Search - Karla Devito :: Is This a Cool World Or What?

Is This a Cool Girl, or What?

Garan Grey | Hollywood, CA | 02/09/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"While Karla was becoming the first female star featured on MTV in the early 80s, I stumbled across this debut album and instantly became a lifelong fan. Karla was appearing at The Bottom Line then, but I wasn't able to go. How I wish I had, because when Columbia signed Cyndi Lauper they decided they didn't need two talented offbeat gals and stopped promoting Karla. Big Mistake. While Cyndi, who I like, is a Character, Karla is a Personality - Intelligent and fun. How many pop singers include references to Freud, Jung and the frontal lobe in their lyrics? I've been lucky enough to meet Karla a couple times, and she is, in the best sense of the words, cool and warm at the same time.



Karla is a multifaceted creative talent, with a charming, charismatic personality. She can sing, act, write songs, do character voices (check out Disney's BONKERS series) and give a solo performance that could knock your socks off! Did you know Karla Director Ken Russell's favorite to play the lead in the movie EVITA when the film was first being discussed back in the 80s? She did a brief stage tour in the role and nailed it, according to the glowing reviews. Years later he still referred to Karla as "My Evita."



Karla performed WE ARE NOT ALONE (that was co-written with Robby Benson) on the BREAKFAST CLUB soundtrack. A fun song Karla & Robby wrote called NOBODY MAKES ME CRAZY LIKE YOU DO was on her second album, and covered on another album by Diana Ross. Karla's second solo album was WAKE 'EM UP IN TOKYO (First released on A&M, not yet on CD) There is fun stuff on that album, but the producers didn't allow enough of Karla's personality to come through the heavy handed arrangements, and they really should have included We Are Not Alone. My favorite track on her second album is I ROCKED THE BOY, which shows more of the fun personality found on her first album. That song is so catchy that I can picture Karla dancing in a music video every time I hear it.



After rave reviews for her Broadway performance in THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE, Karla married her co-star, and decided to concentrate on being a good mom. She has raised two (probably very interesting) young people and I admire her for that. Had she not taken that path, she'd now be headlining MAMMA MIA! on Broadway at the very least. There is far more to Karla than being Mrs. Robby Benson (though he is clearly Karla's biggest fan). Robby's devotion to Karla inspired him to write a new musical, OPEN HEART, that's been well received in two productions and is available on CD and download from Amazon. The album contains one touching track called Forever, in which Karla proves she still has the vocal strength we heard 20 years before.



Now wouldn't you all love to see MORE albums of Karla DeVito? Let's hear from you!



Karla's very first released recording was a single of It's My Party done to a disco arrangement that overpowers her voice a bit - search the net for a CD called Where Disco Dared to find that. Karla's rare vinyl single SANTA CLAUS IS COMIN' TO MY HOUSE, released by Epic in the 80s, has been showcased often by Dr. Demento but not yet on CD. Karla's catchy performance of Dance In My Pants with Jim Steinman is available as a download online. Also on Amazon: Rick Derringer Live at the Ritz has two great live tracks of Karla singing Cool World and Just Like You. Another album available through Amazon is Desolation Angels Anthem, with two very nice tracks by Karla: Walk Away Renee and Whitebird. The arrangements feature Karla's voice nicely, In fact, her performance is very well framed by The Roches.



Karla DeVito is a formidable and versatile talent. Grab COOL WORLD (and every other Karla performance you can get) and enjoy this cool girl. Catch the mischief in her eyes and the spirit in her voice. Brava, Karla!"

The Perfect Debut

T. West | LaWrEnCe, KaNsAs | 12/31/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great debut for such a great singer. Karla put out 2 full length albums- 1981/Epic Label- "IS THIS A COOL WORLD OR WHAT?", and 1986/A&M Label- "WAKE 'EM UP IN TOKYO"- both excellent albums that show off her big powerhouse voice. I just wish a record company would sign her up and get more material out before she gets too old to rock. She'll always be one of my faves. A lot of people only know her for being Meatloaf's back up singer in the 70's (she did not sing on the Meatloaf '77 album Bat Out Of Hell, that was Ellen Foley. She did the Bat Out Of Hell Tour and sang Ellen's parts in concert), and she's well-known for being actor Robby Benson's wife. But there's a whole lot more to this woman and hopefully someday she'll get the recognition she deserves- she almost got the lead in the EVITA movie, but lost out to Madonna. Just think where she would be now if she won that movie role....



Here's a discography list of her work:



1. 1981- Jim Steinman BAD FOR GOOD album: She sang on the song

DANCE IN MY PANTS with Jim and it was released as a 7" 45 single

(this album was released onto cd in 1993).



2. 1981- IS THIS A COOL WORLD OR WHAT? album: A fantastic debut

that has a lot of good rock songs to show off her big voice

(this album was released onto cd in 1996, and contains a bonus

track- a 30 minute interview bewteen her and her husband Robbie.

I wish they had used the 30 min. interview from the 1981 promotional

LP called Karla DeVito- Interchords, which contained 5 tracks

from the COOL WORLD album and interview).



3. 1983- Paul Anka WALK A FINE LINE album- contains a duet with

Karla called GIMME THE WORD, which was released as both a

7" and 12" single.



4. 1985- Breakfast Club Soundtrack- Karla sings the song

WE ARE NOT ALONE.



5. 1986- WAKE 'EM UP IN TOKYO- Karla's second solo album and

contains songs written by Karla and her husband Robby Benson

(For some crazy reason, A&M never released this onto cd).



6. 1989- DESOLATION ANGELS: ANTHEM album- This was a tribute to

the 60's that featured various female singers. Karla

sings 2 songs- WALK AWAY RENEE and WHITE BIRD.

(CD available here on Amazon, used for about $15. This is

a rare and hard to find item, and is often mislisted as

Bad Company's album Desolation Angels and the heavy metal group

Desolation Angels on different websites).



In 2005 her husband Robby Benson released his cd called OPEN HEART:

THE MUSICAL- The Singer, Songwriter Album. I am not sure if she sings on this or not, but the cd itself has gotten great reviews.

Since companies are now releasing 2 LP's onto 1 cd, maybe someone will put both of her solo ones onto cd or a 2-cd set.

"

Your price is way to high

Elak Swindell | Georgia USA | 04/04/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"$100? My friend, it's available on eBay, from many sellers, from $5 to $21. Don't take people for their money. This is an awesome album and Karla is beautiful. Love "Cool World". But the album isn't worth $100."