psycho-billy lounge pop

11 MP3 Songs
POP: Quirky, ROCK: Modern Rock



Details:
Josie Cotton walked away from the music industry at the height of her career. Now sheâs back, with a new band and album: âMovie Disaster Musicâ.
Gaining instant notoriety in the early â80s by way of the infectious and controversial hit âJohnny Are You Queer?â Josie Cotton was âthe next big thingâ according to then-popular TV talk show host Merv Griffin.
Despite the taboo subject matter, the song became ubiquitous on modern rock radio and catapulted itâs singer to stardom.
Elektra Records didnât know how to handle the controversy (how times have changed!) and after a host of missed opportunities and two albums (1982âs âConvertible Musicâ and 1984âs âFrom the Hipâ), Josie turned her back on the corporate music machine.
âI was fed up with the politics and incompetence,â Josie says today. âI knew I should have signed with Jiffy Lube.â
But an artist is an artist and Josie, together with producer Geza X (Black Flag, Dead Kennedys), first created Citylab Studios (âBitchâ/ Meredith Brooks), then Satellite Park Studios (âBasement on the Hillâ/Elliott Smith) and b-girl records (Alaska!, Goldenboy) with David McConnell. She recorded five albums, but turned off by her experiences in the music business, she released only one: 1993âs âFrightened by Nightingales.â
Now comes âMovie Disaster Music.â Years in the making, this labor of love assembles a host of musicians and producers including Paul Roessler (Screamers, Nina Hagen), David McConnell (Elliot Smith, Wilco), Kenny Lyon (Lemonheads, Los Super Elegantes, The Divinyls), Patrick Warren and Michael Lockwood (Amee Mann, Fiona Apple) and Shon Sullivan (The Eels, Elliott Smith, Neil Finn) among others, to explore her songwriting skills in ways her previous releases have only hinted at.
Always a great presence and voice, Josie Cotton has emerged from her self imposed exile, still challenging convention after all these years.