80's Freesytle--any fans here?

[smark21]

Over in the Motown Forum in the New Jack thread someone mentioned freestyle music. I loved it and still do. Very fun latin dance electro pop music that was especially popular in NYC and Miami. Here's Freestyle's top girl group Expose doing Point of No Return on Showtime at the Apollo. Looks like the crowd is loving this performance.

[jillfoster]

You can bet your sweet ass I like me some freestyle! The latin flair gave something that couldv'e been antiseptic a nice, organic groove and a certain amount of soul. I saw quite a few concerts back in the day.. Linear, Sweet Sensation, Seduction, Lisa Lisa.



And I MISSED seeing George Lamond AND Martha Wash together because I got into a damn bar brawl before they could take the stage. I was so pissed that night you wouldn't believe!

[jillfoster]

And Lisa Lisa of course is what you imagine Paula Abdul might have been like if she could actually SING:

[splanky]

Can' say I was a big fan of 80's freestyle, I was still into Funk in the 80's but the arrival of Lisa Lisa on the scene
impressed me big time. I posted one of her ballads in the Off Stage thread Jai started a couple of weeks ago.
Anyway, honey could definitely sing and she certainly was nice to look at too. When she sang "I could feel my heartbeat
through my blouse" I got...goosebumps...

[nomis]

for me its hard to define freestyle..its certainly a topic that never comes up when I talk to other djs,,as a huge fan of 80s music I want to learn more about the genre and discover what I actually own that is considered freestyle..to me when I think of Expose or Lisa Lisa I think of Rick Dees..that man Rick taught me so much..someone fill in the gaps for me on the ultimate freestyle records..Daddyacey where are you ? Is Blackbox considered freestlye or was the genre over by then ? somebody help this brother out...

[blueskies]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF4Sl36VZlQ

Really liked Free Style back in the day.

[stephanie]

I dont know what Freestyle is but if Blackbox and the Art of Noise - Close to the Edit fit into that category I am all for it. I dont know if the Pet Shop boys are included in this category but West end Girls [[if it fits) is one of my all time faves i never get tired of. Expose is so forgotten I liked everything these chicks did I just dont know their names...LOL

[nomis]

Close to the edit is a remarkable piece of music i had a date last night week and played it for him..when I put that track in my set someone will invariably come up and quiz me on it..it had a huge vibe in the Uk thanks to Jools Holland and Paula Yates putting it on the tube tv show..it still sounds unique after all these years and that spoken female voice at the end gives me shivers..west end girls is another track I still play another great moment of UK pop if not freestyle..

[stephanie]

Expose is back!!!! After 15 years I didnt know it.

http://www.exposeonline.net/

Nomis I wish you lived here in MD we would be good friends I can see that now.

[tsull1]

Hmm, I never heard it called "freestyle" before, but I know I like it. I'm a big Lisa Lisa fan and thought her career ended too soon. I love all her hits and she has some great album tracks, too. I also liked Expose and thought they were pretty good. I just considered this funk/pop, but freestyle is a pretty good name for it.

I was going to start a Lisa Lisa thread the other day, and I still might.

[smark21]

for me its hard to define freestyle..its certainly a topic that never comes up when I talk to other djs,,as a huge fan of 80s music I want to learn more about the genre and discover what I actually own that is considered freestyle..to me when I think of Expose or Lisa Lisa I think of Rick Dees..that man Rick taught me so much..someone fill in the gaps for me on the ultimate freestyle records..Daddyacey where are you ? Is Blackbox considered freestlye or was the genre over by then ? somebody help this brother out...

Blackbox wasn't freestyle. Wikipedia has a very good article on Freestyle. Check it out on the link below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freestyle_music

[smark21]

Expose is back!!!! After 15 years I didnt know it.

http://www.exposeonline.net/

Nomis I wish you lived here in MD we would be good friends I can see that now.

Yeah, they reunited 3 years ago and do a number of shows--Gay Pride events, Freestyle shows, and Ladies of the 80's along with the occasional show at a concert venue. They usually perform to a track, but sometimes they have a live band. They still sound pretty good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=or6nn...eature=related

[smark21]

[QUOTE=jillfoster;31190]You can bet your sweet ass I like me some freestyle! The latin flair gave something that couldv'e been antiseptic a nice, organic groove and a certain amount of soul. I saw quite a few concerts back in the day.. Linear, Sweet Sensation, Seduction, Lisa Lisa.

And I MISSED seeing George Lamond AND Martha Wash together because I got into a damn bar brawl before they could take the stage. I was so pissed that night you wouldn't believe!

George LaMond still plays freestyle shows around the NYC area. I've a friend who's seen him and he's still got his voice. Sweet Sensation were a lot of fun as well. Not as good as Expose but they had some strong dance hits including their remake of Love Child by The Supremes.

[blueskies]

Expose is back!!!! After 15 years I didnt know it.

http://www.exposeonline.net/

Nomis I wish you lived here in MD we would be good friends I can see that now.

Expose were/are great and can still sing! This video has the beautiful Kelly Moneymaker [[who replaced Gioia). Kelly fit in perfectly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KP8Np...eature=related

And, can't mention Free Style without mentioning "The Cover Girls".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eomxw...eature=related

[jillfoster]

There were quite a few artists that kind of straddled in between New Jack and Freestyle, as the two genres are pretty close to each other. I have to say the TERM "Freestyle" I never heard back in the day. I only started hearing that term coined in th last 5-7 years, did any of you hear it back then when it was happening?

[smark21]

Here's one of the best of the Freestyle songs: Silent Morning by Noel. This still gets airplay on the dance station in NYC.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVPXYIHYr1M