"Little Jackie Wants to Be a Star" by Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam

Song#:  3867

Date:  04/15/1989

Debut:  81

Peak:  29

Weeks:  11

Genre:  R&B

Pop Bits:  This outfit's first two albums were platinum sellers that generated six R&B Top 10s and three Pop Top 10s. Within that haul, two of the singles reached #1 on both charts, "Head to Toe" and "Lost in Emotion." That success set them up well for their third album Straight to the Sky. Working once again with the songwriting/production team of Full Force, the group issued out this first single from the album. It would do well at R&B reaching #3, but it faltered a bit at Pop only cracking the Top 30. Two more singles would be released from the album that fared less well at R&B and failed to reach the Pop chart. With those results, the album stopped at #18 R&B/#77 Pop and missed going gold.

ReduxReview:  I remember seeing this single in the record store. I hadn't heard it yet, but since I liked the group's previous singles I just went ahead and bought the 45. I probably should have waited. I just didn't get it. The tune wasn't anything like their previous hits. It was a breezy, meandering story song that never fully took flight. I've always found the title and chorus to be a bit awkward. It just didn't flow well. Overall, the tune wasn't one of the group's best efforts.

ReduxRating:  4/10

Trivia:  Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam would put out one more album in 1991. Straight Outta Hell's Kitchen would be a weak performer (#133 Pop/#29 Pop) despite featuring the #1 R&B/#38 Pop hit "Let the Beat Hit 'Em." That song along with others on the album was a collaboration with the Robert Clivillés/David Cole writing/production team who had success in 1990 with their own outfit C+C Music Factory and the #1 "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)." Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam would part ways in 1991. Lisa Lisa would try for a solo career and record a debut album, LL77, in 1994. It featured a pair of lower charting R&B singles including the #38 "Skip to My Lu." The album would fail to chart. Lisa Lisa would also do a bit of acting as well. She had a recurring role on the 2001 Nickelodeon teen sitcom Taina. The show would only last two seasons.

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