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Yazz
Yasmin Genevive Hiroshma Evans
was born in 1960 in Shepherds Bush as half-Jamaican and immediately joined
a band called Pastiche. She got a job as a DJ and was "physically touched
by evil" on the streets. She also recorded with a group called Biz
(nothing to do with Nicola's Bryant or CITV, alas). Waitressing and
working as a cat-walk model to earn money for studio time, she eventually
secured a deal and a guest spot on choppy experimental Coldcut single "Doctorin'
the House", in no way a sequel to "Doctorin' the TARDIS" which is
something else entirely. It was a hit!
"The Only Way Is Up", this time
billed to Yazz and the Plastic Population (and seemingly influenced by a
sample on "Doctorin' the House" of a song called "Plastic Man"), became
rooted to Number 1 for a billion years. The chart-topping album "Wanted"
soon followed (with a generous eight tracks), and the single "Stand Up For
Your Love Rights" made number 2. It's now forgotten and lost, but it's
quite good. FACT!
It took five years for "One On
One", the official follow-up to "Wanted" to arrive, and by then the boat
had not only sailed, but beached, been re-rigged and turned into a novelty
restaurant with anchors on the walls and little round portholes you could
look out of as you ate your hake. Unsurprisingly, the "One True Woman"
single could only scrape the Top 75 and all that was left for poor Yazz
was a wretched flop duet with Aswad. It's the last bastion of hope for all
scoundrels.
Aswad, yesterday. Never knowingly under-dressed while doing the weekly shop A further album, "Natural Life"
followed in 1997, including a cover of the Jacksons "Never Can Say
Goodbye", but it was only released in Asia. She forgets all about this era
in the biography on her official site, the absent minded monkey.
The "Natural Life" album - HAIR!!
She's been "on a soul searching
journey" for nine years. "My heart was breaking, and I had become deeply
distressed and disillusioned with what I was seeing happening all around
me in the music industry," explains Yazz of the "popular" years, "I had to
make some decisions,.. big decisions. This was the beginning of my search
for healing, wisdom, for truth and for purpose". Well that sorts that out
then.
It's "an expression of my heart’s love and conversations with my Father God Almighty" and "inspired by prayer and scriptures" claims Y. But not on Amazon, tellingly. Pity the Yasmin Evans and her internet-only tunes.
The snappily titled "At Her Very Best And All The Greatest Hits":
It should surely have been called
"Where Have All The Hits Gone". But it has everything on it, in order!
Hurrah! Unfortunately this means a trip to Lost Central around the duet
with Sugar Minott at Track 10. Also I'm not sure we needed another version
of "The Only Way Is Up" to make it up to (yeesh!) 20 tracks. Know when to
stop woman!
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