Early '90s Month: One 2 One

ONE 2 ONE
"IMAGINE IT"
(A&M, 1992)


"Gypsy Girl"


With its combo of producer-instrumentalist Leslie Howe (who was a key figure in the initial, "mall-pop-princess" stage of Alanis Morissette's career) and vocalist Louise Reny, One 2 One was Canada's answer to the Dave Stewart/Annie Lennox pairing of Eurythmics, but with songs that decidedly looked more on the sunny side of things. Having previously released two albums (under the slightly different moniker One To One) in Canada on the Bonaire label, they were signed by Herb Alpert to A&M Records and made their U.S. debut in 1992. This album spawned a modest radio hit in the U.S. with the single "Peace Of Mind (Love Goes On)".

Of all the albums I'm showing you as part of "Early '90s Month", this is probably my favorite; I have come to dearly love each and every track on it, and have never gotten tired of listening to it (when I remember that it's nestled in my collection, that is). As sentimental as my attachment to it is, there's more to it than that. I've always looked at this CD as one of those "more than the sum of its parts" albums, like Take That's "Beautiful World".*

This was Howe and Reny's last album as One 2 One; they would soon hop on the grunge bandwagon, forming a full band and recording an album under the name Sal's Birdland (Reny oddly called herself "Sal" in the liner notes from this point on) in 1995, and one more as Artificial Joy Club in 1997. But in my opinion, they've never sounded as intangibly magical as they did on "Imagine It". Maybe the album does sound dated now and probably couldn't be taken all that seriously anymore, but I'll forever treasure it.

*Well ... I suppose it could also have a little something to do with the fact that they thank the cast of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" in the liner notes, too...!