Gail Ann Dorsey

Pop observers here are having trouble deciding whether singer-songwriter Gail Ann Dorsey is the new Tracy Chapman or the new Terence Trent D'Arby. Like Chapman, the female pop sensation of 1988, Dorsey is a soft-spoken woman who sings about politics and romance with a thoughtful, embracing edge. But like D'Arby, perhaps last year's flashiest pop arrival, Dorsey is an American expatriate who mixes rock and soul influences in her music. There are moments on Dorsey's debut album--"The Corporate World," which was just released in the United States by Warner Bros.

Pop observers here are having trouble deciding whether singer-songwriter Gail Ann Dorsey is the new Tracy Chapman or the new Terence Trent D'Arby. Like Chapman, the female pop sensation of 1988, Dorsey is a soft-spoken woman who sings about politics and romance with a thoughtful, embracing edge. But like D'Arby, perhaps last year's flashiest pop arrival, Dorsey is an American expatriate who mixes rock and soul influences in her music. There are moments on Dorsey's debut album--"The Corporate World," which was just released in the United States by Warner Bros.

Mostly through the avenue of music video, Jody Watley has already proven herself one of the most watchable women in pop--thanks not only to her model-like physique, cheekbones that won't quit and those lips/those eyes, but also to real singing and, especially, dancing talents. In her local headlining debut Saturday at the Wiltern Theatre, Watley showed that it's not just camera angles and editing techniques propping up her popularity: She's been as blessedly created for the concert stage as she was made-for-MTV.

"Is there life on Mars?" A lot of folks are wondering about that again, so it made sense for David Bowie to ask that musical question (from his 1971 tune "Life on Mars") as he brought the American leg of his first world tour in a decade to the Shrine Auditorium on Saturday. After all, the veteran British pop star has always played with concepts that manage to tap the zeitgeist.

Almost 40 years ago, David Bowie performed two sold-out concerts in Southern California, at the Long Beach Arena and the Hollywood Palladium. The artist - who will release his breathtaking new album, "The Next Day," next week - was at that time ascending as one of the most magnetic and adventurous rock stars of the era. He was touring in advance of his "Aladdin Sane" after a triumphant run as Ziggy Stardust, and walked onstage to Beethoven's "Ode to...

"We thought we'd name this set . . . 'The Songs You Knew You'd Never Hear Acoustic,' " Neil Young joked on Saturday at the start of his turn on stage during the 10th annual Bridge School benefit concert. Young and Crazy Horse, the power-minded trio that frequently backs him on his most tenacious recordings, then launched into the vintage "Cinnamon Girl," a song that the musicians played with all their electric fury on their recent U.S. tour.

Dotun Adebayo, the effusive music editor of Britain's leading black weekly, chuckles when he recalls the column he wrote recently about Jazzie B, the leader of Soul II Soul, whose sleek, dance-minded debut album is one of the hits of the season both here and in the United States.