Lets face it, Grace Jones has been engaging us with her uniqueness since circa 1977.
Most of us will probably be able to recognise some of the many classic tracks this woman has dropped over the years but I’m not really sure that she’s been given the props she truly deserves for her contribution to all things creative.
In fact – In my honest opinion, I don’t think it would be an overstatement to class the ‘Grace Jones Movement’ as somewhat revolutionary.
I hate to state the obvious but even before we began to get excited (if we ever were) about Madonna putting cones on her tits, Grace Jones was pretty much pissing all over fashion and music conventions. Let us not be deceived by her outlandish publicity stunts; ‘rebel with a cause’, she is. According to Jean-Paul Goude (her long term lover and collaborator), she was very much “an opportunist and knew (his) vision was good for (her) career…”
Right from her initial appearances during the high-time of disco, Grace found her Jamaican footing pretty quickly in the NYC clubbing scene and soon had the likes of Mr. Warhol et al eating outta the palm of her hands.
Considering we’re talking about the late 70s, early 80s – being an ebony skinned, raw looking woman couldn’t have been an easy deal anywhere outside the Islands and Africa. But this is precisely the moment she decided to seize and thus accentuated herself into a whole new realm of cool. As a young, black female myself – growing up with issues of skin complexion, kinky hair and other afro-native features, it took me years of ‘growing up’ to eventually learn to love and embrace my own identity. I cannot even begin to understand the kinda obstacles she must have had to bulldoze through in order to create her own stylized niche… though bulldoze, she did.
With regards to breaking through cultural boundaries, Grace Jones nailed it, full stop. Being Jamaican and looking like an African; Plus being a female and looking like a male, combined, was a new concept to the mainstream. She left ‘beauty’ as we knew it to the vultures and as a result, every industry wanted a piece of her.
In Hollywood, who could forget her role as ‘Strangé’ in Eddie Murphy’s Boomerang or ‘May Day’ in James Bond? …How about the fierce, primal stone-aged-bitch she plays alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in Conan the Destroyer? Hardcore stuff. The fashion industry which, until then (loosely speaking) only had time for the feminine, Aryan types were pretty much booking her out for shows between New York and Paris.
The music, which she began in the 70s with fresh, tropical vibes (after being signed to Island Records), indulged in the light-hearted, poppy side of disco. Her early works such as ‘Portfolio‘ or ‘Muse‘ display her underplayed range and high-pitched signature vocal style. Then, almost out of the blue, in her 80s phase – she switched her game to the funkier electronic synth-pop. This came equipped with androgyny, alter egos, mental costumes and flat-tops.
By this stage, she’d bulldozed her way into our record boxes too.
Along with churning out the hits such as ‘Pull up to the Bumper‘ or ‘Slave to the Rhythm‘, Grace Jones has always been very aware of the complete package required by the genre’s fans. From aligning herself with the right kind of producers (Nile Rodgers), to creating visually stimulating album artwork (‘Island Life‘ and too many others to list) to putting on eccentric live performances, this wonder woman always seems to go beyond the call of duty.
Her public image too made hedonism look tame – Once, at a party, it is claimed that she stripped down and declared herself the “Queen Bitch Jungle Mother of New York.” This plus other rumours of that ilk have run consistently throughout her career. In saying this, I must salute Grace Jones for being able to pull off such happenings* whilst somehow meticulously managing to stay on the ‘cool’ side of the ‘freaks of nature’ club.
… All these new-age attention-seekers need to take note.
Now at 60-odd and she’s back… This is the resurrection of Grace Jones.
A new album has been dropped – Hurricane. Check out the chocolate mannequins below:
She’s headlined Massive Attack’s ‘Meltdown‘ last year and has been touring all over since. Now on our shores for the summer season and already clocking a few UK festivals**, word on the street says its a serious affair.
As for me, I reckon it’ll be worthwhile catching this iconic figure at Brighton’s Beachdown Festival at the end of August. A decent line-up anyways, so I’m all for killing a few (big) birds with one stone…
Who’s in?
*One of which entailed slapping Russell Harty live on a TV interview.
**Secret Garden Party and Latitude Festival.
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