JODY WATLEY GIVES A ‘MAKEOVER’: Latest project gives familiar hits a new image (Pt. 1)

Scroll down to watch Jody perform 'Border Line.'

      “‘The Makeover’ is my interpretation of some songs that people are probably very familiar with,” she said of the project. “I don’t say covers because covers are generally when and artist is true to the original version, but makeovers are really about stripping it down and really trying to make it your own.”

      Watley is favored by many for her years with the group Shalamar (1977-1984) and the hits “A Night to Remember” and “The Second Time Around.” She outdid her group years as a solo artist with huge hits “Don’t You Want Me,” “Looking for a New Love,” and the cutting-edge R&B/rap collabo “Friends,” with Eric B & Rakim. With six studio albums and a pretty moderate indie career after that, she was inspired to create the new disc from some concerts she did in San Francisco just a few years ago.

      “I title [the show] ‘Songs in the Key of my Life.’ It was just a way for me to have fun. I wasn’t doing any of my songs. It was just songs that I liked and maybe I had a story about those songs,” she said. “The audience loved it so much and they’d say, ‘You should do a record like this.’”

      The project started from there; coupled with inspiration of a few remix tracks Watley had heard.

      “There were a couple of really interesting remix projects where they had taken some Nina Simone music and Shirley Bassey. They were remixed by DJs and it gave the songs a new life. Those were really my inspirations to get the project going.”

      ‘The Makeover’ itself has gone through a makeover. Watley explained that the project was previously released in 2006 with the first single as Watley’s take on Madonna’s “Borderline.” That version was an exclusive with the now defunct Virgin Megastore.

      “We put on major makeover events. The exposure was great,” she said. “I did a few live performances from ‘The Makeover’ and we gave makeovers to some of the fans. It was a lot of fun. I was really proud for Avitone, which is my company, to be able to put something together like that.”

      The singer spoke fondly of her experience as an independent artist and an entrepreneur and shared that she had always had dreams of being in charge.

      “I always had big dreams all my life. I would always drive my parent nuts talking about, ‘I’m going to do this, and I’m going to be that, and this is the way the front of my store is going to look,” she reminisced. “In Jr. High I would make clothes and pillows and stuff and sell them so I always had a little bit of that in me.”

      In 1995, Watley launched independent label Avitone Recordings, partly inspired and intrigued by R&B/Pop superstar Prince who had just left Warner Bros. Though she might be considered a trailblazer in that right – Watley is one of very few African American females to do so – she believes being an indie artist is becoming more and more common.

      “These days it is much more common now with the music business being in a crumbling state in many ways and trying to redefine itself. It will become more of what’s considered normal,” she said.

      “I enjoy it. It’s something that surprisingly not many female artists have done,” she continued. “I’m learning every day all the time, but I am very proud of that part of the diversification of what I’ve tried to do. I’m I love music, I respect music. I’m an artist that has always tried to grow and not be afraid to try new things, and really respect what music has meant to me.”

      Watley continued that she has no regrets of leaving the major label fold. She explained that the time brought a different style – New Jack Swing – and message of music that simply did not fit her.

    “I continued to have moderate success with R&B and I’ve always done well on the dance charts. People ever day, whether Facebook, Twitter, or my web site, are discovering something they may have missed,” she said. “All of my music is a progression; whether they are big commercial blockbusters or not, the thing is always the quality of my music. You can’t have regrets if you always have quality. And for me, that’s why I do it.”

      Jody Watley’s “The Makeover” is available now. Currently, she working on her next project called “Chameleon,” expected in 2010. For more on Jody Watley, visit her official website at www.jodywatley.net.

      Later this week in part 2, Jody responds to rumors that she was involved with a makeover of a different kind. Her face. And she explains why she'll never reunite with Howard Hewett and Jeffrey Daniel for a "real" Shalamar revival.

Watch Jody perform "Border Line" from "The Makeover":