As Melissa noted earlier today, we're all about this Mark De Clive-Lowe remix of Watley's Midnight Lounge. The rest of The Makeover is pretty great as well. It features remixes and re-imaginings of some Watley classics and some of her favorite songs (she does a particularly interesting rendition of Madonna's Borderline).
This one, however, is of special interest to me:
First of all, y'all know how I love 4Hero. Watley says of 4Hero (The Makeover Liner Notes):
I discovered the music of 4Hero in 1998 - the record was "Two Pages". I was at a apoint in my career where I really felt like giving up. I'd had a huge disappointment with a brief sting at Atlantic Records...I was soured on the music business. When I heard "Two Pages," I was blown away. It reminded me about why I was an artist and what music should be about. My thoughts were - WOW, there are people making music LIKE THIS! This is where I want to be. Being a pop star is one thing - to be an artist is another. It was a dream come true when they asked me to collaborate on this piece. I'm so proud of this song. I kept looking for that one last piece - this was it! The spoken word takes me back to Junior High - Nikki Giovanni was a childhood heroine. This song feels like a defining moment each time I listen to it.
If I was a good music voxer, I would post "Two Pages" but instead I'll post the two songs that "A Bed of Roses" immediately reminded me of.