I always have to ask those I review if they can relate an amusing
anecdote about the production or a performance during their career.
Claudja replied, "I did an amazing performance at the Tokyo Music
festival in 1980, I was on the bill with the Commodores, The
Stylistics, Dionne Warwick, and all kinds of wonderful artists. It
was the first time I ever went out to sing with a live band, and by
that I mean a seventy-piece orchestra on a stage like Carnegie Hall or
Radio City. Of course, I'm thinking like 'who am I? If I can just get
out and through it I'll be happy'; and I came away with three prizes,
best composed song and best costume. I came away with the silver
prize and Dionne Warwick got the first prize, so I was thinking, that
is not too bad, I just was not expecting it." Okay, but how about
amusing Claudja? "I [invite] people to get on stage sometimes and
dare them to 'take it off,' and when they actually take [their
clothes] off, I have to stop them before it gets too embarrassing for
them..." She eggs them on until the last piece is almost gone when she
has to pull them back from the brink indeed - especially when the
videotape is rolling.
She took me aboard the time machine when recounting her most memorable
gig at the late '70s New York City haunt The Saint. It was a New
Year's Eve party back in the days with Cerrone, and "Trippin' On The
Moon" was her hot hit at that point. This evokes serious scandalous
reminiscence for my puppy years in radio.
"'I Will Stand' is for anybody who really has strong beliefs and
realized that nobody's gonna do it for them and they've got to do it
for themselves; and when you come upon situations where you feel
powerless, you dig your heels in and say, no – I will stand because I
am. It's not just a woman's song, it's for anybody who is today
feeling that they need to be strong and have power." There I was
thinking this was another Gaynor-type survivor song – not! The message
is be who you are and stand-up for yourself by cultivating your own
identity: "I'm ready to move forward/because I deserve nothing
less/here I stand my own wo-man, don't need your hand to be who I
am..."
This record speaks to individuality in spirit and deed by way
of cultivating one's own identity and I always second those emotions!
Written by her longtime friends Tony Moran and Warren Rigg, along with
the two imaginative remixers, Claudja feels fortunate and proud to
have released "this piece of product (which she has had for several
years), and we're all hoping the resonance from the public will be
positive" she says.
Well, judging from comments I have read online, the buzz already is
for this Montego Bay-born by way of Toronto and Hackensack songstress.
She is even contemplating collaborating with Jamaican music producer
Fata in the near future on a project that will revisit one of her
signature hits.
Our talk was part badinage, part philosophical, and all the way
informative. For those who desire more, I recommend
www.claudjabarry.com, her full-service site. She is "looking forward
to the next set of excitements that are going to come to me" and is
planning to do a tour. As comebacks go, this one is right on point.
I know that this will not be Ms. Barry's last "stand", so five stars
is the rating upon which my spinning wheel lands.
