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First Congregational
United Church of Christ
a real stereo store
for real music lovers
You go, girl
Two strong women
put out new CDs
by
L ynn T hom as
S
ONiA of Disappear Fear has
another hit on her hands.
... because music matters.
1126 SW PARK AVENUE
228-7219
Portland
Lesbian Choir
Guest Choir
2627 N.E. Broadw ay/Portland/ 280-0910
www.stereotypesaudio.com
Winter's Here!!
Is your nest ready^
January 21, 2001
10:25 a.m. Sunday Service
Celebrating the church’s
9th Anniversary
Open and Affirming
An open, affirming church where everyone
is welcome — including .straight, lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgender people.
Portland
503.335.0758
1916 NE Broadway
10-7:30 Mon-Sat 6t 12-5 sun
Beaverton
503.626.0400
12300 NE Broadway
10-6:00 Mon-Sat & 12-5 sun
www.cotton-cloud.com
I TAlIAN
STYl I
I TAl I AN I O D D
l U N C H • D I N N E R • l ATI
N Kill T
Her latest CD, Me, Too, is
a great combination of style
and substance. She maintains her
political edge and still manages
the poignancy without losing the
passion.
The title song, “Me, Too,”
encompasses this concept beautiful
ly. When she falls in love with the
girl next door and sits down to teil
her father, a Vietnam vet, “He says,
everybody has a war...its not about
oil and it’s not about guns, it’s not
about rainbows it’s about daughters
and sons.” These lyrics ring true, as
does most of her work.
One of my favorites is a quirky
little tune called “Bumblebee.” It’s
about a relationship that just
shouldn’t work, like a bumblebee
whose IxxJy is just too heavy for its
wings to hold up. It defies science
every time it flies.
She’s got a bit of a zydeco
thing happening with “My
Baby,” which is a rousing,
feel-good kind of song that
rocks and makes you just
want to get up and dance.
O f course, SONiA man
ages to take you on the road
to ruin as well. The songs
“She Lied” and “Postcard
from Texas” will tug at the
heart of anyone who ever
has loved and lost.
But then, she picks you
up and dusts you off with
“Good Morning, This Is God,” a song that is
receiving a lot of airplay these days. This one
celebrates just learning to appreciate living.
She grabs you again with the Latin rhythms
and dance fire of “Shake It,” and once more
you forget why you were ever sad in the first
place. I highly recommend this CD.
SO NiA is a native of Baltimore, where she
produced this opus, the latest of her seven
CDs. As with her previous work, she wrote
almost all the music and lyrics.
During the past several years she has been
touring throughout the world, including per
forming at the Gay Games in Amsterdam as
well as many queer festivals and a recent
tour of Australia. Her benefit concerts and
human rights-oriented political events are
too numerous to name, but she is a woman
who puts her money where her mouth is. For
instance, $1 from every concert ticket is
donated to the U .S. Holocaust Museum in
Washington, D.C.
You can buy Me, Too, at your favorite
online or bricks and mortar music store. It’s
also available from www.soniadf.com.
R
& B fans from the
’70s will remember
Millie Jackson.
She’s the irreverent
mistress of campy
music who has been
described as “Gladys
Knight’s nastier little
sister."
Her distinctive style—dubbed “bedroom
rap”— created a cult follow
ing. The newly released
CD Sex and Soul is a com
pilation of some of her
saltiest and sexiest hits,
including an 11-minute
version of “If Loving You Is
Wrong, I Don’t Want to Be
Right” from her gold album
Caught Up.
Ms. Jackson says she
developed her patented rap
style because she thought she couldn’t sing.
Because she never had vocal training, she felt
more comfortable talking than singing. So she
started to banter with the audience, and they
loved it.
Never one to mince words, Jackson has
been telling it like it is for some 30 years now.
She never hesitated to say what was on her
mind and consequently ended up saying lots of
things that managed to get her banned from
many radio stations.
It’s almost ironic when you hear her music.
She was just a strong woman ahead of her
time— not necessarily a feminist politically, but
Jackson knew what she wanted and knew how
to ask for it. She is the stuff that legends are
made of.
Most of the music on this C D is about
sex. Titles like “If That Don’t Turn You O n,”
“G o Out and Get Some (Get It Out’cha
System)” and “Never Change Lovers in the
Middle of the Night” are classics that need
no explanation.
It’s Jackson’s unabashed rap in the midst of
these classics that gets your attention. Her style
isn’t what currently would be called rap but is
more a bit of storytelling in the middle of a
song rather than the essence of the song itself.
She calls it her “sense of humor.” According
to the liner notes, “The rap became an end in
itself, and Millie became a disco age Moms
Mabley in spandex.”
This C D is a companion piece to another
Jackson release called Between the Sheets.
Both of them are available at
www. buddharecords .com.
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