Grace Jones is going to be in Perth this weekend headlining the Blues and Roots Festival. Here’s our top Grace Jones tunes. Hope we get to hear some of them on the weekend. Grace Jones has been making records since the 1970’s often providing amazing reinterpretations of other artist’s tunes but has also written a few classics herself.
La Vie En Rose
Taken off Grace’s 1977 debut album Portfolio and produced by disco legend Tom Moulton. This cover of Edith Piaf’s signature tune is a Balearic classic.
Love is the Drug
Grace’s fourth album Warm Leatherette was the first of a series recorded in the Bahamas featuring musicians like Robbie Shakespeare and Sly Dunbar. Here she reinterprets Roxy Music’s Love is the Drug making the song faster and more urgent. The song has also been covered by The Divinyls and Kylie Minogue.
Nightclubbing
In 1981 just twelve months after the release of Warm Leatherette, Grace was back with another album Nightclubbing. The title track was originally a hit for Iggy Pop and the song is co-written by David Bowie. We wonder what a night out on town with Grace Jones would be like.
Pull Up to the Bumper
Also on the Nightclubbing album is what is probably Grace Jones best known tune and she was one of its writers too. When it came out there was some controversy over its suggestive lyrics.
Slave to the Rhythm
In 1985 Grace was Bond villain May-Day in A View to a Kill and was turning up on Arcadia albums. Grace’s own 1985 album was produced by Trevor Horn from The Art of Noise. This track was originally written for Frankie Goes to Hollywood. The album of the same name featured 7 tracks, all variations of the same tune.
Sex Drive
This 1993 track’s not on any of Grace’s albums and can only be found as a single CD. The song was originally by UK band Sheep on Drugs and was called Track X. If Pull Up to the Bumper had sexually suggestive lyrics, this one made sure we got the message.
William’s Blood
There was a massive nineteen year break between Grace’s most recent album Hurricane and 1989’s Bulletproof Heart, but it was worth the wait. Featuring a bunch of guests including Tricky, Brain Eno and Wendy and Lisa, this album is full of dark foreboding trip hop beats. Check out the single William’s Blood to sample Grace’s most recent music.
West Coast Blues and Roots Festival, tickets still available
