Fans of 1980s music remember Jody Watley's solo debut in 1987 as a moment when rhythm and blues, dance and top 40 pop collided in her music and high-fashion image.
In fact, the biographical insert included in her latest CD "Jody Watley's Greatest Hits" features a photo shoot reminiscent of Victoria's Secret.
But in her album, Watley is much more than a gorgeous dance diva recapturing previous successes. The album shows just how much she has developed and moved into the '90s and shows she still has a lot of talent to offer the music world.
While featuring classics like "Looking For A New Love" and "Real Love," the album includes trend-setters like "Friends" and the social commentary of "When A Man Loves A Woman."
After starting with Soul Train and Shalamar in the mid-1970s, Watley punched out a dozen R and B singles between 1978 and 1983.
Over a couple of years hiatus in England, Watley detailed exactly what she wanted in a solo career. With the help of MCA's Jheryl Busby, she launched a sophisticated fashion profile and refused to follow the pack of Janet Jackson/Paula Abdul imitators.
In her 1987 #1 Billboard hit, "Looking for a New Love," she combined a sassy groove beat with self-assertion to formulate her version of the modern woman.
The lyrics of the song are, "Gave you love, you did me wrong, I didn't know what to do. But baby, I'm strong, gonna get over you. A new boy I'm gonna choose. ... Now other guys will have me, they'll appreciate my love."
In 1989, her second album, "Larger Than Life," amplified her ability to do more than dance well. It contained her first ballad, "Everything," and the especially innovative "Friends."
Watley sings, "Have you ever been stabbed in the back? ... friends will let you down. Friends won't be around ... Jealousy and envy reign. Never want to see you get ahead, just hold you back."
Along with a contagious melody, a couple interludes dedicated to hardcore rapper Eric B. & Rakim add playfulness to what could be an otherwise depressing message. But Jody never whines -- rather, she brings a shade of realism to her beat.
From her "Affairs Of The Heart" album, "When A Man Loves A Woman" proves dance music need not be superficial or geared towards teenyboppers.
Her lyrics take on serious social issues like the difference between sex and love, AIDS, equal responsibility in relationships and domestic violence.
She wrote that she created the song after "taking a hard look at ... male/female relationships and the fact that so many songs had been referring to women in a derogatory way."
