Anyone remember 3LW? (Three Little Women) Yeah, not many people remember them. They didn’t stand out, that said-consider their competition. Destiny’s Child with Beyoncé (who is still gaining fame) and Dream and TLC (with the late Left Eye) most of my Music Issue ~ Part 1 was pretty much all about TLC, so I’ll try to keep them out.
Back to 3LW, they only had two notable hits, “No More (Baby I’ma Do Right)” and “Playas Gon’ Play” they features 3 members, two of whom are now part of the Cheetah Girls (A Disney band) and the other, Naturi is going to be releasing a debut album in 2009 (she was the member who left the group, turning the group into a mockery) 3LW was called 2LW by the press because there were only 2 people left. They tried to get another member, but by then there was no return. They didn’t have enough urban appeal apparently, I thought Williams was pretty cool, I think they need to separate themselves more, personally. It just seems like they would’ve been so easy to lump them in with ‘girl bands’ I have their 2 hits songs and I always forget, oops. They weren’t a bad group, I thought the vocals were pretty good, but they needed a real image, especially during that time.

Destiny’s Child was one talented group that I enjoyed. I loved their “Say My Name” song and I adore how they harmonize so perfectly. It’s also so amazing to me, how half of the group was terminated and they still rose. LaTavia Roberson and LeToya Luckett were replaced with Farrah Franklin and Michelle Williams. Apparently they had replaced them without them knowing it, they were negative against their manager claiming he was playing favorites. When the video for “Say My Name” came out-they weren’t in it. BURN! Sorry, but it had to be said. They had been replaced. Of course Destiny’s Child would drop Farrah Franklin due to her lacking interest in the group and apparently missing 3 major dates. Say My Name was totally Beyoncé dominated if you ask me, I think Roberson and Luckett were being reasonable. I don’t really see Rowland being really favored. Even in Jumpin’ Jumpin’ you see alot more Beyoncé than the other members. Although you do see the other members, it’s mostly Beyoncé. Beyoncé seems to get the most solo video time-meaning that there are more times when it’s just Beyoncé on screen with no one else compared to the other members. I do see a little Kelly favoritism in this, but it’s not all that noticible. No, No, No, Part 2 and I’ve noticed something, it’s pretty much Beyoncé singing with the others doing backup. I did see a little Kelly favoritism. I guess destiny’s child was Beyoncé, since “Destiny’s Child” is singular. Bills, Bills, Bills. It seems like the video is pretty close, but once again Beyoncé is singing everything. LaToya and LaTavia were just speaking the truth in my opinion, sad they were kicked out. It really sucks when stuff like this happens, and yes, Beyoncé has talent, don’t get me wrong, but at the beginning she needed work, and I think the pressure of her being the main star helped her refine her singing ability, but it wasn’t fair for the other members. Now who’s left? Who’s the big name? Who’s livin’ large? Beyoncé, because she was favored, I don’t think Beyoncé is really to blame, I give the blame to her father, he was the manager after all. He would have the most power in my opinion and favoring Beyoncé was a selfish thing, he clearly didn’t give a second thought to the other members, or why would be drop members to easily only to pick two more up and then drop another again? That’s not how most bands break up, usually once a member leaves the whole group just falls apart, because the members have equal parts in the group and if one of them left there would be an actual impact on the group, unlike this case, in which, Beyoncé was the single star.

Dream, anyone remember them, I really liked “This is Me” and “He Loves U Not” but other than that they were pretty bland in my opinion. There wasn’t anything special or interesting about them. Their sophomore album never hit stores due to lack of promotion, but you can get it via iTunes. They were involved in a suit in which Fontaine & Daughters Productions tried to sue Diddy (the guy who made them “big” I guess) but of course they were minors and terminated their contract with F&D Prod. long before they even met Diddy. It was the fact they were minors that F&D lost the suit. Apparently they’ve switched members drastically and are coming out again under the name Lady Phoenix. Melissa Shuman and Ashley Poole apparently tried to get all of the old members back to do a reunion, but they couldn’t, hence Lady Phoenix. “. On July 29, 2008, a new Dream created an official profile on YouTube, and have recently uploaded several new videos of the two remaining members singing cover songs.^[6] Their YouTube profile states that they will be returning soon and that the auditioning process will begin from the YouTube profile itself. This time Dream features Jordan McCoy, Hunter Pecunia and new members Imaj (God daughter of Betty Wright), Michelle Keaton and Lindsay Taylor (17,13 and 19 respectively) and it seems as if they are keeping the same pop flavor as before while Lady Phoenix is turning to a more revival style from the mid 20th century.” (Wiki) I’m actually pretty curious of how Lady Phoenix will turn out, there’s something called “Sneaking up on Lady Phoenix” on YouTube, but they obviously weren’t being snuck up on, it was pretty obvious the whole thing was planned in my opinion, I mean, if you’re in the middle of singing and this huge camera comes doing close ups right in your face, wouldn’t you stop and be like “Uhh….hey, what’s up? hah hah…awkward moment” instead they just keep singing. They seem to have really powerful voices, but will it debut and be successful is another story, you can have a powerful voice, but if it isn’t pretty, chances are it’s not going to sell well, and that would be my only issue with the group. Also, since they’re keeping some of the members from the previous band and adding some new people, well, it just doesn’t seem well planned out in my opinion. Think about it, half of the group knows each other well and are probably close like sisters, otherwise they wouldn’t have bothered getting back together. and Yes, it is as simple as that. Not to mention the other girls know what it’s like to perform and have deadlines and all the pressure of having the spotlight on them, as brief a period of time it was. While the other girls (probably) don’t really know each other, aren’t used to the pressure of society and aren’t used to the grueling schedules that dance classes and choreography tend to be.

I was probably the only girl back in elementary school who adored both the Backstreet Boys AND N*SYNC and still couldn’t tell them apart. Of course then they all break up and Justin because a manwhore with his songs UGH! Apparently they had both been financed by Lou Pearlman (who also sponsored US5, O-Town, LFO) he’s in jail now, for 25 years for owing over $300 million in debt due to a pyramid scheme. Ah, well, I still love listening too both of them on an almost regular basis. It’s ridiculous in some ways, but so terribly nostalgic in others, not to mention people around my age will start singing, usually girls, there have been cases with guys singing with me. It’s actually quite funny, something more embarrassing is that my iTunes is on shuffle and just turned to “I’ll Never Break Your Heart” By Backstreet Boys.

Hoku, anyone remember her. She sang ‘Perfect Day” in Disney’s film “Snow Day” apparently ‘Another Dumb Blonde’ is in it, I don’t remember. Hoku apparently came out with a mini album in 2007 (at least according to iTunes) and it’s really good. I mean it’s totally new and clearly well done, it seems really passionately done. It’s good music it’s not fast paced though (I tend to go for fast paced music and I’m not talking about techno) I’m really glad that she seems to be doing well, it’s good to see her get out of that teenage bubble gum pop stage. It’s nice to know she can grow into an artist. I hope she gets more promotion, I know it was only a mini album, but I think if she re-debuted it might help sales since my friend mentioned “Perfect Day” by her the other day and I said, “Hey, did you know Hoku has a mini-album out?” and she had no idea, I didn’t know either until I randomly looked her up on iTunes one day. I just listened to “Another Dumb Blonde” Compared to some of the music on her most recent work, and it’s a total 180. The sound is so mature and beautiful, I highly recommend it.

B*Witched, I never realized how sketchy “C’est La Vie” was, I was young and thought “Ooh, catchy music” I remember my friend had the casette of first album B*Witched I was so jealous and thought she was the luckiest girl ever. Eventually my sister got the CD, and needless to say, I still have it, haha, I’m sure she doesn’t even notice with such an reliance on her iPod, not that I’m one to talk, the only reason why I even notice if I’m missing something is if my computer deletes it AND my iPod deletes and then it’s like where’s the CD? Or in some cases it’s where the heck did I get that song? Because I distinctly remember not ever having the CD. Anyway, I digress, I remember them, the adorable Irish girl band, I loved “C’est La Vie” and maybe it’s all that Children’s Lit. class that exposed my mind to the true nature of some of the children stories. I will never look at Little Red Riding Hood the same way again. “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours” “Let the fun begin hey/I’m the wolf today/I’ll huff I’ll puff/ I’ll huff I’ll Puff I’ll blow you away” “Do you play with the girls? Play with the boys?/Do you ever get lonley playing with your toys” Maybe it is High School, but I can’t help but shake the feeling that there were some underlying-um, elements? It’s not exactly a subtle thing.

Spice Girls, Spice Girls, Spice Girls. My oh, My, where on earth do I begin? I never realized how trashy they dressed, I knew that I didn’t like how Gerry dressed, but I don’t think I really understood why, I think I said her dresses where too short and I didn’t like them. I had the Spice Girl barbie dolls, I had Sporty Spice, Posh Spice, and Scary Spice, my friend had Geri & Baby so it worked out really well, since when we got together we were able to play the Spice Girls with the complete set. I remember Sporty was my all-time favorite, she was just the coolest thing to me, I liked the red & black hair she had and I also really liked her nose ring, I thought it was so cool at the time. I remember telling my mom I want one and she was like no way in Hell, well, she said maybe when I was older, but we all know what our parents reactions would be if we came to them in 4th grade asking for a nose piercing. It was a similar response when I asked for red streaks in my hair-it still is actually. I’m only allowed to do highlights, I remember wanted to bleach my hair a few years ago and I’m glad I wasn’t allowed to. Anyway, I bought their “Greatest Hits” -well, my mom did actually, it was for Christmas one year and it had recently come out and I was such a huge fan my mom knew and remembered. Of course it was “Only Buy at Victoria’s Secret” at least at the moment, I’m sure after a couple of weeks you could buy it elsewhere. But I really hated that store, now it’s just like a mosquito, I’d rather not bother with it. So she had gone into the store and gotten it for me. I didn’t like one of the new songs “Headlines” and guess who else said the song was terrible and didn’t even wanted it released? Mel. C. yeah, that’s right Sporty Spice! Holla. Okay, I totally did not just say that. I liked some of Melanie C.’s solo work such as “Northern Star” and “Never Be the Same Again” and “I Turn to You” May I just take a moment to say Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes of TLC helped Mel C. to co-write and Rap for “Never Be The Same Again”. Anyway, I remember giving my Posh doll a hair cut, is that even possible? There was like no hair on her to begin with, most of it was glued to her head, but the funny thing about being young and reckless is… there is always a way to give a hair cut to anyone and anything regardless of the lack of hair. I remember one day I took out Mel C.’s nose ring and lost it, it was a tragic day. So many memories regarding this group. I could go on even last year, around the beginning of the year when there was still snow on the ground there was a sleep over at my house. We blasted Spice Girls and everyone except two girls sang along, and for one it was because her mom never let her listen to the Spice Girls and the other girl? She didn’t speak English well at all, let alone sing it, they’re both awesome though.

PLAY- “I must not chase the boys” I love the music video for it, it’s so amazing. You need to see it, I love it. The make up, the costumes, the setting, how it’s played out-everything. I enjoy PLAY, not too much, but enough, if anything though, I can’t remember them, the name just doesn’t stick out. They were a Swedish band and they kind of remind me of this new band I’ve seen commercials for “Creamy.dk” (only called that in America, I think it’s just “Creamy” outside of America) I miss them a little bit,, I hope they come back, it would be nice. I liked the vocals and songs enough, they had so much more oomph than Dream. Both of the bands seemed to have similar looks, that being the average teenager, but in the music videos PLAY would change and the songs just had this piece of rhythm and it sounded more passionate than Dream, which really isn’t saying much. When Dream sings it reminds me of someone tiptoeing in a room trying not to wake people, it was as if they were so careful to have good vocals they ended up sounding like they were trying. and maybe they were trying, but the fact is, if you’re a star, it doesn’t matter how hard you’re trying, you can’t let other people know that, you have to make everyone else think that you’re just naturally amazing. PLAY seems to do this far better than Dream. Like in PLAY’s Us Against the World music video, they look like normal girls, but they go on with these (cheesy) super hero look, like they’re karate masters or something, but it was a really entertaining song, especially for that age when the word ‘rebel’ starts popping up in your head. I also really liked their song “Cinderella” I thought it was a good message and a great song I thought. “I don’t wanna be like Cinderella, sittin’ in a dark old dusty cellar” “Don’t want to depend on no one else, I’d rather rescue myself” I like the lyrics, just because there are too many songs that have the girl dictate her life around boys, be it, angry because of betrayal, wanting a boys attention, hoping for their prince charming to come one day, etc. So for a girl to say I don’t need you it a powerful statement, I don’t think Spice Girls (the Girl Power group) had that kind of say, it was “If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends” it was saying that he, whoever he may be, has to get along with her friends. Nothing like a I don’t need you, it was simply higher standards, which really are needed nowadays. People put up with so much crap on both ends, overly high maintenance girls and boys who are just too manly, in the sense of being rude and gross, you can’t have extremes people, find a nice medium.

Have I told you I’m the worst when it comes to nostalgia?