Peggy
Cone & the Central Park Stompers
Bad Girl Shoes
On the cover Bad Girl Shoes (Original Cast), singer Peggy Cone
outgoing fashionmaven the Central Park Stompers, who seem to be
wooing her with an offering of stylish shoes. The photo embodies
what Bad Girl Shoes delivers: the "I want the world"
demeanor of today's modern woman combined with the spirit of the
perpetual party girl.
The
five originals on this album emulate the gift shared by Cone and
arranger Mark McCarron for combining old-fashioned musical creativity
with a contemporary zeitgeist. Their songs have such a classic
sound, you'd swear they came right out of a time capsule"Central
Park Stomp" could have been the party record of choice among
WWII-era swingers. The title track and "Quick Slick Pick-Up
Artist" distinguish themselves with Peggy's extroverted woman-of-the-new-millennium
vitality, while "Jumpin On the Fast Track" and "Not
Like Other Girls" are slower, smoother numbers that sublimely
demonstrate the sultry quality of Cone's voice. Each of these
songs embodies her determined attitude of having it all while
having fun at the same time. (Who could misread lyrics like, "I
want to be rich. I want to be famous. I want my picture in a magazine?").
As
good as the originals are, classics like "Ding Dong Daddy,"
"World On a String," and "Finders Keepers"
keep to the spirit of Bad Girl Shoes, and like the originals,
the covered material perpetuates Cone's enduring, industrious
essence. She even manages to make Madonna's "Material Girl"
her own, and it really swings.
Since
the resurgence of big band influences in popular music in the
last decade, too many bands are described as expressing the essence
of '40s swing music with a modern disposition. But in the case
of Peggy Cone, in more ways than one, if the shoe fits....
-Jonathan
Reed
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