Wild Child

Album Review

E.G. Daily is a perfect example of an artist whose biggest hit is not representative of her overall output. When people think of Daily, they think of her 1986 single "Say It, Say It" — a very Madonna-ish R&B/pop gem. It isn't surprising that "Say It, Say It" is as Madonna-ish as it is; the song was produced by Jellybean Benitez (who is known for his work with the Material Girl), and it was co-written by Stephen Bray (another person with a strong Madonna connection). But anyone who heard Daily's debut album, Wild Child, learned that most of the songs are neither urban contemporary nor dance-pop; overall, Wild Child is a pop/rock album. The LP's most dance-oriented tracks are "Say It, Say It" and an inspired cover of Donna Summer's 1979 classic "Sunset People," which has a strong Euro-dance flavor. Daily updates the tune, making it relevant to the hi-NRG scene of 1986. But the rest of the tracks are straight-up pop/rock; that is true whether Daily's producer is Harold Faltermeyer on "Love in the Shadows" and "Is Anybody Home?" or Keith Forsey on "Waiting." In the 1980s, Faltermeyer was no stranger to dance-pop — in fact, he produced Daily's "Sunset People" remake. But "Love in the Shadows" and "Is Anybody Home?" are fine examples of what he can do as a pop/rock producer. It should be noted that "Say It, Say It" is the only song on Wild Child that Benitez produced; although Daily was a big fan of dance-pop, she didn't want to be labeled a dance diva. And those who heard everything on Wild Child realized that urban and dance-pop only account for about 20% of this promising debut.