Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam - Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force (30th anniversary)

Today (August 8th) marks the thirtieth anniversary of the debut album from Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam entitled Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force. This 1985 debut album went to number 52 on the Billboard Album chart (with sixty-six weeks total on the chart), number 16 on the US R&B album charts and number 96 in the UK. The record was certified Platinum in sales.

For my full review of this classic, click here.

For more from Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam, click here.

Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam - Spanish Fly

Happy forty-sixth birthday today (January 15th) to Lisa Lisa (born Lisa Velez).

Following their platinum selling debut album Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force (click here for my review of that album) in 1985, the freestyle R&B group from New York City went to work on their second album. Once again, the R&B group Full Force stepped into the role as producers on this album (why mess with a formula that worked the first time?). 1987‘s Spanish Fly was the group’s best charting album to date, reaching number 7 on the US Billboard Hot 200 and number 7 on the US R&B charts. It also generated a number of hit singles including two number 1 records.

Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force

Formed in 1984, a trio of musicians rose up from the urban contemporary music scene of New York City. Assembled and produced by Brooklyn’s own R&B sensations Full Force, Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam (guitarist/bassist Alex “Spanador” Moseley and drummer/keyboardist Mike Hughes) took the world of freestyle music by storm. The band’s early career was helped greatly by a track of theirs appearing on a compilation record Breakdancing that had been popular in Europe and crossed over to the States. US club DJs had been playing it as an import and the song caught on.