A "NATURAL" BEAUTY

This morning I woke up with Lisa Stansfield on my mind. Back in the very early '90s she was one of my No. 1 musical obsessions, and I had to pleasure of meeting and interviewing her several times (see the above photo taken at an after-party following her New York performance in support of her failed 1997 comeback album, Lisa Stansfield -- try to ignore my look; it was the '90s). When it comes to perfect blue-eyed-soul singing, no one aside from Dusty Springfield has ever done it better or with more finesse.

Her 1989 breakthrough hit, "All Arond The World" (not "Been Around The World" as is commonly assumed) announced the arrival of a singular talent with the potential for longevity. But it all fell apart almost as quickly as it began. I blame short attention spans, the overall bad taste of the record-buying public and the decision of Clive Davis -- then the head of her label, Arista Records -- not to release her third CD, So Natural, in the United States. It killed her career momentum, and although she continues to perform and release music (most recently, The Moment in 2004), each new CD has experienced an increasingly dismal chart fate.

The good news is that we'll always have career highlights like her 1989 debut, Affection, and the breathtaking video for her 1993 single "So Natural," one of my 10 all-time favorite love songs, posted below.