While readers in the UK may be very familiar with 13 year old singing sensation and Amy Winehouse protege Dionne Bromfield, those of us here in the U.S. are just starting to get wind of her and her fantastic singing voice. Bromfield (who also happens to be Winehouse's God-daughter) is the first signing to the beehived one's Lioness Records label, which according to Winehouse, 'is inspired by Berry Gordy’s Motown, and The Specials’ 2Tone label'.
While Bromfield may look on the surface like an attempt by Winehouse to jump into the burgeoning and lucrative tween music market, she is no Miley Cyrus! Quite the contrary, with a soulful and expressive big voice that belies her young age, she is an artist to watch. However, what's of great interest to me is her addictive ska cover of The Shirelles 1963 hit 'Foolish Little Girl'. The track brings to mind Millie Small's 'My Boy Lollipop' (which Bromfield also happens to cover on her 12-track self-titled album of covers) in sound, sweetness and ska purity. The song was released as a single in the UK late last fall and continues to demonstrate Winehouse's ongoing love affair with ska, as evidenced on the 'Ska EP' bootleg that was issued two summers ago with a killer ska cover version of Sam Cooke's 'Cupid'.
Below is the video of 'Foolish Little Girl' by Bromfield as well as great version of 'My Boy Lollipop' by Millie Small from a Finnish TV show that aired in 1964.
Bromfield's new album is available as an import from the UK via Amazon.com and iTunes. She is reportedly back in the studio recording a follow-up to her debut. Here's to hoping she and Winehouse keep ska and reggae a big part of her next batch of songs and include a lot more originals.
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