Downtown/International

As I promised in my previous dispatch, this week was going to be about good vibes. While I thought about chilling at first, I realized that the correct answer was grooving. The next thought was considering artists who bring those types of good vibes. A singular woman popped into my mind: Grace Jones.

I wouldn't be surprised if this is not the first name that would pop into your head, but this week, she'll pop into your mind as well going forward. Thinking about her got me thinking of another groovy lady: Lizzy Mercier Descloux.

I started off wanting to talk about them because they are really cool. I only learned later that their stories overlap in a truly interesting way, with a studio in the Bahamas serving as the inflection point in both of their careers, moving them from novelties to music legends. So, with all that prelude, let's go to New York in the 70s.

As we know, disco was the sound in many of the nightclubs in the city, and the most popular one was Studio 54. Its story has been written time and time again, so I won't rehash it. From that scene emerged Grace Jones, a Jamaican fashion model turned singer whose androgynous appearance and sexually charged performances made her a star in the city. The three albums that she recorded during this time—Portfolio (1977), Fame (1978), and Muse (1979)—are serviceable if not amazing, highlighting some of the plug-and-play elements of the genre. On these albums, there are a number of bewildering song choices like covers of “Send in the Clowns” and “Tomorrow” from A Little Night Music and Annie, respectively. However, there are also a couple of straight bangers on these albums like her cover of “La Vie en Rose,” “I Need A Man,” and “Suffer.” On the whole, one listening to these albums would think Jones is fine, but otherwise interchangeable with any number of emotive singers with slightly more range.

While Jones is turning out these boilerplate disco albums, over in the downtown art scene, there is a French expat named Lizzy Mercier Descloux whose previous band, Rosa Yemen, had broken up. Following this, Descloux took disco and merged it with the noisy, angular music she made in her previous band as well as by the bands around her like The Contortions, Teenage Jesus & The Jerks, and DNA.

The result of this is Press Color, one of the foundational documents of the short-lived No Wave scene. Although it was not a major hit (Was anything from the no wave scene truly a hit?), the album is replete with phenomenal grooves and displays the work of an impressive creative talent. The creeping bass of “Jim on the Move” and the funkiness and angularity of “Wawa” are worth the price of entry. Other standouts include her cover of the Mission: Impossible theme and “Hard-Boiled Babe.” More importantly, it caught the attention of execs at Island Records. This afforded Descloux the opportunity to travel, and this is where Jones and Descloux collide.

Located outside of Nassau in the Bahamas, Compass Point Studios was founded by Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records. Staffed with a band of Jamaican heavy hitters such as Sly & Robbie (who will get a write-up of their own in the future) and Mikey Chung, Compass Point Studios both fostered an amazing musical community (artists such as Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz from the Talking Heads as well as Robert Palmer played in the house band for periods of time) and produced many legendary albums. It is at this studio where both Jones and Descloux would catapult themselves to another level, exceeding what they had done in New York.

Jones recorded three albums of music at Compass Point Studios: Warm Leatherette, Nightclubbing, and Living My Life. With the help of the Compass Point house band, Warm Leatherette starts with Jones covering the seminal song from the Normal. Rather than attempting to maintain the icy, synth-driven minimalism of the original version, Jones and the band give it an island swing. The bass bounces along leisurely as the overdriven guitar replaces the synth stabs of the original. Who would have ever thought that a song about sex and a violent car crash could ever be so funky?

In addition to the delightful title track, Jones covers “Private Life” by the Pretenders, “Love is the Drug” by Roxy Music, and “Breakdown” by Tom Petty (who rewrote one of the verses specifically for Jones). The best of these covers is the Roxy Music one, which scuzzes up the original version a little bit with rougher guitars and synths while keeping its glamorous swagger. The Tom Petty cover, while seemingly out of character, works extremely well.

With Warm Leatherette, it's clear that Jones has found a place where her strong suits—her cool singing voice, her swagger, and her command—are at the forefront. These are only compounded on Nightclubbing. This album is where Grace Jones the icon is created.

Backed by the Compass Point band again, Jones has settled into her voice and style. This is plainly evident on “Pull Up to the Bumper.”

With extremely funky instrumentation, Jones sings what may be one of the horniest tracks in music history (and, yes, I’m thinking about Prince when I say this). Let's be real: we all know this song isn't about cars. How can it be when you have these kinds of lines:

It encapsulates so much of what Grace Jones is about. She's cool and exudes sex appeal. She knows she has it, and deploys it so skillfully. This song is an encapsulation of everything that makes Grace Jones so great.

The rest of the album lives up to the heights of this song. Her covers of “Use Me” and “Nightclubbing” are excellent, highlighting her interpretation skills and the excellent work from the Compass Point band. If you can only listen to one Grace Jones album, make it this one.

Her next album, Living My Life, is very good, but it is lacking in comparison to Nightclubbing. Jones feels a little distant in the production, lacking some of the confidence and swagger present on other releases. While the whole is not quite as strong, “My Jamaican Guy” and “Unlimited Capacity for Love” are still top-level tracks in the discography of Grace Jones, making the album worth a listen.

And it is with this album that Jones ends her Compass Point sessions. From my perspective, this was an excellent run. Any artist should be happy to release multiple albums that have multiple bangers on them. Furthermore, they are three albums from an artist with a clear viewpoint and perspective. Jones knew both her strengths and limitations, and played with both to create a phenomenal musical persona. With these albums, Grace Jones created a legacy for herself at the cutting edge of new wave music.

While Grace Jones was recording Nightclubbing, Lizzy Mercier Descloux was in the next studio over at Compass Point, also reinventing her sound. Instead of completely changing like Jones did, Descloux added African rhythms to her mix of nervy art punk, funk, and film music.

The resulting album, 1981’s Mambo Nassau, is an exciting album. Descloux's style blends well with the African rhythms, and her voice runs through the songs. Rather than sounding academic as these exercises in musical blending sometimes do, Descloux sounds like she's having fun. For example, on “Room Mate,” the angular bass matches well with the high life guitar runs, and Descloux's breathy singing glides above it all, bringing a romance and unity to the affair. She and her crew bring a fun, post-punk energy to Kool and the Gang's “Funky Stuff,” making it one highlight of many on this album.

On Mambo Nassau, Descloux advances the mixture she created on Press Color with the integration of African rhythms into her unique mix. While this album does not have any real commercial impact—the critical community did give it great praise—it earned Descloux a deal with CBS Records. This album is the only one she records at Compass Point, but the ideas that are fomented here will prove to be massive.

After their times in Nassau, Jones and Descloux went in very different directions. Jones became a movie star, appearing in Conan the Barbarian and A View to Kill. She did go on to release more music. 1985's Slave to the Rhythm is one of the more interesting albums in her archive. It has a few excellent tracks on it, particularly the title track, a potent song that reminds you of Jones's pure power. The more interesting part on this album is its structure. Producer Trevor Horn has built a biography into the album, with clips from Jones and others talking about her life. It's a fascinating listen for this reason.

Jones did make three more albums—Inside Story (1986), Bulletproof Heart (1989), and Hurricane (2008)—but by that point, her legacy was well established. Today, you can hear her influence on a variety of musicians such as Rihanna, Solange, and Lorde to name a few. Furthermore, her look is iconic.

When most people think of Jones, they think of this photo. The absolute epitome of cool, chic sexuality. She is truly a cultural icon.

Descloux continued with her fascination with African music. On her next album, Zulu Rock, Descloux attempted to record in Paris with South African musicians, but they could not get the sound correct. Instead, Descloux went to Johannesburg and recorded with South African musicians there. This album ends up being a joyful masterpiece, arguably the best album in her catalog. Tracks such as “Abyssinia” and “Queen of Overdub Kisses” are among the best in her entire catalog.

While the setup—white woman recording with Black musicians in South Africa—was suspect to outside eyes, Descloux was a vocal opponent of Apartheid. On the album, she recorded a protest song (“Sun’ Jive”) that was sung in English. In addition, she was always critical of the Apartheid government in any statement that she gave about the album and its production. The album ended up serving as a means of cultural boycott of the racist government in the country. The government appreciated her comments so much that they banned the musicians she recorded with from leaving the country.

As to be expected, great commercial success did not follow Descloux. However, the song “Mais ou Sont Passees Les Gazelles?” was a hit in France and the critics named it the best rock album of 1984. Furthermore, this album presaged Paul Simon’s 1986 Graceland and is arguably a better album. I want to be clear here: Graceland is a very good album. I listened to it again for this; I am confident in this opinion. But, there is this feeling with it that Simon just tacking South African music onto his regular sound. Zulu Rock feels more like a fluid exchange. Descloux came with her ideas, and her South African collaborators came with another set of ideas. They worked together to create something that integrates them together smoothly. It does not feel like pastiche or appropriation.

After this album, Descloux keeps exploring the sonic world, with some ideas working better than others. Her blues album, 1986’s One for the Soul, does not really work. She never quite hits the right tone in her performance. However, it does feature some of the last performances of Chet Baker on record, and they do go well together. The last album she recorded, 1988’s Suspense, is something more of a return to form. A mix of french pop and her unique vocals, the album is has its own distinct drama and flow, making it a fine finish to one of the most interesting recording careers that I’m aware of.

Although she did not get a lot of attention during her career, people started to notice Descloux following her passing in 2003 from cancer at the age of 47. All of her albums were re-released in through Light in the Attic in 2015 and 2016, and people have now started to hear her unique takes as well as understand her great importance to music. It was long overdue in my opinion, but it is good that it happened. Her music deserves to be heard.

With that, I end my story about these two dynamic, intriguing women. Thank you all for subscribing and ostensibly reading if you got to this point. If you like this, tell a friend to subscribe. It’s only twice a week, and as you saw with The Spins, one of them is an extremely quick read. Next week, we’re talking about women in the contemporary R&B scene, dealing with a rant that I promised in my 2024 album rundown. You’ve got a week to get ready to be in your feelings.