My Life 
02 Queenz
03 Chaos (feat. K-OZ) 
04 I Know You Want It, Boy (feat. Redman & Rockwilder)
05 Come Get It (feat. Jadakiss)
06 Runnin' (feat. Dion Jenkins) 
07 You Should Be 
08 No Trouble (feat. Cory Gunz) 
09 Just Leave (Freestyle)
10 Just Leave (Lucifer Freestyle) 
11 Man Up (Demo for Amerie)
12 Give It To Ya
13 Never Happened
14 Freestyle/Rockwilder Outro 

Mila J - Split Personality (2006)

Jamila Akiko Aba Chilombo was born on 18 November 1982 in Los Angeles, California, and her sister is singer Jhené Aiko. At the start of her career, she joined an up-and-coming dance group, bringing her to the attention of Chris Stokes, and through him she auditioned for and starred as a dancer in Prince's 'Diamonds and Pearls' video, released in 1991, when she was just 9 years old. Stokes had begun managing Jamila and her sister Miyoko and eventually led them to form the American R&B group Gyrl, along with third member Paulette Maxwell. The three girls were also back-up dancers under the name Innocence, and they appeared in numerous music videos, such as 'Da Munchies', 'Constantly', and 'I Don't Mind'. In 1995, Silas Records released Gyrl's official debut single, 'Play Another Slow Jam', which peaked at number 74 on the US Hot R&B Singles, staying on the chart for over six weeks, but didn't chart on the US Billboard Hot 100, and after the release of the single, Maxwell left the group. It was not until 1997 that she was replaced by Glorika "Jeanae" Briley and Tai-Amber Hoo, and this new line-up released the single 'Get Your Groove On', featured in the movie 'B*A*P*S'. This single peaked at number 91 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and number 30 on the US Hot R&B Singles chart, staying on the chart for over 14 weeks, and becoming their highest chart appearance at that time. However, despite this success, the group disbanded shortly afterwards, and after a brief appearance in the girl group Dame Four in 2005, Mila took a hiatus from the music industry, saying that due to having been in a variety of girl groups, she did not know who she was as an artist. Upon returning to the music business, she signed with Universal Motown in 2006, and after appearing on tracks by RaRa, IMx, and Omarion, her Chris Stokes-produced debut album, 'Split Personality', was set for a summer 2006 release. That date came and went, and eventually the album was forgotten, and it was not until 2012 that Jamila redefined herself, changing her name and appearance from the soft feminine Mila J to the rough-around-the-edges Japallonia, before reverting back to Mila J for the 'Smoke, Drink, Break-Up' single in 2014. On the shelved album Mila's voice as sweet and young sounding, but it's never flashy or overly demonstrative, and Stokes' production is as solid and complementary as on his previous projects. It's light, endearing R&B that might take a few listens to sink in, but it's strong enough to keep your attention, and so is worth a listen. 

Track listing

01 Wait A Minute
02 No More Complaining
03 Go Public
04 Better
05 Tell Me Where I'd Be
06 Good Lookin' Out (feat. Marques Houston)
07 I've Been Hustled
08 Back In The Day (feat. Young Rome)
09 Things You Do (Long Enough)
10 Are You Happy Now
11 Complete
12 I'm Mi (feat. Omarion)

Tha' Rayne - Reign Supreme (2002)

Tha' Rayne was a three-piece American R&B singing girl group that was formed in 2000 and consisted of two singing members and a DJ, with original members of the group being Yummy Bingham and Shaquana Elam (now known as Quana BelleVoix), who shared lead vocals on all of the group's recordings. The group was founded in 2000 by producer KayGee from Naughty by Nature, who recruited Elizabeth "Yummy" Bingham, Shaquana "Quana" Elam and Tina "Tina-J" Jenkins, with each of them assuming that they had a solo deal, before discovering that they were to be a girl group. The first and only recording where the three original members appear together is Jaheim and Lil' Mo's 2001 single 'Finders Keepers', where they performed vocal backup. After Tina-J left the group, Tha' Rayne remained a duet and signed with Arista Records's CEO Antonio "L.A." Reid in April 2001. They released 'Rock Wit Me' in April 2002, followed in July by 'No L.O.V.E.', which was later re-recorded by Jhené Aiko in 2003. While preparing their debut album, originally expected for an October 2002 release, Tha' Rayne collaborated with artists such as Boyz II Men, Jaheim, Queen Latifah, and Next. In August 2002, Kay Gee had the vision to create an R&B version of Salt-N-Pepa and added Michelle "DJ Myche Luv" Colon, a young female DJ to the group, and later that year they appeared on Jaheim's hit single 'Fabulous'. In January 2003, the group went through a change of lineup with the departure of DJ Myche Luv, who was replaced by Qiana "DJ Qi" Drew. Soon after, Tha' Rayne released 'Didn't You Know' (featuring Joe Budden and Lupe Fiasco), which was their first single to chart, reaching number 76 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. However, it didn't get the buzz expected by the label, and so their debut album 'Reign Supreme' was delayed. When Arista merged into Sony BMG in early 2004, and Antonio "L.A." Reid was fired, many of his artists were dropped, including Tha' Rayne, and so the group decided to split without their album ever seeing the light of day.

Track listing

01 Harmonize (Intro)
02 Can't Stop Tha' Rayne 
03 Didn't You Know (feat. Joe Budden & Lupe Fiasco) 
04 Rock Wit' Me
05 Luv Bug 
06 Kiss Me (feat. Lupe Fiasco)
07 Party Music
08 Mr. Postman
09 No L.O.V.E. (feat. Rob Jackson) 
10 Ghetto Love Song (feat. Jarron)
11 She's A Queen (feat. Queen Latifah)
12 Holla Back (Outro)

Kelly Clarkson - A Little Bit Country (2022)

Kelly Brianne Clarkson was born on 24 April 1982 in Fort Worth, Texas, grew up in Burleson, Texas and was educated at Pauline Hughes Middle School. In the seventh grade, the school's choir teacher, Cynthia Glenn, overheard her singing in a hallway and asked her to audition for the school choir, and she also performed in several musicals, such as 'Annie Get Your Gun', 'Seven Brides For Seven Brothers', and 'Brigadoon'. After graduating from high school, she declined full scholarships to three universities, saying that she wanted to try and make it in the music business on her own. She worked several jobs to finance a demo, recording material and trying to market it to record labels, but received little response. She turned down two recording contracts from Jive Records and Interscope Records, afraid that they would have pigeonholed her as a bubblegum act, and in 2001 she travelled to Los Angeles, pursuing a career in music. Upon returning to Burleson, Clarkson was encouraged by her friends to audition for the first season of the reality television series 'American Idol: The Search For A Superstar' in May 2002, going on to win the competition on 4 September. Immediately after winning American Idol, Clarkson was signed to a record deal with RCA Records, 19 Recordings, and S Records by talent manager Simon Fuller, who created American Idol, and music mogul Clive Davis, who was slated to executive-produce her debut album. She released her chart-topping debut single, 'A Moment Like This', which became the best-selling single of the year in the US, and her R&B and gospel-influenced debut album, 'Thankful' was released in 2003, and entered the US Billboard 200 at number one. 

She shifted genres to pop rock for 'Breakaway' in 2004, which was one of the 21st century's best-selling albums, but after the lukewarm reception to 2007's 'My December', with its darker rock music, Clarkson returned to radio-friendly pop rock sounds with 'All I Ever Wanted' in 2009, and 'Stronger' in 2011, which each produced number-one singles, in 'My Life Would Suck Without You' and 'Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)' respectively. She ventured into Christmas music with 'Wrapped In Red' in 2013, following that with the release of the number-one album 'Piece By Piece' in 2015, and she then signed with Atlantic Records, where she recorded three further albums. In 2018 she returned to television as a coach on 'The Voice' for nine seasons, and since 2019 she has hosted her own talk show, 'The Kelly Clarkson Show'. During the 'Kellyoke' section of her television show Clarkson often covered country songs, and she has even released a couple of duets with country singers as singles, but despite the various genres in which she has recorded, she has yet to make a country album. Fans are convinced that it's a genre that she would excel at, and so by using various singles, out-takes, demos, alternate takes, live recordings, and a few 'Kellyoke' offerings, I've put together Kelly Clarkson's very own country album. 

Track listing

01 Soap And Water
02 Because Of You (feat. Reba McEntire)
03 Feel It Coming On
04 Don't Rush (feat. Vince Gill)
05 Never Again, Again (Interlude) 
06 Mrs Right
07 Mr. Know It All
08 Why Haven't I Heard From You
09 Any Man Of Mine (Interlude)
10 Blue Bayou
11 Fancy
12 Don't You Wanna Stay
13 How Blue (Interlude)
14 I'm Movin' On (feat. Rascal Flatts)
15 You're Drunk Go Home (feat. Kelsea Ballerini & Carly Pearce)

Kiley Dean - Changes (2006)

As I mentioned in my previous post from Kiley Dean, in 2005, she started work on her second album under the name 'Blue Eyes', and released a single 'Lookin' For Love' to radio as a taster for her new record. The album, titled 'Changes', was due to be released in 2006, and a second single was released, with 'Who I Am', being sent out to various radio stations. After the album was completed Dean left Beat Club Records and signed with Mathew Knowles' Music World Entertainment label, and they agreed to take on the release of 'Changes' and issue it under her own name, but after six months she left the label, and so they shelved the record. In 2010 she released the 'Changes' album digitally on the ReverbNation store, but it was only for a limited time, and it's now unavailable, so the time is ripe for a reappraisal. It would have been a relatively short album, with only nine tracks plus an acoustic version of 'Escape', so I've added a couple of contemporary recordings to the end, and here it is for you to enjoy.  

Track listing

01 Dangerous 
02 Be Alone
03 Changes
04 Just Like That
05 Escape
06 Tug of War 
07 Who I Am
08 Stay Away from My Boyfriend
09 Over 

10 We All Need Love

11 Just A Little

12 Goodbye

Daisy Dares You - Rush (2010)

Daisy May Keeley Coburn was born on 27 October 1993 in Great Dunmow, Essex, and came from a musical family, with her mother once working as a backing singer for Duran Duran and The The. She learned to play the guitar and piano when she was six years old, and on Boxing Day 2007 she played a song she had been writing called 'Hurt' to family and friends. A friend of her mother's, Matthew Marston, heard the song and invited her to his home studio to record it, and that led to collaborating with Marston on songs  written for her debut album, 'Rush'. After picking up widespread promotional coverage in the media from The Times, the BBC, and The Guardian as a young artist to watch for in 2010, she signed to Jive, a subsidiary of Sony Records, and her first single 'Number One Enemy', featured British rapper Chipmunk, reached the top 20 in the UK. Her musical genre varies from teen-pop to pop rock to electropop, and comparisons have been made between her and British singer-songwriter Lily Allen, as well as Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne. 'Rosie' was released as her second single in May 2010, and her album was scheduled to appear in June, but for reasons unknown she was dropped from Jive Records and the album was cancelled. A six-track sampler CD was issued to the press in advance of the proposed release date, and so by adding in a couple of live versions of songs from the official track-listing, plus a few early demos, we can put together a 43-minute approximation of Daisy Dares You's scrapped debut album from 2010.

Track listing 

01 Number One Enemy (feat. Chipmunk)
02 Rosie
03 You'll Be Fine
04 Who Will Buy
05 Rush
06 Daisy Dares You (Pegasus & Rokchild remix)
07 Idiot
08 Talk About The Weather
09 Over You  
10 Next Few Minutes
11 Hurt
12 Stuck & Still

Kiley Dean - Simple Girl (2003)

Kiley Dean Bowlin was born on 12 April 1982 and raised in Alma, Arkansas, from where she moved to Orlando, Florida with her parents at the age of seven. She grew up singing in school and church, and at 17 she was singing back-up for Britney Spears on her 'Baby One More Time' and 'Oops! I Did It Again' tours. She signed to record producer Timbaland's Beat Club Records, an imprint of Interscope Records in 2002, and released her debut single, 'Make Me A Song' the following year, which was produced by Timbaland, but which underperformed at number 99 on the Billboard Hot 100. Despite this she was granted a second single with 'Who Will I Run To', before recording her Timbaland-produced debut album, 'Simple Girl', but although this was planned to be released in July 2003, due to the commercial failure of the singles it was shelved. In 2005, she started work on her second album under the name 'Blue Eyes', and released a single 'Lookin' For Love' to radio, while her second studio album 'Changes' was set to be released in 2006. It was preceded by the single 'Who I Am',  which was sent out to radio stations, but in 2007 she signed with Mathew Knowles' Music World Entertainment label, They were set to issue 'Changes' as her first release on her new label, but after six months she left the label, and so like her debut record, 'Changes' was shelved and also remains unreleased. In 2008, she joined Madonna on her 'Sticky & Sweet' tour as a backup vocalist, replacing Madonna's long-time backing singer Donna De Lory, who was pregnant at the time and unable to tour, and in 2010 she released the 'Changes' album digitally on the ReverbNation store, but it was only for a limited time, and is now unavailable. Later that year, she recorded a couple of remixes that were made available on YouTube and her Soundcloud accounts, but these are also now very hard to track down. In 2011 she joined the New Kids On The Block and Matthew Morrison tours as a back-up simnger, and in 2022 she re-joined Madonna's team, performing backup on her 'MDNA' and 'Rebel Heart' tours. In 2015 she launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund her 'Scream' EP, which successfully met its goal in February, and in July she premiered the EP's first single and music video 'Lockdown' to her backers, with the digital release made available in August, and in September the full EP was made available to her backers, with a digital release following a few weeks later. Despite working with a number of famous artists as a backing vocalist, Dean has never been lucky enough to release an album under her own name, and so to put that right here is her unreleased 2003 record 'Simple Girl'.  

Track listing

01 Blessed (Intro)
02 Cross The Line
03 Make Me A Song
04 No
05 Kiss Me Like That
06 Keep It Movin'
07 America
08 War Song
09 Simple Girl
10 As Days Gone By
11 Better Than The Day
12 Busy
13 Confused
14 Lovin' You
15 Should I

16 Who Should I Run To

17 I Know (Outro)

Eve - Here I Am (2008)

Eve Jihan Jeffers was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and her first musical interest was always singing, being a member of many choirs, and she even formed an all-female singing group called Dope Girl Posse, who covered songs from En Vogue and Color Me Badd. The group's manager suggested that they should start rapping, and Eve stuck with it, and after the group split up, she began working on a solo career under the name "Eve of Destruction". In 1998, Eve appeared on the Bulworth soundtrack as Eve of Destruction while signed to Dr. Dre's record label Aftermath Entertainment, and her first single, 'What Y'all Want', featuring Nokio the N-Tity of Dru Hill, was released in June 1999. Her debut album, 'Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady' followed in September on Ruff Ryders Entertainment and sold 213,000 copies in the first week, with Eve becoming the third female hip-hop artist to have her album peak at number one on the Billboard 200. Her second studio album 'Scorpion', was released in March 2001, and featured the single 'Let Me Blow Ya Mind' with Gwen Stefani of No Doubt, which peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. Her third album, 'Eve-Olution', was released by Ruff Ryders Entertainment in August 2002, and peaked at number six on the Billboard 200, with the first single, 'Gangsta Lovin'', featuring Alicia Keys, and it became her second consecutive number-two hit on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2002, Eve appeared on the remixed version of Michael Jackson's 'Butterflies', and also made her film debit in the action film 'XXX', and the following year she starred as a fashion designer called Shelly Williams in the television sitcom 'Eve', staying for three series. 

The next few years found her collaborating with Gwen Stefani on her 'Rich Girl' single, a remix of Amerie's number one U.S. R&B single, '1 Thing', Keyshia Cole's 'Never', Teairra Mari's official remix for 'No Daddy', and Kelly Rowland's 'Like This'. In 2007, Eve began working on a new album titled 'Here I Am', with five of the album's songs being produced by Swizz Beatz, including the singles 'Tambourine' and 'Give It To You', featuring Sean Paul. 'Tambourine' debuted at number 73 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, but the album ran into a series of delays due to corporate change at the record label, and discontent with the lacklustre success of the singles. The album was renamed twice from 'Here I Am' to 'Flirt' to 'Lip Lock', and after she left Interscope Records and signed with EMI, 'Lip Lock' was expected to be released in 2011, but it was delayed yet again. In 2012, she decided to release the album as an independent artist, and stated that there will be several buzz singles before the official single release. The album's first official single, 'Make It Out This Town', featuring Gabe Saporta of Cobra Starship, was released in February 2013, and 'Lip Lock' was finally released under her own label From The Rib Music in May, but it included no songs from the delayed 'Here I Am' album, and so that record remains unreleased. 'Lip Lock' was Eve's final album, and so 'Here I Am' now seems even more important as an example of some of her last recordings, and so here it is for you to enjoy. 

Track listing

01 Hot Steppa (feat. Swizz Beatz)
02 Hot Tonight (feat. Jon B)
03 Cash Flow (feat. T.I.) 
04 Fantasy (feat. Robin Thicke)
05 Nothing To Say (feat. Timbaland) 
06 Guess Who's Single (feat. Lady Gaga & Pharrell Williams)
07 Set It On Fire
08 Give It To You (feat. Sean Paul)
09 The Beat Is So Crazy (feat. Madonna & Pharrell Williams) 
10 Tambourine 
11 Ain't Nothing Changed 
12 Make Up Sex (feat. will.i.am)
13 One Way (Me N My... Up In The Club) 

Monica & Missy - M&M (2015)

Monica Denise Arnold was born and raised outside Atlanta in College Park, and started singing in church as a toddler, diversifying quickly by competing in talent shows. When she was 11 years old, a winning performance of 'The Greatest Love Of All', patterned after Whitney Houston's version, impressed a talent scout and led to connections with Dallas Austin and Queen Latifah. Signed to the former's Arista-affiliated Rowdy label, Monica debuted at the age of 14 with 'Don't Take It Personal (Just One Of Dem Days)', with the Austin-produced single entering the Billboard charts in April 1995, and only missed the top of the Hot 100 by one spot. Recorded over a period of three years, parent album 'Miss Thang' arrived that July and was further boosted by two highly successful double A-side singles. She also showed uncommon maturity on the Usher duet 'Let's Straighten It Out', a vintage ballad that preceded the neo-soul movement by a couple years, and in a few collaborations with Tim & Bob, such as a cover of the S.O.S. Band hit 'Tell Me If You Still Care'. In 1998 she duetted with Brandy on the 'The Boy Is Mine' single, which topped the R&B and pop charts for three-months, and Monica' like-titled album was issued on Arista Records. For her third album, she co-wrote much of 'All Eyez On Me', but it was delayed repeatedly, even after the feel-good title song was issued as a single, and ultimately it was released only in Japan in October 2002.

She quickly rebounded in the studio with Missy Elliott heavily involved as a producer and writing partner, and the first result of their work together was 'So Gone', released in April 2003. It topped Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles, went Top Ten pop, and became the lead single of the 'After The Storm' album, a collection of mostly new material that went straight to number one upon its June release. Throughout each successive album that arrived every few years, Monica continued to mix and match contemporary trends while drawing from traditional R&B, with Jermaine Dupri and Dem Franchize Boyz helping her tap into the Atlanta snap sound with 'Everytime The Beat Drop', while the 'Still Standing' album was another Elliott collaboration, and 'Everything To Me' was based on Deniece Williams' 'Silly', with Jazmine Sullivan on-board as a co-writer. 'Still Standing' capped Monica's run with J Records, and she moved to RCA, which essentially absorbed the label. Her 'New Life' album was led by 'Until It's Gone', another ballad aided by Missy Elliott and Jazmine Sullivan, and in 2015 'Code Red' followed, with the title song released as a single, and featuring Elliott, and introduced by Monica's daughter Laiyah. She parted ways with RCA after 'Code Red', and by the end of the decade she'd established her independent phase with the singles 'BeHUMAN', 'Commitment' and 'Me + You'. During her career she has kept up her friendship with Missy Elliott, and has worked with her as co-writer, producer, and guest artist on her records, and this collection features rare unreleased works over the years recorded by Monica, featuring guest vocals and/or production by her good friend Missy Elliott. 

Track listing

01 I Love Him (Intro)
02 U Turn Me On
03 No Stoppin'
04 Don't Be Cruel (feat. Beenie Man)
05 Let Me Know
06 Remember When 
07 Girl, Please 
08 If You Were My Man (feat. Jazmine Sullivan)
09 Everything to Me (Remix) (feat. Notorious B.I.G.)
10 Blackberry
11 (Anything) To Find You (feat. Lil' Kim)
12 No Stoppin' (feat. Fantasia)

Delta Goodrem - How A Dream Looks (2014)

Delta Lea Goodrem was born in Sydney on 9 November 1984, and by age seven she had appeared in an American advertisement for the former toy company Galoob, alongside fellow Australian Bec Hewitt. Around the same age she began playing piano, and also took up singing, dancing and acting lessons, appearing in adverts for companies such as Optus and Nesquik, and she also had several minor roles in episodes of Australian television shows, including 'Hey Dad..!', 'A Country Practice', and 'Police Rescue'. At the age of thirteen, she recorded a five-song demo CD, financed through her television work, which was sent to her favourite Australian rules football club Sydney Swans, and they passed it onto talent manager Glenn Wheatley. Wheatley signed Goodrem to an artist development deal with independent record label, Empire Records, and between June 1999 and September 2000 she worked with producers Paul Higgins and Trevor Carter on thirteen tracks for an album, to be called 'Delta'. During the sessions she was described as "an ambitious 15-year-old keen to emulate the pop sound of the Spice Girls, Britney Spears and Mandy Moore." Although most of the tracks were written by Carter, Goodrem co-wrote two and self-wrote the song 'Love'. Higgins took the album to Village Roadshow, which offered to market and distribute it, but the deal was blocked by Goodrem's parents, and the album has yet to surface.

After signing a recording contract with Sony Music, she began work on an album of pop–dance songs, but the first single from it, 'I Don't Care', only peaked at number sixty four on the ARIA Singles Chart in November 2001, and so the album and proposed second single, 'A Year Ago Today', were pushed aside as a result, allowing Goodrem and Sony to re-evaluate her future musical direction. In 2002, she took up the role as shy schoolgirl and aspiring singer Nina Tucker in the popular television soap opera 'Neighbours', which helped re-launch her music career, when the piano-based ballad 'Born to Try' premiered on the show, and reached number one on the ARIA Singles Chart and the New Zealand singles chart, and number three in the UK. Her largely self-penned debut studio album, 'Innocent Eyes', was released on 24 March 2003 in Australia and debuted at number one on the ARIA Album Charts, breaking Australian records previously held by John Farnham's 'Whispering Jack' in 1986, by staying at number one for 29 consecutive weeks. In July, Goodrem was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, a form of cancer, and this forced her to take a break from her career to undergo treatment, although singles from 'Innocent Eyes' kept her name in the public domain. In August 1999 she won seven ARIA Music Awards, including "Best Female Artist", surpassing Natalie Imbruglia's previous record of six awards in 1999. 

After announcing in late December 2003 that she was in remission from her cancer, Goodrem began work on her second studio album. In March 2004, while she was still undergoing cancer treatment, Higgins and Carter announced plans to release the album they had recorded with the then 15-year-old singer in 2000, igniting a bidding war amongst record companies. However, Goodrem and her family disapproved of the album's release, and a lawsuit was filed, claiming that the album was made up of unfinished demo recordings which were not fit for commercial release. After much coverage in the media, the case was settled in mediation, and in exchange for not releasing the album, Higgins and Carter received an unspecified payout. Her second studio album, 'Mistaken Identity', was released in Australia on 8 November 2004 and debuted at number one on the ARIA Albums chart. The third single from the album was 'Almost Here', a duet with Irish singer and then boyfriend Brian McFadden of Westlife, and it reached number three in the UK and became her seventh ARIA number one. On 15 March 2006, Goodrem performed a new song at the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony in front of 80,000 spectators, and up to 1.5 billion television viewers worldwide, with 'Together We Are One' being written specifically for the event. 

In October 2006, she promoted in Japan with the release of an updated version of 'Innocent Eyes', and the Japan-only single 'Flawed', which reached number one on the Japanese download chart. Goodrem's third studio album, the eponymous 'Delta', was released in Australia on 20 October 2007, and the material was a lot lighter compared to her previous album, which contained a number of songs written about her illness. On 24 November 2011, Goodrem was confirmed to be a part of the judging panel of the Australian version of 'The Voice' which aired in early 2012, coaching alongside Keith Urban, Joel Madden, and Seal. Some of her decisions on the show sparked criticism, with comments she was "all style" and "little substance", but despite that she returned for season two in 2013, again with Madden and Seal, with Ricky Martin replacing Urban. Her fourth studio album, 'Child Of The Universe', was released on 26 October 2012, and debuted at number two on the ARIA Charts, spending ten weeks in the top 50.  In November, she recorded a Christmas EP titled 'Christmas', and one of the tracks, 'Blue Christmas', was also featured on the album 'The Spirit of Christmas'. In November 2013 it was announced that Goodrem would not be returning to 'The Voice Australia' for the third season in 2014, but instead chose to be a part of the new Australian version of 'The Voice Kids', saying that this would give her more time on her music career and more time to work on her new studio album, although in 2015 she did return as a judge on 'The Voice Australia', and stayed there for the next six seasons. 

On 24 July 2015, Goodrem released 'Wings' as the lead single from her fifth studio album 'Wings Of The Wild', which peaked at number one on the ARIA Charts, and was certified double platinum, and the album followed on 1 July 2016. In 2017 she returned to television in the comedy drama series 'House Husbands', and she also became the V8 Supercars Australia ambassador, promoting the sport and being the official performer at the racing events throughout the year. In early 2021, Goodrem announced the release of her seventh studio album 'Bridge Over Troubled Dreams' for May of that year, alongside an autobiographical and photographic book bearing the same name, but the singles released from this record, and her albums over the previous seven years, no longer featured non-album tracks on the flips, and so this collection of rare singles, b-sides and bonus tracks ends in 2014. Goodrem's repertoire falls under the pop and adult contemporary styles, and heavily features the piano, which she usually plays barefoot while performing live. It has given her a long-lasting and well-respected career, particularly in Australia, but also in the rest of the world, selling over nine million albums globally. In June 2020, she launched the Delta Goodrem Foundation in partnership with St. Vincent's Hospital and The Kinghorn Cancer Centre, with the aim of raising funds for the acceleration of innovative blood cancer research, and if only for that reason, she deserves this three disc collection of her hard to find recordings.  

Track listing

Disc I - 2001-2005
01 I Don't Care (single 2001)
02 Hear Me Calling (b-side of 'Lost Without You' 2003) 
03 Right There Waiting (b-side of 'Not Me, Not I' 2003) 
04 Happy Xmas (War Is Over) (b-side of 'Not Me, Not I' 2003) 
05 Lost For Words (b-side of Innocent Eyes' 2003)  
06 Here I Am (b-side of 'Predictable' 2003)  
07 Love (outtake 2003)
08 Right Here In My Heart (bonus track on the digital edition of 'Delta' 2003)
09 Beautiful Madness (b-side of 'Out Of The Blue' 2004) 
10 Visualise (b-side of 'Out Of The Blue' 2004)  
11 Nobody Listened (bonus track on the Australian edition of 'Mistaken Identity' 2004)
12 Hollow No More (feat. Brian McFadden) (b-sidem of 'Almost Here' 2005) 

Disc II - 2005-2007
01 How A Dream Looks (b-side of 'Mistaken Identity' 2005)  
02 Silence Be Heard (b-side of 'Mistaken Identity' 2005) 
03 Turn You Away (b-sidem of 'Almost Here' 2005) 
04 If I Forget (b-side of 'A Little Too Late' 2005) 
05 The Riddle (b-side of 'A Little Too Late' 2005)  
06 Flawed (single 2006) 
07 Never Fades Away (b-side of 'Flawed' 2006)
08 Together We Are One (single 2006)
09 Take Me Home (b-side of 'In This Life' 2007)   
10 Fortune And Love (b-side of 'Believe Again' 2007) 
11 Unsure (b-side of 'Believe Again' 2007)  
12 Fever (b-side of 'Believe Again' 2007) 
13 Breathe In, Breathe Out (bonus track on Japanese edition of 'Delta' 2007)

Disc III - 2008-2014
01 Black Velvet (b-side of 'You Will Only Break My Heart' 2008)  
02 Burn For You (b-side of 'I Can't Break It To My Heart' 2008) 
03 Edge Of Seventeen (b-side of 'I Can't Break It To My Heart' 2008) 
04 I'm Not Ready (solo version of the Michael Bolton duet single 2011) 
05 Uncovered (b-side of 'Sitting On Top Of The World' 2012)  
06 Waiting Forever (b-side of 'Dancing With A Broken Heart' 2012)  
07 Rise (b-side of 'Wish You Were Here' 2012)  
08 Daughter (b-side of 'Wish You Were Here' 2012)  
09 Alcohol (bonus track on the iTunes edition of 'Child Of The Universe' 2012)
10 No Communication (bonus track on the iTunes edition of 'Child Of The Universe' 2012)
11 Heart Hypnotic (single 2013)
12 Stay (b-side of 'Love...Thy Will Be Done' 2014)

Jentina - Do Not Disturb (2005)

Jentina Rose Rees (née Chapman) was born 6 March 1984 in Woking, England to a Romani family that consisted of fourteen children. When she was one year old, her family moved to West Molesey, Surrey, and she got her first recording contract at the age of nineteen, whilst working in a computer shop. After an advertising campaign on television, and features in various UK music magazines, her debut single 'Bad Ass Strippa' was released in the summer of 2004, reaching number 22 in the UK Singles Chart. Her second single was released in the autumn of 2004, with 'French Kisses' being co-written by Jentina along with Cathy Dennis and Greg Wells. It was a more electro-hop/R&B-oriented song, and entered the UK chart at number 20, after which she released one more single, although 'Mysterious' was only available in Italy, where it reached the Top 30 in the Italian charts. As a result of this success in Italy, her debut album 'Jentina' was released solely in that country. In 2005, 'Bad Ass Strippa', 'French Kisses' and 'Mysterious' gained worldwide exposure after featuring in episodes of 'CSI: NY', while in 2006 'Mysterious' underscored some of the audition stages of MTV's 'DanceLife'. Jentina was also a professional model, representing lingerie brand Wonderbra in November 2007, following on from the likes of Eva Herzigová and Caprice, and during 2011 she was in the judging panel for 'Travellers Got Talent'. She never did any more recording, and so the re-named 'Do Not Disturb' is the only record of her musical career, and even that is now extremely hard to locate, so here is your chance to hear her one and only album.

Track listing

01 Mysterious  
02 Bad Ass Strippa  
03 Wonderfoul Day  
04 French Kisses  
05 Feels Good 
06 Gone  
07 Here I Come 
08 Sneakers  
09 Eenie Meenie  
10 Smoke 
11 Baby  
12 Hard Times

Laura Branigan - Silver Dreams (1981)

Laura Ann Branigan was born on 3 July 1952, and is best known for her signature song, the platinum-certified 1982 single 'Gloria', which stayed on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for 36 weeks, then a record for a female artist. It also reached number one in Australia and Canada, and the Top Ten in the UK. The track was a cover of a song written by Italian singer-songwriters Giancarlo Bigazzi and Umberto Tozzi, and in 1984 she reached number one in Canada and Germany and No. 4 in the U.S. with 'Self Control', another a cover of an Italian song, this time by singer/songwriter Raf. Prior to the success of 'Gloria', she'd released one single in 1978 on the Liberty Television' label, with 'Memories' being the theme song for Liberty's first made-for-television movie 'Calloway's Climb'. After signing to Atlantic Records, they released three singles in an effort to break her into the mainstream charts, and although none of them were successful, they  did agree tor record an album with her. 'Silver Dreams' was due to come out in 1981, but was cancelled due to a contract lawsuit with her management, and remains unreleased to this day, although some tracks have turned up on the re-issue of her 1982 'Branigan' album. Her greatest level of success was in the 1980's, with the Top 10 hit 'Solitaire' in 1983, the U.S. Adult Contemporary Chart number one 'How Am I Supposed To Live Without You' the same year, and her return to the top 40 in 1987 with 'The Power Of Love'. Her chart success began to wane as the decade closed and after her last two studio albums, 'Laura Branigan' in 1990 and 'Over My Heart' in 1993, garnered little attention, she generally retired from public life for the rest of the 1990's. She died at her home in August 2004 from a previously undiagnosed cerebral aneurysm, at the age of just 52. As a reminder of that most successful part of her career in the early 80's, here is the full version of that cancelled 1981 debut album. 

Track listing

01 When
02 Fool's Affair
03 Looking Out For Number One
04 Helping Mama Bring The Groceries In
05 Leave Me Blind
06 Love Me Tonight
07 Don't Close Your Eyes
08 I'm Just Warmin'
09 Tell Him
10 Silver Dreams

Fundisha - Lessons (2002)

Fundisha Johnson is an American R&B singer, who started her musical career back in 1998 as background singer for artists such as Lauryn Hill, Tyrese, Lil Bow Wow, Fabolous and Jermaine Dupri. In 2002 she began releasing her own records, with 'Live The Life' becoming a minor R&B hit as the lead single from her first album 'Lessons'. The album was originally scheduled to be released on 18 June 2002 but was cancelled shortly after her label So So Def merged with Arista Records, resulting in a large number of releases being shelved. She never get to release an album, and leaves just one single of her own and a few collaborations as her legacy. It could have been so different if this album had actually been released, so here it is for you to check out. 

Track listing

01 Intro 
02 You Make Me
03 Black
04 Never Taught, Never Told
05 Party Joint
06 Gotta Be Me
07 Married Man
08 Live The Life
09 Wanna Be Intro
10 Wanna Be
11 Commitment Interlude
12 Pull A Left Eye
13 Daddy
14 Lessons
15 Don't Judge Me

Janet Jackson - Pops Up (2004)

In April 2001 Janet Jackson released her seventh studio album 'All For You', which saw her working with new producers for the first time since 'Control' in 1986, while maintaining her partnership with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. It debuted at number one in the United States, and its title track became the first song by a female artist in the decade to reach number one in the United States, where it remained for seven weeks, becoming her second-longest single to stay at the top. Following the album's release, Jackson embarked on the All For You Tour, which grossed over US$40 million in ticket sales. Upon completion of the tour in 2002, she started recording a new album, with a hope to release it in early 2003. As Jackson completed work on the album, she was featured as a performer on the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show, which took place on February 1, 2004, in Houston. At the end of the performance, guest artist Justin Timberlake pulled off a part of Jackson's costume, which accidentally exposed her right breast, and although the costume tear was orchestrated, her breast's exposure was not the intended result. As a consequence, the singer suffered a backlash from the media, who accused her of planning the incident as a publicity stunt for her then-upcoming album, and it resulted in the blacklist of Jackson's singles and music videos from many major radio formats and music channels worldwide. 

Recording sessions for 'Damita Jo', a title taken from Jackson's middle name, lasted for a total of 18 months, and was the longest that she had spent recording an album. She reunited with Jam and Lewis for initial writing sessions in August 2002, concluding in February 2004, and during its initial sessions, Jam described its musical direction as "all over the place", and that there was no clear direction at that moment. The record saw Jackson teaming up with several new producers, among them Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Kanye West, Dallas Austin, Scott Storch, and duo Bag & Arnthor, consisting of Anders Bagge and Arnthor Birgisson, in addition to Jam and Lewis. The album was released first in Japan on 22 March 2004, before its release in Europe by EMI a week later, followed by a US release by Virgin Records on 30 March 2004. Although it debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, selling 381,000 copies in its first week, the album was considered a sales disappointment compared to Jackson's previous efforts. Prior to the Super Bowl incident and blacklist, music journalists predicted 'Damita Jo' would have massive chart success and outsell its predecessor 'All For You', which had sold eight million copies worldwide, and although the album received positive to mixed reviews upon release, some critics concentrated on the controversy over the Super Bowl incident, or the sexually-charged nature of some of the songs, which were composed well before the incident. Even though the album contained 22 tracks, there were a number of recordings which were left off the final running order, including a Just Blaze remix of 'Just A Little While' with new vocals, lyrics, and instrumental, titled 'Love Me', and this post takes that and a number of other out-takes to compile an excellent companion album to 'Damita Jo'. 

Track listing

01 Sex, Lies & Videos
02 Put It On You (Speed It Up) (feat. Jinx Bezzle & Hasan) 
03 Love Me (Just Blaze Mix)
04 Could This Be Love
05 All Nite (Don't Stop) (Remix)
06 Put Your Hands On 
07 Ruff (I Like It) (feat. Pharrell & Jevar)
08 I'm Here
09 What Can I Say
10 Pops Up 

Sade - Wired (1994)

Helen Folasade Adu was born on 16 January 1959 in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria, and after her parents separated when she was four years old, she moved to Colchester, Essex with her mother. After completing her education at Clacton County High School and Colchester Institute at the age of 18, she moved to London and completed a three year fashion design course at Saint Martin's School of Art, after which she began backup singing with British band Pride. During this time, she formed a songwriting partnership with Pride's guitarist/saxophonist Stuart Matthewman, and they began doing their own sets at Pride gigs. Her solo performances of the song 'Smooth Operator', co-written with Ray St. John, attracted record companies' attention, and in 1983 Sade and Matthewman split from Pride, along with keyboardist Andrew Hale, bassist Paul Denman, and drummer Paul Cook, to form the band Sade. In October 1983 she signed with Epic Records, and the group began recording their debut album, 'Diamond Life', which took six weeks to record, and was recorded entirely at The Power Plant in London. The record was released on 16 July 1984, and reached number two in the UK Album Chart, selling over 1.2 million copies in the UK, and it won the Brit Award for Best British Album in 1985. 'Your Love Is King' was released as the album's lead single on 25 February 1984, charting at number seven in Ireland and number six on the UK, while third single, 'Smooth Operator', was her most successful song in the US, peaking at number five on the US Billboard Hot 100.  In late 1985, the band released their second album, 'Promise', which peaked at number one in both the UK and the US, spawning two singles in 'Never As Good As The First Time' and 'The Sweetest Taboo', the latter of which was released as the album's lead single and stayed on the US Hot 100 for six months. 

In 1986, Sade made her acting debut in 'Absolute Beginners', a film adapted from the Colin MacInnes book of the same name, playing the role of Athene Duncannon, and she lent her vocals to the film's accompanying soundtrack. Sade's third album, 'Stronger Than Pride', was released on 3 May 1988, and like her previous albums it was a commercial success, providing four hit singles, most notably 'Paradise', which peaked at number 16 on the US Billboard Hot 100. 'Love Deluxe' was released as the band's fourth studio album on 26 October 1992, peaking at number three on the US Billboard 200, and in November 1994, the group released their first compilation album, 'The Best of Sade', which was another top ten hit in both the UK and the US. After this the band took a hiatus for the next eight years, reappearing with their fifth studio album, 'Lovers Rock', in 2000, and despite her time away, it received positive reviews from music critics, and earned Sade the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album in 2002. In the first part of her musical career, Sade often added previously unreleased songs or instrumentals to the b-sides of her singles, and so we are able to gather up those non-album tracks from 1983 to 1992 for a very nice smooth jazz album from the singer. 

            
Track listing

01 Love Affair With Life (b-side of 'Your Love Is King' 1983)

02 Should I Love You (b-side of 'Hang On To Your Love' 1984)

03 Red Eye (b-side of 'Smooth Operator' 1984) 

04 Spirit (b-side of 'Smooth Operator' 1984)

05 Wired (b-side of 'Is It A Crime' 1985)

06 Killer Blow (from the film 'Absolute Beginners' 1986)

07 Be Thankful For What You've Got (live in Tokyo 1986)

07 Make Some Room (b-side of 'Nothing Can Come Between Us' 1988)

08 Super Bien Total (b-side of Paradise' 1988)

09 Room 55 (b-side of 'Kiss Of Life' 1992)

11 Please Send Me Someone To Love (from the soundtrack of the film 'Philadelphia' 1994)

Thanks to Paul for bumping this album up to 49 minutes.

Adina Howard - Welcome To Fantasy Island (1997)

Adina Marie Howard-Walker was born on 14 November 1973 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and raised by her mother, with the family later moving to Phoenix, Arizona. In the mid-1990's she gained the attention of manager-producer Livio Harris, who helped her record some demos and later land a deal with Max Gousse through Mecca Don/EastWest Records. Her debut album 'Do You Wanna Ride?' was released in 1995, and included the Platinum-certified hit single, 'Freak Like Me', alongside her follow-up singles 'My Up And Down' and 'It's All About You'. She spent 1996 recording a number of songs which appeared on film soundtracks, including 'What's Love Got To Do With It' from 'Police Story 3: Super Cop', 'Damned If I Do' from 'A Thin Line Between Love And Hate', and 'For The Funk' from 'Sunset Park'. In 1997 she recorded her second album 'Welcome To Fantasy Island' (originally titled 'Portrait Of A Lady'), and advance copies garnered rave reviews and a moderate hit with the lead single '(Freak) And U Know It', but Elektra Records were not convinced and cancelled its release. The album was leaked to the internet a few years later, with promotional copies selling for hundreds of dollars, and one of the unreleased tracks, 'T-Shirt & Panties' (a collaboration with Jamie Foxx) ended up on a film soundtrack the following year, with it originally being slated for the soundtrack to the film 'Booty Call', but eventually ending up on the soundtrack to the 1998 comedy 'Woo'. Another soundtrack appearance occurred the same year, with a collaboration with Cydal on a 'Chocolate (Cuties & Condoms)' being released as a single for the 'Bulletproof' soundtrack. In 2004 Howard released her official second album 'The Second Coming' on Rufftown Records, but it sold poorly due to lack of promotion and only 40,000 copies made it to store shelves, and she was later sued by the label. 

A second single '(Outside) The Club' was slated to be released, along with a remix album 'The Second Coming: Remixed & UnCut', but they suffered the same fate as 'Welcome To Fantasy Island', with both releases being cancelled following her departure from the label. Her third album 'Private Show' fared no better, being delayed many times by Arsenal Records, almost to the point of it being shelved, but it was eventually released in June 2007, along with a promotional single 'Picture This'. The album only sold 4,000+ copies though, and a third single, following a remixes EP for 'My Hips', was to have been 'Tease', but Howard parted ways with the label shortly after the album's release, and the single was cancelled. Howard's career has been bedevilled by a lack of support from her record companies, and she had more potential releases cancelled than any other artist that I know of. To date, Howard remains proud of the album and its cover, and in June 2018 a promo single surfaced for 'Crank Me Up', which was revealed to have been in consideration as a single by Elektra Records. In 2013 it received an unofficial release (excluding 'T-Shirt & Panties' and 'Crank Me Up', which were included on her 'The Second Coming' release) through the mixtape site DatPiff.com, and in 2021 it was announced that Rhino Records had acquired the rights to the album, with it finally being released onto digital audio platforms on 19 February 2021, although physical formats remain unavailable. Although the record is now out there, it took 24 years to finally appear, and as you can't buy a vinyl or CD copy of it I'm posting it anyway, as an album that we'd wished existed for nearly a quarter of a century. 

Track listing

01 Welcome To My Queendom (Intro)
02 (Freak) And U Know It
03 Personal Freak
04 All About U
05 Crank Me Up
06 Sexual Needs
07 Could've Got Away
08 Another Level (Interlude)
09 T-Shirt & Panties
10 I'll Be Damn If I Apologize
11 Don't Come Too Fast
12 Take Me Home
13 Lay Him Down
14 Ain't No Need
15 Satisfied (Outro)

Stacie Orrico - Say It Again (2002)

Stacie Joy Orrico was born on 3 March 1986 in Seattle, Washington, and grew up influenced by a wide range of musical styles, becoming a member in the church choir where she often accompanied on the piano as the family sang Christian hymns. She got her start in music at the age of 12, by attending a Christian music festival, Praise in the Rockies, held in her then-home state of Colorado. Orrico inadvertently entered a high-stakes talent competition, where she won, and a ForeFront Records executive was on hand and approached her for a record deal. She later signed with them, and in 2001 she toured with Destiny's Child as their opening act on select dates of their Survivor tour in the United States. She recorded her first album when she was just 14 years old, and 'Genuine' was released in 2000, selling over 13,000 copies in the first week, the highest debut week sales ever for a female Christian artist. The album produced the hit single 'Don't Look At Me', which topped Christian charts for ten consecutive weeks, and all five singles from it went top ten in the charts. In 2001 she released a Christmas EP, consisting of six tracks made up of a mix of Christmas songs and carols. In 2002 she started recording her next album, which was intended to be a more mainstream record, titled 'Say It Again'. A track listing was put together and promo CD's distributed, before it was decided to scrap the album and start again. The songs 'Truth', 'Until I Find You', the cover of Billy Preston's 'That's The Way (God Planned It)', and 'Star Of My Story' were dropped and replaced with new recordings, and the ones which were kept were significantly different. The spoken intro to 'Bounce Back' was removed from the single version, 'Maybe I Won't Look Back' has a slightly different track from what would eventually be released, including the bridge being performed as a rap verse by Orrico, and 'Security' contained a rap verse from an uncredited Mat Kearney that was omitted from the released version. A couple of the scrapped tracks were later included on some Japanese editions of her album, while others have remained unreleased. The revamped 'Stacie Orrico' album was released in 2003, and charted in the US, the UK, and Australia, and the first mainstream single from this album was 'Stuck', which became a worldwide hit, reaching the Top 5 on the majority of the world's charts, followed by '(There's Gotta Be) More To Life', which reached number 12 in the UK. For any fans who are interested in hearing the album as it was originally intended, then here is 2002's 'Say It Again', the precursor to 2003's 'Stacie Orrico'. 

Track listing

01 Tight
02 Hesitation
03 Bounce Back
04 That's What Love's About
05 Truth
06 Intil I Find You
07 Maybe I Won't Look Back
08 That's The Way (God Planned It)
09 Star Of My Story
10 Security (feat. Mat Kearney)

Rosie Ribbons - Misbehaving (2002)

Rosemary "Rosie" Ribbons was born on 22 July 1983 in Australia, with the family moving to Pontardawe near Swansea in 1987. Ribbons reportedly wanted to be a pop singer since she was eight years old, and was a big fan of Mariah Carey, who she learned to mimic in her singing, and she also started to write her own songs. During her final school year she lost interest, however, and ended up working in a supermarket, and it was when she was bored with that career that she auditioned for ITV1's talent show Pop Idol. She initially performed her own composition called 'Colours' to judges Simon Cowell, Nicki Chapman, Neil Fox and record producer Pete Waterman, and although impressed with her vocal, Cowell suggested that she pick a more familiar song. Taking his advice, Ribbons then wowed the panel with a rendition of 'Hero' by Mariah Carey, a performance that moved Waterman to tears. Ribbons progressed through the competition and made the top 50, winning her heat by a landslide, but although she was named amongst the favourites to win, she was voted out by viewers a few weeks before Will Young was crowned winner on 9 February 2002, ultimately finishing in 6th place. Although Ribbons did not win Pop Idol, Telstar Records signed her to a five-album deal, reportedly worth £1million, and after supporting Liberty X on tour, her first two singles 'Blink' and her cover of Jessica Simpson's 'A Little Bit' were both UK top 20 hits. 

However, as 'A Little Bit' only reached number 19, Telstar considered this a disappointing chart position, and so they went to work on getting ready to release the third single only a few weeks later. Initially they had chosen 'Good Thing' before deciding on a double A Side, featuring 'Good Thing' and 'Heaven', but after Ribbons had supported Blue on their 'One Love' Tour Telstar decided that a totally fresh, new track had to be released, and they wanted something that was guaranteed to succeed. They therefore put Ribbons back in the studio to record a modern-day remake of the Deee-Lite hit 'Groove Is In The Heart', at one point considering making it a double A-side with 'Naked'. Before any of this could happen, Telstar experienced financial problems and her contract was subsequently terminated before the third single or her album could be released. Originally to be called 'Levitate', promo copies titled 'Misbehaving' did surface under the title 'Misbehaving'. In 2007, now living in Dubbo, Australia, Ribbons auditioned for Australian Idol with another original song, 'Butterfly Wings', but this time the judges did not ask for a second, more familiar song, and she was accepted into the Top 100, and then went on to make the Top 24. In the fourth semi-finals on 29 August 2007 Ribbons sang R.E.M.'s 'Everybody Hurts', but she didn't make the final 12, and so was eliminated from the competition. Ribbons returned to the UK after Australian Idol to perform and record new music, and in March 2012 she was the featured vocalist on the title track of the Alonestar EP 'Warrior', a release which also featured Ed Sheeran, who accompanies Ribbons on the track 'All Falls Down'. Telstar's back catalogue was eventually acquired by Phoenix Music International in 2018, and the album acquired a digital release, but no physical copies followed, and so here is that original 2002 debut by the Pop Idol finalist.   

Track listing

01 Good Thing
02 A Little Bit
03 Blink
04 Deadly Sin 
05 Heaven
06 Coming Up for Air
07 Trusted
08 No Space to Rent
09 Even Angels
10 Ain't That the Way
11 Colours

Chaka Khan - Dare You To Love Me (1996)

In 1992 Chaka Khan released her first studio album in four years, with 'The Woman I Am' being a chart success due to the hit singles 'Love You All My Lifetime' and 'You Can Make The Story Right'. Around this time she also recorded a duet with Peter Cetera on the song 'Feels Like Heaven', which was a minor success, as well as contributing to film soundtracks, and so hopes were high for her next record. Between 1993 and 1995 she recorded a number of tracks for the follow-up album, to be called 'Dare You To Love Me', with a proposed release date of January 1996. However, when recording was complete and it was presented to Warner Bros., they rejected it, citing a lack of commercial viability. This was not the first time the Khan had clashed with her record company, as before 'Dare You To Love Me' was rejected, she had fallen out with them due to fact that the record company execs wanted her to do hip-hop soul tracks like what Mary J. Blige was doing at the time. She refused, saying that if they wanted someone to sing like Blige, then they should've gotten the real Blige. Despite their contention that the songs from 'Dare You To Love Me' were not commercial, they still included six of them on 1996's 'Epiphany: The Best of Chaka Khan, Vol. 1'. This was the last straw for Khan, who then left the label, stating that they had neglected her, and failed to release 'Dare You To Love Me'. Other songs from the sessions, like 'Miles Blowin'' and 'Pain', eventually ended up on the soundtrack albums of the 1993 film 'Sugar Hill', and the 1997 TV series 'Living Single' respectively, but the album itself has remained unheard. 

Track listing
 
01 Your Love Is All I Know 
02 Every Little Thing 
03 Everywhere  
04 Never Miss The Water (feat. Meshell Ndegéocello) 
05 Dare You To Love Me  
06 It Ain't Easy Lovin' Me 
07 Somethin' Deep  
08 Love Me Still 
09 Pain 
10 Miles Blowin'  
11 Don't Take Back (Your Love)