Throwback Thursday - Corina - Temptation

Is it just me, or do stores have some weird-ass, time machine Spotify hooked up to their sound systems that just root out, obscure but awesome songs that have been relegated to the fringes of my mind?  At Kroget today, i was treated to this blast from the past:

Hellz yeah!

Throwback Thursday - RIP Loleatta Holloway 1946-2011

Damn, lot of deaths lately! I CANNOT believe this hasn't been more widely reported! Soul diva/gay icon Loleatta Holloway passed away last week and the ONLY report of it I saw was in Entertainment Weekly!
This powerhouse vocalist had a string of hits including "Vertigo/Relight My Fire" with Dan Hartman, but will forever be best remembered for her disco anthem "Love Sensation!"


That fro is off the hook! "Love Sensation" was a number one dance hit in 1980 as disco waned. But that shizz was so good, it came right back! In 1989, Black Box sampled STOLE it and re-released it as "Ride On Time" lipsynched in the video and onstage by Katrin Quinole. Oh PS, Loleatta is singing "Right on time," those silly Itallians just didn't understand her, which is why their version is entitled "Ride On Time!"


"Ride On Time" bad spelling, lipsynching and all, was the #1 selling single in the UK in 1989! In the US, it was released as "Black Box featuring Loleatta Holloway" which is better than poor Martha Wash got, when she provided the vocals to ALL of their other songs!
But wait! There's more! "Love Sensation" was sampled a second time in 1991 as the hook to gay pin up Marky Mark's "Good Vibrations!"



Unlike Black Box, Marky Mark had the decency to showcase Mz. Holloway in both the music video and in live performances! (I thought Marky Mark was THE. HOTTEST. GUY. EVER. Now I can't stand him. Weird.) The song was a #1 smash and Holloway's only pop #1 in the US.

And finally, the original track, "Love Sensation" was remixed by The Freemasons in 2006 and this new club version became a hit all over again!


Strangely, although the track is credited to Loleatta, the video shows some skinny tramp lipsynching her lines. Shades of Black Box!

She also redid her former hit "Relight My Fire" first with Take That and then with Ricky Martin.

Rest in peace, DIVA!!!

Throwback Thursday/My Favorite Songs EVER!!! - Jomanda "Got A Love For You"

Yeah, that's right THREE in one day! This song just randomly popped into my head today and it's been a while since I've posted a MFSE!!! so why not throw it out there today?
Damn, I love house music! Especially early 90s stuff and this was a great one! It hit #1 on the Dance charts and #40 on the Pop chart. Honestly, I was never sure if Jomanda was a woman or group. Turns out, they were a group. They had another Dance #1 when Felix sampled their song "Don't You Want My Love" for his (?) single "Don't You Want Me." Their song "Make My Body Rock" (Dance #6) appeared in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Dance! Online. They released more singles and some of them charted on the Dance charts, but "Got A Love For You" remains their biggest achievement. Sadly, singer Joanne Thomas died in 2003 after a long battle with colon cancer.


Jomanda - Got A Love For You 1991 by KingOfTheFunk

Throwback Thursday - Justice League Unlimited: The Toy Line

At New York's annual Toy Fair a few weeks ago, Mattel announced that after eight years, the Justice League Unlimited toy line was ending. THANK GOD! I felt like I was finally being unchained from an enormous rock! As much as I loved the cartoon and enjoyed having toy versions of the HUGE cast, including a number of characters that have never been made as action figures before (or since), it was also one of the most frustrating lines I've ever gotten myself mixed up with. For starters, the first wave only included Superman, Batman, Flash and Green Lantern. At least Martian Manhunter and Wonder Woman were scheduled for release in the second wave, but poor Hawkgirl wasn't set to be included AT ALL! Mattel, there are only SEVEN characters and you can't bother to include them all?! After fan outcry, Hawkgirl was added to the line's fourth wave, after most of the male characters had been re-issued two or three times!

The first figures featured very limited movement, with only shoulder, hip and neck joints. (The girls, because of their long locks, didn't even have neck joints.)

Later on, Mattel added knee joints, twisting waists and even resculpted a couple of them like The Flash, to make the figure sturdy enough for snap on accessories. (I prefer the original skinny Flash, as it more closely resembles the way he actually appears on the show.

Wonder Woman, while not given knee joints, did receive a twisting waist and her face was tweaked, making it rounder and given a more pronounced smile (see right). (The first one, to the left, appears more stoic.)

The same figures were repainted in various color schemes and given a plethora of different accessories and re-released over and over.

Guest stars Aquaman and Dr. Fate were also added to the line as well as villains Darkseid, The Ultra-Humanite and Lex Luthor.

When the show was rebranded as Justice League Unlimited, the team's roster was expanded to include dozens of additional character. The toy line followed suit and began issuing figures of many of these characters.

But in an infuriating move, in order to GET these new unique characters, you had to buy them in three-packs with re-releases of existing figures. I collected all the duplicate Supermen, Batmen, GLs, etc and handed them out at Halloween. It was especially annoying when you only got ONE new figure and two old ones! GAH!!! Occasionally, you'd get a pack with two new characters and only one old one, which was okay. RARELY, you'd get a three pack with THREE new characters. It happened, but not very often.
A common cost-cutting measure used by toy companies is the use of "bucks." Basically, they only make a few unique bodies and just paint them differently to turn them into various characters. Black Canary's body was reused as Zatanna's, since they both wear jackets. The hand-on-the hip thing makes sense, because when you raise that hand up, it cups the side of BC's mouth, to indicate she is using her "Canary Cry" power. I GUESS it works for Zatanna, the magician, who speaks mystical incantations... that's what I'm going with, anyway.
Occasionally, a character requires new sculpting, which costs more money, but companies do it to faithfully recreate the character. Usually if this was the case, as with Vigilante and Steel, they were issued individually as single-carded figures. This was fine. I certainly don't mind buying them individually. In fact, I PREFER it! But oddly, Mattel would also ship re-issues as single-carded figures, so case assortments included some all-new figures and some repeats! Which of course, NO ONE bought! So these reissues would linger on pegs and stores wouldn't reorder the newer assortments because they still had old stagnant product hanging around not selling.

Don't get me wrong, at times, Mattel clearly had fans in mind. They DID issue a ridiculous number of characters and as I said, many had NEVER been made as action figures before in any line.













After the cartoon series ended, the toy line continued on as a Target exclusive and whereas in the past the line was aimed at both adult collectors and children, the focus was shifted to almost entirely to adults. Also, the line expanded to include characters that weren't on the show.

They switched from insane repaints like this Wonder Woman to ones that paid homage to DC's history, like this Batman painted in the color scheme in which he appeared for decades, from the late 60s until the mid 90s.

They also made toys based on specific fan favorite episodes, for example "Wonder Pig" from the episode in which Wonder Woman was changed into... yep, a pig by the sorceress Circe.

But the repeats continued. Audaciously, they issued a three pack last fall with Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman... three characters that collectors had bought over twenty times each!

On the show, Hawkgirl had abandoned her code name and costume and fans clamored for a toy that reflected this change. A three pack with this updated Hawkgirl (or rather Shayera Hol, her real name) as well as never-before-produced The Ray was announced and appeared on the backs of the toy line's packaging. But it didn't arrive... and didn't arrive... and didn't arrive... until finally over a year later, Mattel announced they would release this set as a ComiCon exclusive, meaning that the majority of fans were SOL or would have to vastly over-pay to get the set off eBay. (That's what I did!)

Like I said, they issued a number of characters that hadn't appeared on the show, including the above Super Friends-inspired three pack (one of those rare, all-original three packs, I mentioned) and upcoming releases of Firestorm and Blue Beetle.
Following the runaway success of it's online only Masters of the Universe Classics line, Mattel attempted to create online only additions to most of its other lines, including JLU. Unfortunately, sales were sluggish. I blame character selection. The first set featured four Batman villains, Scarecrow (mostly sculpted from scratch), Harley Quinn, Clock King and Bane. Sadly, these were some drab figures. Scarecrow is mostly gray. Bane is in black and Clock King is just some dude in a suit. At least there was Harley Quinn. But for the most part, these four characters made only minor appearances on the show.

This set sold sluggishly. Following it were four of the Legion of Super Heroes, a Shazam set (with only one character, Captain Marvel, that actually appeared on the show) and the Doom Patrol, who never appeared on it. All of these sets sold out... eventually, but compared to the Masters of the Universe Classics toys which sell out in minutes, they were a disappointment and Mattel discontinued these online offerings. The final set were members of the Justice Guild of America, who appeared in a fan-favorite episode from Season One.
The unveiled final releases from Toy Fair include a number of big name characters that have, surprisingly not been made already, including massive world-conqueror Mongul, immortal mastermind Vandal Savage and a second "futuristic" set featuring the Justice League from the Batman Beyond time, Static, Aquagirl and Micron.
Mattel WILL offer one additional online exclusive, S.T.R.I.P.E., the step-father of the already released Stargirl. (Their defunct comic was entitled Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E.) S.T.R.I.P.E. is an entirely new sculpt, requiring this type of release.
Also announced but not unveiled was a final boxed set that will allegedly complete the on-air team lineup. If so, this set should include Gypsy (above, far right) the only member of the Detroit-era Justice League yet un-produced. The other characters who appeared onscreen but have yet to be made are Crimson Avenger (an easy one to make, using The Question's suit-wearing body), The Creeper, Dr. Mid-Nite, Johnny Thunder and his Thunderbolt and possibly Speedy, a Teen Titans character who made an appearance in an episode which featured all of the characters that had, in the comics, been part of the Seven Soldiers of Victory.

There are a few other "gaps." The Shazam online set included the wizard Shazam, Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel and Black Adam, omitting the third member of the Marvel Family, Captain Marvel Jr. Likewise, the Justice Guild set doesn't include Catman. The futuristic Justice League from Batman Beyond still doesn't include Big Barda or Green Lantern. (The modern-day Big Barda is part of the line, however... but she uses the regular female body, so she isn't as BIG as she should be.) I doubt there's ANY chance of the rest of the Legion of Super Heroes popping up, but I could see a companion "finish up" set for the Legion of Doom. The last figures unveiled included Heatwave, Angle Man and (most notably) Killer Frost. There are still a handful that COULD be used, though.I guess ultimately, this line felt like a chore to collect. The distribution was terrible. I STILL don't get Target's toy stocking strategy. All I know is no store gets every single wave of every single toy line. I think it has to do with what I said before about lingering stock. If there are unsold quantities on-hand, they don't send more, even if it's just one or two figures still unsold. I probably had to eBay like... I dunno at least 35% and probably more of this line. Plus with the damn ComiCon exclusives, I probably paid like $40 for those. But, for the most part, I NEEDED them all. I mean, yeah, there are characters I think that DESERVE a figure in this line, whereas SO many of the ones that HAVE been produced never even had speaking parts!
Buuuuuut yeah, this line has been a pain to collect, but I AM pleased that there will be an attempt to complete at least the Justice League. Seriously, not having Gypsy drove me crazy! I can only hope for the others I mentioned. (Seriously, Catman! Make that happen!) Hope this pans out!

Throwback Thursday - Seduction

Does anyone remember RuPaul's long-running talk show on VH1? Well, I was watching the new season of Drag Race and her sidekick from the talk show, Michelle Visage, is now a regular judge. Michelle Visage?! That brought back some memories!
Michelle was the blonde girl in trio Seduction in the 80s. There was a rash of female trios back then, doing freestyle music, most famously Expose'. (I'll have to do a blog about them at some point... drama!) Seduction had three big hits, "Heartbeat," "You're My One And Only (True Love)" and "It Takes Two" produced by hit-makers David Cole and Robert Cliviles, who later went on to greater success as C+C Music Factory.
Originally, there was no actual musical group Seduction! It was just a name Cliviles and Cole used and featured random vocalists. "You're My One And Only" was sung by Martha Wash. You remember her, right? When it became a hit, C+C had to scramble to assemble an actual group to sing/promote it!
In addition to Michelle Visage, they hired April Harris and most notably, Idalis DeLeon, who would be the first member to leave the group, only to go on to greater success as an MTV VJ and actress. Oddly, the least visible of the group, April Harris owns the rights to the name Seduction and has formed a newer version with two other singers.

So yeah... it was just one of those blast-from-the-past moments!

You're My One And Only (True Love)


Heartbeat


It Takes Two

Jody Watley

I included one of her videos in a prior Throwback and I intended to do a Throwback yesterday but I... ended up playing WoW for like five hours straight. Don't judge me. Anyway, Jody Watley first gained attention as a regular dancer on Soul Train. She then embarked ona music career as a member of Shalimar, mostly remembered for their hit "Dancing In The Sheets" from the Footloose soundtrack. And then, Jody went solo and scored a string of excellent, funky, R&B dance tunes.
Her supermodel looks and dancing ability helped make her videos huge hits on MTV and she won the Grammy for Best New Artist and continued to score hits on two follow up albums. Sadly, as is the case with most artists of that time, the hits eventually dried up as musical tastes changed.
This is her today, still looking amazing! She continues making music today and in recent years released a covers album and The Make Over an album of new material mixed with modernized versions of some of her classic hits. Enjoy!

Looking For A New Love:


Don't You Want Me:


Some Kind Of Lover:


Everything:


Real Love:


Friends (ft. Eric B and Rakim):


I Want You:


I'm The One You Need:


Borderline:

Throw-Ahead Thursday

I spent all of last week looking backward, so today, I'm going to look ahead to some things I am looking forward to in the coming year. In no particular order...

Potential new growth in digital comics

I think eventually books will be the new CDs, i.e. I will look at them as clutter and junk and wonder why I have them lying around taking up valuable space that could be occupied by delightful fashion dolls and action figures. Just last week, I could not have cared less about digital comics, but... then I got an iPad. There are Marvel and DC aps, but you still have to buy the individual comics and they're all old and I think they're just random issues. There may not even be complete stories! I mean, I will still gladly pay full price for them, but to be able to d.l. them, read them and NOT have them junking up my house?! Perfect! But the publishers need to get on the ball and crank up their offerings, because I already have the collected Ultimate Spider-Man. I don't need to buy them issue by issue for $2 a pop!

DC Universe Online

Why READ a comic when you can LIVE one?! I was playing City of Heroes, which I enjoyed although it got repetitious. Then I saw the kick ballz trailer for DC Universe Online:

OH DAY-UM!!! That looks INCREDIBLE!!! In the game, you create your own character, hero or villain, and team up with and battle the characters of the DCU. You can go completely original or base your character on one of the existing heroes/villains. It was supposed to be out now, but got pushed back. At any rate, when it comes out... I may take a week off work. Just sayin'.

Thor and Captain America on the Big Screen... Shirtless
Green Lantern on the Big Screen... PERIOD!
This better not suck!

DC Universe Classics Wave 18 (Rumored)

Wave 18 of my favorite toy line is rumored to be a Super Friends themed assortment, including Black Vulcan, El Dorado, the jester-style Toyman from the Legion of Doom and Bizarro with a collect + connect Apache Chief!

That completes the Legion of Doom for this series and almost completes the Super Friends, with a few minor exceptions... and one MAJOR exception, Samurai. This is especially puzzling since Samurai was in the 80s Super Powers toy line and this past year, they highlighted the SP line by integrating almost all of the characters that were part of that series into DCUC. Rumor has it, Samurai will be included in a 5-pack along with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Lex Luthor. Like I needed more versions of THEM! Oh well, I'm a lock on getting ALL of them! (Wave 19 featuring all Justice Society members is also pretty much a sure bet for me!)

With all the excitement over DC video games, movies and toys, what about the comics? Welllllll....

The Continuing Adventures of Aquaman and Family

With Mera's rise in prominence in last year's Blackest Night and this year's Brightest Day and the addition of a brand new Aqualad, both in the comics and in the new Young Justice cartoon series, things are positively BOOMING for DC's King of the Seas! Diggin' it big time!

But... as for the rest of DC Comics... Sigh...
I'm looking forward to them getting their shit together. Get Superman back in the skies. Get Wonder Woman out of that stupid costume...

Get BOTH of them, along with Bruce Wayne, Green Lantern and The Flash back in the Justice League (at the very least!)... just... GET IT TOGETHER, DC! It appears they are shifting their focus to other media, but don't forget the foundation this house was built on... the comics! Time to get back on track!

Let's see what 2011 has in store!

Throwback Thursday - Recent Holiday Faves Edition

I'm really too tired to do this and it's fairly late, so I'm just going to show two (kinda) recent holiday videos that I really dig.

First, the Charlie Brown "Hey Ya" video:


God, "Hey Ya" STILL rules! And I used to watch this over and over and just cry with laughter!

And this one was from last year, the Lady Gaga Christmas album:


I seriously want full-length versions of each of those songs! HILARIOUS! But maybe not AS hilarious as Lady Gaga's REAL Christmas song! I'm not kidding!

Throwback Thursday - Janet.

Tee sent me this link. A Janet Jackson Barbie doll?! Exquisite! Real eyelashes! And it really looks like her! Except... well, it looks like her NOW. Don't get me wrong, she still looks phenomenal and the short hair is super chic, but... I mean, doesn't she have a billion more iconic looks that they could have based this doll on? Yes. Yes, she does.

Exhibit A:

Couple thoughts:
1. I don't care what anyone says, Chunky Janet is ADORABLE!
2. I wish this weren't so house-y.
3. The male love interest in Es-Ca-Pade? Now a woman.
4. Did anyone else spend HOURS trying to learn the Rhythm Nation dance only to completely FAIL?!
5. "If" is the THE. BEST. VIDEO. EVZ.

But wait! There's more! Exhibit B:

1. How old was Gurlfriend when she did "All For You?" Because look at those biceps and abs?! She's in better shape in that video than The Situation NOW!
2. The "So Excited" video just reminded me that I need a urinal installed in this house. I mean, how convenient is the urinal?! It uses way less water than a toilet! I'm just being green!

Wait a sec?! No "That's The Way Love Goes?!" Awwww HELL naw!


Man... I love a megamix!

Throwback Thursday 11-18-10 Age of Spider-Woman

So I was browsing for some Christmas presents or at least ideas for presents, and I wound up purchasing two things off eBay.

Spider-Woman Mad Libs! (For me.) And...
This cute Spider-Woman iron-on patch! (For me.) Okay, FAIL!

I think Spider-Woman is my favorite underdog in comics. Aquaman may be seen by many as an underdog (well, underdogfish!) but I think he has a huge number of fans. Spider-Woman, not so much and it's no small wonder. She's really never been handled well. I hate her current comic. She always had so much potential! She was the most licensed female Marvel hero during the late 70s-early 80s, but her book was so... I don't want to say the book was bad per se, but it was kind of inaccessible. She lived in San Francisco, whereas the bulk of the rest of the Marvel heroes lived in NYC and her stories had an atmospheric, supernatural vibe. I think she'd have been more successful if they'd just let her be a normal super heroine! I mean, look how cool and happy she looks in the pic above! Her books never had that feeling.
I was strong and held off on buying these rawk sunglasses. But... I mean, I'll probably buy them tomorrow. I tried looking up vintage Spider-Woman collectibles (which I know are plentiful), but was foiled by the fact that a company called Sideshow Collectibles has produced some recent Spider-Woman merch, so that's what came up in my Google. I know of a couple of blogs devoted to Spider-Man and Marvel vintage merchandising, but they don't use tabs, so I'd have to scroll through the entire thing to find any Spider-Woman items they featured. But anyway, here is a sampling of some items I found.

Another iron-on patch!

Trix Cereal premium sticker!

Button! (En Espanol!)

Rub-A-Tattoo (whatever that is)! (With Gum!)Activity Book! (I LOVE these! And coloring books! This one has Rebuses!)Underoos!

Thermal Underoos! (Did not knows those existed!)

Halloween costume! (Too bad she and Dazzler didn't warrant an appearance on the box! Oh yeah. There was a DAZZLER!)