u hgye Cl pet...
S ure /houlcl be
I your yet!
^ Dr. MarguretteStraley
^ McLaughlin, Jr.
C^-g—□—rf-Tt. ■-El • tomplete vet services • nutritional needs • boarding
f l^0©OOin ^ 3055 Freedom Drive*Charlotte, NC28208
Animal Hospital phone: 704-399-6534. Fax; 704-391 -0210
Q . L 1 V, 1 N G
’'sr*'
Freedom
Charlotte Business Guild
Meeting Date:
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Program:
Curt Walton, Charlotte City Manager
Site TBD
Check www.charlottebusinessguild.com for details.
Time:
Cash bar social: 5:30 pm • Heavy hors d’oeuvres: 5:30 pm
To Reserve:
Cost: $15 members, $25 non-members
Call 704-565-5075 by 12 pm, Friday, January 16, 2009
or email businessguild@yahoo.com
and request tickets for this event.
www.charlottebusinessguild.com
ON SALE NOW!
advtay Tour
. -
■TAN. £7 - FEB. 1. £009 » OVENS AUDITORIUM
I U S AIRWAYS’
MtUk-US.
7C4.372.1CCG • Bl-umenthalCenter.org
Group Sales: 7C4.579.1580
22 DECEMBER 27 .2008‘ftNotes
Wrap it up for 2008
from page 21
floor smashes “Stamp Your Feet” and “I’m A
Fire,” making Summer the only artist to have a
#1 dance hit in each of the past four decades.
Leona Lewis - “Spirit” (J): With the
2008 ascension
of Leona
Lewis, it looks
like we have a
new diva on
the block.
Lewis has cer
tainly got all
the ingredients
— a wonder
ful voice, stun
ning beauty
and a career
that’s being
guided by a pair of the
industry’s heaviest hitters:
“American Idol” judge
Simon Cowell and J Records
chief Clive Davis. With her
debut album and it’s hit lead
single, “Bleeding Love,”
Lewis accomplished two
impressive feats. “Spirit”
landed atop the album chart
in its first week, making the
singer the first British artist
to reach that position with a
debut album. Not to be out
done, “Bleeding Love” became the first track
by a U.K. female to hit #1 since 1987.
Mariah Carey - “E=MC^” (Island):
The eagerly anticipated follow-up to “The
Emancipation Of Mimi ” failed to match that
musical juggernaut in terms of either quality
or commercial success. The album picked up
where its predecessor left off — meaning it
was also a mid-tempo showcase for Carey’s
voice and the beats of an army of top urban
producers. The best tracks were the ones
where the star changed things up, like the
disco-fied‘T’m That Chick” (which perfectly
re-uses a line from Michael Jackson’s “Off
The Wall”) and the gospel-fueled piano bal
lad “I Wish You Well.”
Linda Eder - “Greatest Hits”
(Rhino/Atlantic): Linda Eder might be the
best-loved Broadway belter of this generation.
It’s easy to understand why after listening to
this stirring set that culls 15 tracks from
four albums (and
nine musicals,
including “Funny
Girl,” “Man Of La
Mancha,”“Gypsy,”
“La Cage Aux
Folks” and her
star-making vehi
cle “Jekyll 8c
Hyde”). Also
included is Eder’s
reading of “Over
The Rainbow,” the
song she watched
Judy Garland sing in a TV broadcast of “The
Wizard Of Oz” that turned her eight-year-
old world upside-down.
Dame Shirley Bassey - “Get The
Party Started” (Decca): You wouldn’t
expect a song from a 70-year-old artist to
rip up the club but that’s exactly what
DAMK
smuijov
Bassey’s #1 dance hit did every time it was
played. Moreover, the song was the title
track for a fabulous new collection of
Bassey remixes (with one new song, “The
Living Tree”) by a cadre of knob-
twirlers including NorthxNWest,
Bugz In The Attic, Phil Asher and
Mark de Clive-Lowe. The reinter
preted tunes included “I Who Have
Nothing,” “This Is My Life,” “I Will
Survive,” Lionel Richie’s “Hello” and
the James Bond theme “You Only
Live Twice,” originally recorded by
Nancy Sinatra for the 1967 film.
George Michael - “Twenty-
Five” (Epic): After performing 80
shows in 12 European countries for a
staggering 1.3 million fans in 2007,
Michael brought his
smash 25 LIVE tour to
the U.S. this summer.
The gay superstar’s first
American tour in 17
years supported a career
retrospective, “Twenty-
Five.” The 29-song, 2-CD
set spans from Michael’s
earliest hits with Wham!
to his smash solo career
to new duets with
Paul McCartney and
Mary J. Blige.
The B-52s - “Funplex”
(Astralwerks): After a 16-year break
between studio albums, the killer Bs returned
with this appropriately titled collection. It was
a relief to hear that Kate Pierson, Fred
Schneider, Keith Strickland and Cindy Wilson
hadn’t lost any of their quirky gusto during
the long layoff In fact, Strickland nailed it
when he described the 11-track album as
“loud, sexy rock and roll, with the beat
pumped up to hot pink.”
Erykah Badu - “New Amerykah, Pt.
1: 4th World War” (UniversalMotown):
The list of urban/soul/R&B artists who
push the artistic envelop is lamentably
short, but Badu is unquestionably among
them. After a five-year break from record
bins, she made up for lost time with this
hypnotic release. Striking soundscapes,
turn-on-a-dime arrangements and confes
sional, stream-of-consciousness lyrics
made “New Amerykah” my top
headphones album of 2008.
Moby - “Last Night”
(Mute): After a detour into the
singer/songwriter realm, the elec
tronic auteur returned to the
familiar territory of the dancefloor
on his sixth studio album.
Encompassing smiley-faced rave
anthems, euro-disco, hip-hop
(both old skool and undftground)
and downtempo,“Last Night” is a
pulsating romp through Moby’s
N.Y. club kid roots. I
online extra: Read more top music' from 2008 at
q-notes.com/qliving.
Colimm .'i/miBxiv/i'j'
White Rabbit ^
Check with ihe Oiiirlollc ami
Knldjih floric for[wducl amihihiliiy
###