In 1987 Bernadette Cooper began conceptualizing a new girl group, one that was a bit more musically eclectic, fashion forward and soulfully sophisticated. Madame X would be both the group’s name and the title of their debut album.


“Madame X was a conception of mine and I mentioned it to my attorney Ron Sweeney,” Cooper says. “He mentioned it to Sylvia Rhone and she signed the concept to Atlantic Records before I found the girls. With a deal in place, I began searching and auditioning girls.” Eventually she discovered a trio of talented singers (Alisa Randolph, Iris Parker and Valerie Victor) at various locales throughout the Los Angeles. Iris worked at a clothing store that Cooper frequented, Valerie was found in Popeye’s buying chicken dinner and Alisa was the last chosen from an audition at the Solar Building.


Cooper, with a little help from her friends engineer Gerry Brown, musicians/arrangers Cornelius Mims and Mike Hightower, keyboardist Amp Fiddler and singer Teena Marie, created a stunning musical foundation for the vocalists to build upon. “Gerry and I crafted that project like it was the Mona Lisa,” Cooper says. “I would bounce most of my ideas him and he was brutally honest with me. I wasn’t searching for a hit, I just wanted the project to be pure. I let the girls do all of their own vocals and the result was the creation of a new sound and group.”


Recording the majority of the project out of Studio Masters, an LA spot where many Solar artists worked, she and Gerry began their process. “Madame X was a labor of love for both of us,” Brown says. “Bern is funky as hell, and the way she dealt with the musicians, they knew they had to bring it. Bern knows what she’s doing and she doesn’t sacrifice her soul. At all times, she is her own person.” With Bernadette having blossomed as a producer, there was an aural adventurism to the music of Madame X that pushed beyond the formula of the usual ‘80s R&B fare.

http://www.soulhead.com/2014/10/07/slept-soulmadame-x-madame-x-michael-gonzales-gonzomike

We covered by the Blood which never loose it's power



http://soundcloud.com/rayandersonjr

That record jams from beginning to end!!

Eclectic Soul/Sunday, 2-4 PM est/89.3 WCSB.ORG

>Cooper, with a little help from her friends engineer Gerry
>Brown, musicians/arrangers Cornelius Mims and Mike Hightower,
>keyboardist Amp Fiddler and singer Teena Marie, created a
>stunning musical foundation for the vocalists to build upon.
>“Gerry and I crafted that project like it was the Mona
>Lisa,” Cooper says. “I would bounce most of my ideas him
>and he was brutally honest with me. I wasn’t searching for a
>hit, I just wanted the project to be pure. I let the girls do
>all of their own vocals and the result was the creation of a
>new sound and group.”

he was the original bassist for the band Tease, which many can say were one of the first "children of The Time"

what I didn't know is that Teena Marie was involved

I know she was on Bern's solo and Bern was on Ivory
I have to look at the liners or give it a listen for the lady t-isms
I always got the female time of 1987 vibe from that record as well.
I knew the musicians on that record were from that mpls school.

Eclectic Soul/Sunday, 2-4 PM est/89.3 WCSB.ORG

V.

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