Madleen Kane

If disco really died with the 1970s, that would have been bad news for Madleen Kane. But disco never really died; it simply changed its name to dance music and evolved into such styles as Hi-NRG, house, and Latin freestyle. Disco was Kane's bread and butter in 1978, when her debut album, Rough Diamond, became a dance club favorite all over Europe. When Cover Girl was released in 1985, the Swedish vocalist was still a major name in the Euro-disco market. But by that time, her music was no longer being called Euro-disco; dance-pop, Euro-dance, and Hi-NRG were the terms being used to describe the songs on this LP. Whatever the terminology, addictive tracks like "Ecstasy," "I'm No Angel," "Love Bandit," and "On Fire" made it clear that European-style dance grooves were alive and well in the mid-'80s. "Crying My Heart Out" has a strong early-'60s influence and sounds like it could be a remake of something the Angels, the Ronettes, or the Shangri-Las recorded. But in fact, it was written by Ian A. Stephens (the album's producer) and dance-pop vocalist Paul Parker, the guys who also wrote everything else on the album. Unfortunately, Cover Girl is out of print and was never reissued on CD, although "Ecstasy," "I'm No Angel," and "On Fire" were among the gems that TSR included on its 1994 Kane collection 12 Inches and More. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide