The Coulda-Shoulda-Woulda Files: Lisa Lisa Reaches For A Star

Time for another installment of the Coulda-Shoulda-Woulda Files, where we raid our cassingle collection in search of a lost gem.

Artist: Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam Album: “Little Jackie Wants To Be A Star,” 1989 What happened: In the mid-’80s, Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam couldn’t stop pumping out the hits: “All Cried Out,” “Head To Toe,” and “Lost In Emotion” all went top 10 from 1986-87, and the group’s first two albums, Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam With Full Force and Spanish Fly, were certified platinum. Straight To The Sky, the follow-up album to Spanish Fly, came out in 1989, and “Jackie,” its lead single, peaked at No. 29 on the Billboard charts. Why it should have been a hit “Jackie” is a shift from the beat-heavy tracks that Lisa Lisa took to the top–with its breezy beat and gently strummed acoustic guitars, it brings to mind Beyonce’s monster hit “Irreplaceable.” Sure, its teenage-runaway lyrics make the mood a little bit heavier, but it wasn’t like that theme wasn’t common among pop songs of the time. (You remember Poison’s “Fallen Angel,” don’t you?) “Jackie” should have been coming out of car windows for the entire summer, warnings about five-dollar highs and all.

Lisa Lisa – Little Jackie Wants To Be A Star [MP3, link expired] Lisa Lisa [MySpace]