Cherry Hill Sun

Author: frankhalperin

  • ‘There’s always humor’

    “I use the same guideline for playwriting as I did for column writing, which was, if I’m boring myself by writing this, then I know I’m sure as hell boring the people who are reading it,” says Rosemary Parrillo, who has written 23 plays.

    For Rosemary Parrillo, the play’s the thing – the thing that keeps the longtime Marlton resident motivated day in and day out.

    “Every morning, I get up, have breakfast and at nine o’clock, I go into my home office,” Parrillo said, “and the first thing I do is go online and see who’s accepting script submissions.”

    The 74-year-old – who recently celebrated her 50th wedding anniversary – has written 23 plays, including five full-length works, seven one-acts and 11 10-minute plays. Parrillo has also written a screenplay and is currently working on a new full-length play.

    Her one-act work about two women dealing with cancer, “The Waiting Room,” won best play at the Ritz Theatre Company’s 2025 One-Act Play Festival in August.

    “Even when I’m dealing with very serious issues, there’s always humor,” Parrillo explained. “Is it dark humor? Sure. Snarky humor? Absolutely.”

    A South Philadelphia native, Parrillo grew up in Maple Shade and attended Holy Cross Prep in Delran, where she graduated in 1969. She attended Burlington County College (BCC), then transferred to Glassboro State College, now Rowan University, where she earned a bachelor’s in English and teaching credentials in 1973.

    At 19 – while still at BCC – Parrillo got a copy girl job at the Burlington County Times in Willingboro, where she met her future husband, Ray, a former sportswriter for the Philadelphia Inquirer. It was the beginning of her 48-year career in print journalism.

    After working her way up the editorial ranks to assistant Sunday editor at the Times, Parrillo joined the Courier-Post in Cherry Hill in 1976, where she worked on the night desk editing copy and writing headlines and captions. She eventually held positions that included assistant metro editor, metro columnist and features editor.

    Parrillo left the Courier-Post in 1998 and the following year, became the features editor at the Newark Star-Ledger. That role resulted in her being named editor in chief of the newspaper’s monthly magazine, Inside Jersey, in 2008. Ten years later, she retired at 67.

    But it was at the Courier-Post where Parrillo had a serendipitous encounter that led to playwriting.

    “A co-worker told me that she was going to the Walnut Street Theatre School (in Philadelphia) to take a class in playwriting, and asked if I’d like to come along,” she recalled. “That started a five-year relationship with me and the school.

    “It really gave you a good idea of how theater works,” Parrillo added. “I think it was a great training ground.”

    Parrillo worked on her first play, “Shelter,” while at the school, inspired by a story she had edited at the Courier-Post about a Camden woman who drowned her four kids in the Cooper River. “Shelter” was completed in 1984.

    Since then, Parrillo’s journalistic instincts continue to infuse her work.

    “I use the same guideline for playwriting as I did for column writing, which was, ‘If I’m boring myself by writing this, then I know I’m sure as hell boring the people who are reading it,’” she acknowledged. “When I’m writing a play, I always try to be cognizant of whether I would want to see this, would I pay money to see this? It has to be entertaining in some way.

    “I just hope that my characters are people that you want to spend some time with.”

    For more information about Rosemary Parrillo, visit www.rosemaryparrillo.com.

  • ‘There’s always humor’

    “I use the same guideline for playwriting as I did for column writing, which was, if I’m boring myself by writing this, then I know I’m sure as hell boring the people who are reading it,” says Rosemary Parrillo, who has written 23 plays.

    For Rosemary Parrillo, the play’s the thing – the thing that keeps the longtime Marlton resident motivated day in and day out.

    “Every morning, I get up, have breakfast and at nine o’clock, I go into my home office,” Parrillo said, “and the first thing I do is go online and see who’s accepting script submissions.”

    The 74-year-old – who recently celebrated her 50th wedding anniversary – has written 23 plays, including five full-length works, seven one-acts and 11 10-minute plays. Parrillo has also written a screenplay and is currently working on a new full-length play.

    Her one-act work about two women dealing with cancer, “The Waiting Room,” won best play at the Ritz Theatre Company’s 2025 One-Act Play Festival in August.

    “Even when I’m dealing with very serious issues, there’s always humor,” Parrillo explained. “Is it dark humor? Sure. Snarky humor? Absolutely.”

    A South Philadelphia native, Parrillo grew up in Maple Shade and attended Holy Cross Prep in Delran, where she graduated in 1969. She attended Burlington County College (BCC), then transferred to Glassboro State College, now Rowan University, where she earned a bachelor’s in English and teaching credentials in 1973.

    At 19 – while still at BCC – Parrillo got a copy girl job at the Burlington County Times in Willingboro, where she met her future husband, Ray, a former sportswriter for the Philadelphia Inquirer. It was the beginning of her 48-year career in print journalism.

    After working her way up the editorial ranks to assistant Sunday editor at the Times, Parrillo joined the Courier-Post in Cherry Hill in 1976, where she worked on the night desk editing copy and writing headlines and captions. She eventually held positions that included assistant metro editor, metro columnist and features editor.

    Parrillo left the Courier-Post in 1998 and the following year, became the features editor at the Newark Star-Ledger. That role resulted in her being named editor in chief of the newspaper’s monthly magazine, Inside Jersey, in 2008. Ten years later, she retired at 67.

    But it was at the Courier-Post where Parrillo had a serendipitous encounter that led to playwriting.

    “A co-worker told me that she was going to the Walnut Street Theatre School (in Philadelphia) to take a class in playwriting, and asked if I’d like to come along,” she recalled. “That started a five-year relationship with me and the school.

    “It really gave you a good idea of how theater works,” Parrillo added. “I think it was a great training ground.”

    Parrillo worked on her first play, “Shelter,” while at the school, inspired by a story she had edited at the Courier-Post about a Camden woman who drowned her four kids in the Cooper River. “Shelter” was completed in 1984.

    Since then, Parrillo’s journalistic instincts continue to infuse her work.

    “I use the same guideline for playwriting as I did for column writing, which was, ‘If I’m boring myself by writing this, then I know I’m sure as hell boring the people who are reading it,’” she acknowledged. “When I’m writing a play, I always try to be cognizant of whether I would want to see this, would I pay money to see this? It has to be entertaining in some way.

    “I just hope that my characters are people that you want to spend some time with.”

    For more information about Rosemary Parrillo, visit www.rosemaryparrillo.com.

  • My South Jersey

    What I remember most about the 1990s was that everything was “alternative”: alternative lifestyles, alternative newsweeklies, alternative rock – especially alternative rock.

    I was in my 20s during the 90s, and I hardly considered myself “alternative.” I didn’t watch MTV’s “120 Minutes.” I didn’t listen to WDRE, then Philadelphia’s top alternative radio station. And I couldn’t name three Jane’s Addiction songs to save my life.

    Nevertheless, in 1993, when I was 23, I walked up the stairs into the darkness of Sanctuary, the nightclub located at the Iguana Beach Club on Route 70 in Cherry Hill, where Vera is now.

    My intention was simple: I thought that unlike the patrons of other “mainstream” clubs in the area, here at Sanctuary I would meet different, interesting people. To a certain extent, that would prove to be true.

    What I found were a lot of Kurt, Eddie and (two years later) Alanis acolytes. Lots of flannel, thrift store clothes and choker necklaces.

    A clique of black-clad poseurs who’d only dance to Depeche Mode, The Cure and The Smiths.

    There was the guy who dressed in a leather jacket and Scottish kilt, and the middle-aged man with sunglasses who looked like Jack Nicholson and did some sort of performance art in the middle of the dance floor. It was the kind of place where people – myself included – went out and danced by themselves, with no one blinking an eye.

    All of this was presided over by DJ Steven Singer, who worked the room spinning modern rock, goth rock, ’80s new wave, industrial, techno – basically, everything you wouldn’t hear downstairs in the Iguana. He was also the resident den mother to all the club kids who flocked to the DJ booth pitching their song requests.

    For the next two years, Sanctuary became my second home; I was there four nights every week. I drank a lot. I danced a lot. And I met a lot of women – one of whom, for better and for worse, would alter my life during that decade.

    By the mid-’90s, however, it wasn’t as much fun as it used to be. Some of the people who I remembered from the beginning weren’t there anymore. Luckily, Steve was – he was the anchor, the mainstay, the one who still made the experience worthwhile.

    They moved Sanctuary down the road to Cuthbert Boulevard – which I didn’t like – then moved it back to the Route 70 location. By this time, I was burned out. I’d had enough of the bloodshot eyes and lack of sleep. I was pushing 30, and I wasn’t going anywhere, except to the club. It was time to grow up.

    By the turn of the century, Sanctuary was a not-so-distant memory.

    Jump ahead three decades to 2024. I was inside Vera, researching an article about a weekly radio variety show that’s still staged there. I was 54; I hadn’t danced or drank in nearly 30 years, and had no desire to do so.

    Still, I was nostalgic.

    I walked over to the foyer where the Sanctuary entrance once was, and was greeted by a closed door, tinted with black glass. No admittance. I took that as a sign, and I left.

    It was almost past my bedtime.

  • My South Jersey

    What I remember most about the 1990s was that everything was “alternative”: alternative lifestyles, alternative newsweeklies, alternative rock – especially alternative rock.

    I was in my 20s during the 90s, and I hardly considered myself “alternative.” I didn’t watch MTV’s “120 Minutes.” I didn’t listen to WDRE, then Philadelphia’s top alternative radio station. And I couldn’t name three Jane’s Addiction songs to save my life.

    Nevertheless, in 1993, when I was 23, I walked up the stairs into the darkness of Sanctuary, the nightclub located at the Iguana Beach Club on Route 70 in Cherry Hill, where Vera is now.

    My intention was simple: I thought that unlike the patrons of other “mainstream” clubs in the area, here at Sanctuary I would meet different, interesting people. To a certain extent, that would prove to be true.

    What I found were a lot of Kurt, Eddie and (two years later) Alanis acolytes. Lots of flannel, thrift store clothes and choker necklaces.

    A clique of black-clad poseurs who’d only dance to Depeche Mode, The Cure and The Smiths.

    There was the guy who dressed in a leather jacket and Scottish kilt, and the middle-aged man with sunglasses who looked like Jack Nicholson and did some sort of performance art in the middle of the dance floor. It was the kind of place where people – myself included – went out and danced by themselves, with no one blinking an eye.

    All of this was presided over by DJ Steven Singer, who worked the room spinning modern rock, goth rock, ’80s new wave, industrial, techno – basically, everything you wouldn’t hear downstairs in the Iguana. He was also the resident den mother to all the club kids who flocked to the DJ booth pitching their song requests.

    For the next two years, Sanctuary became my second home; I was there four nights every week. I drank a lot. I danced a lot. And I met a lot of women – one of whom, for better and for worse, would alter my life during that decade.

    By the mid-’90s, however, it wasn’t as much fun as it used to be. Some of the people who I remembered from the beginning weren’t there anymore. Luckily, Steve was – he was the anchor, the mainstay, the one who still made the experience worthwhile.

    They moved Sanctuary down the road to Cuthbert Boulevard – which I didn’t like – then moved it back to the Route 70 location. By this time, I was burned out. I’d had enough of the bloodshot eyes and lack of sleep. I was pushing 30, and I wasn’t going anywhere, except to the club. It was time to grow up.

    By the turn of the century, Sanctuary was a not-so-distant memory.

    Jump ahead three decades to 2024. I was inside Vera, researching an article about a weekly radio variety show that’s still staged there. I was 54; I hadn’t danced or drank in nearly 30 years, and had no desire to do so.

    Still, I was nostalgic.

    I walked over to the foyer where the Sanctuary entrance once was, and was greeted by a closed door, tinted with black glass. No admittance. I took that as a sign, and I left.

    It was almost past my bedtime.

  • Painting scenes with a master

    Producer and engineer Rob Federici, owner of Polygon studios in Blackwood, is well-known for his stand-out productions.

    If you’re a musician looking for a producer and/or engineer with a proven track record to make your recording, Rob (aka Robert Eric) Federici may be the man you want to meet.

    The 64-year-old is the owner of The Polygon studios in Blackwood and is well-known in music circles for his standout productions and engineering prowess.

    “I’m very big on the fact, as a producer and engineer, that I want to make records that sound like the great records on the radio,” Federici explained. “To me, producing is like a painter painting a scene.”

    The Camden native and Pennsauken resident is also an accomplished guitarist, keyboardist and singer known in the area for his Billy Joel tribute performances. Federici opened The Polygon studios in Cherry Hill in 1984, then relocated to Blackwood last February.

    He estimates he’s produced and or engineered 44,500 recordings.

    “I’m very much a team player when it comes to working with the artists,” Federici shared. “In the end, they have the final say.”

    In addition to recording many rap groups, he is known for his work with such popular freestyle dance music artists as Pretty Poison, Collage, Adam Marano (as a single producer/performer) and Lil Suzy. Rockell – best known for her 1997 hit single, “In A Dream” – has worked with Federici so many times she can’t put a number on it.

    “Rob has done so much for me,” she noted. “I call him all the time to work on my showcases and get everything in order for my live performances. One thing I have to say about Rob is that no one knows my vocals quite like he does.”

    In addition to producing and engineering original songs, Federici has done remixes for Gloria Estefan and Sheryl Crow. But his production work isn’t limited to musical acts. Joe Conklin, the comedian and impressionist who’s an in-demand performer throughout the Delaware Valley, values Federici’s ability to understand an artist’s perspective.

    “Rob’s an entertainer’s producer,” Conklin observed. “He’s a performer himself, so that’s a big advantage. He knows what you want, he gets on your wavelength and he contributes to the art – the comedy bit, in my case.

    “I wouldn’t use anybody else.”

    For more information about Federici and his work, visit www.roberteric.com/polygon.

  • Painting scenes with a master

    Producer and engineer Rob Federici, owner of Polygon studios in Blackwood, is well-known for his stand-out productions.

    If you’re a musician looking for a producer and/or engineer with a proven track record to make your recording, Rob (aka Robert Eric) Federici may be the man you want to meet.

    The 64-year-old is the owner of The Polygon studios in Blackwood and is well-known in music circles for his standout productions and engineering prowess.

    “I’m very big on the fact, as a producer and engineer, that I want to make records that sound like the great records on the radio,” Federici explained. “To me, producing is like a painter painting a scene.”

    The Camden native and Pennsauken resident is also an accomplished guitarist, keyboardist and singer known in the area for his Billy Joel tribute performances. Federici opened The Polygon studios in Cherry Hill in 1984, then relocated to Blackwood last February.

    He estimates he’s produced and or engineered 44,500 recordings.

    “I’m very much a team player when it comes to working with the artists,” Federici shared. “In the end, they have the final say.”

    In addition to recording many rap groups, he is known for his work with such popular freestyle dance music artists as Pretty Poison, Collage, Adam Marano (as a single producer/performer) and Lil Suzy. Rockell – best known for her 1997 hit single, “In A Dream” – has worked with Federici so many times she can’t put a number on it.

    “Rob has done so much for me,” she noted. “I call him all the time to work on my showcases and get everything in order for my live performances. One thing I have to say about Rob is that no one knows my vocals quite like he does.”

    In addition to producing and engineering original songs, Federici has done remixes for Gloria Estefan and Sheryl Crow. But his production work isn’t limited to musical acts. Joe Conklin, the comedian and impressionist who’s an in-demand performer throughout the Delaware Valley, values Federici’s ability to understand an artist’s perspective.

    “Rob’s an entertainer’s producer,” Conklin observed. “He’s a performer himself, so that’s a big advantage. He knows what you want, he gets on your wavelength and he contributes to the art – the comedy bit, in my case.

    “I wouldn’t use anybody else.”

    For more information about Federici and his work, visit www.roberteric.com/polygon.

  • A job easier on the shoes

    Courtesy of Nina Baratti
    Nina Baratti, a 2011 graduate of Haddon Heights High School, got her first taste of working in media at Philadelphia’s KYW Radio.

    Whether on television or radio, Nina Baratti has made a career of informing the public. Now, the 32-year-old informs the township of all that’s happening in its school district.

    “As the public information officer, I work as the spokesperson with the media,” Baratti said, “and I do a lot of work updating the school district’s social media pages, updating photos, taking videos at events, editing them and getting them online.

    “We have so many positive things that are happening in the district that it’s a very special thing for me to be able to tell these stories.”

    Baratti’s documentation of what’s going on in the township’s school system has made an impression on its staff – particularly the top administrator.

    “The thing about Nina,” noted Superintendent Dr. Kwame Morton, “is that she has this energy, presence and personality that truly is amazing. She radiates this enthusiasm for people, for life, and a way of communicating that I was really just blown away by.”

    Baratti, a 2011 graduate of Haddon Heights High School, got her first taste of working in media when she participated in KYW News Radio’s Newstudies program, for which area students research, write and record their own news segments for broadcast on the station.

    After high school, Baratti majored in broadcasting at Montclair State University and interned at Fox 29-Philadelphia. Upon graduation in 2015, she soon got her first job as a multimedia journalist/reporter at the now-defunct SNJ Today television, a Millville-based broadcast focused on South Jersey. She covered everything from air shows, food bank donations and blood drives to alley cats prowling the Atlantic City Boardwalk.

    “I did my own camera work, set up the shots, gave my stand-up report,” Baratti explained. “I was a one-man band. As my first job as a journalist, it (SNJ Today) was very special for me because I had a very supportive manager. I think very creatively, and she would say, ‘I trust you; go out there and see what you come back with.’”

    Baratti left that job – and New Jersey – in 2018. She headed to Harrisonburg, Virginia, where she became one of the main anchors for WHSV-TV’s 5 p.m. news and anchored and produced its 6 p.m. broadcast.

    “I enjoyed being a producer,” she noted, “because you’re putting together a big puzzle all day. One of my favorite parts of my job there was training the new reporters who had just gotten out of college. It wasn’t technically part of my job description, but I enjoyed the mentoring aspect of it.”

    Baratti left WHSV four years ago and came back home to New Jersey, where she became a breaking news reporter at Philadelphia’s KYW, the very station where she got her first broadcast journalism experience as a high schooler.

    “I was a nighttime reporter – my shift was from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m.,” she recalled. “So a lot of my stories were crime related, sports related and covering town hall and school board meetings … I was kind of sent all over the place, wherever the news was.

    “One of my favorite parts of the job was covering the sports playoffs,” Baratti added. “I got to do fan reaction, ‘red October’ Phillies games. That was fun.”

    She discovered the job posting for the township’s public information officer while still at KYW. Though she wasn’t actively looking for a new gig, the job piqued her interest.

    “I remember reading the job description and thinking, ‘This sounds like an interesting job,’ Baratti recounted. “I think I can do it.’”

    She began her new job in November.

    “It felt like the right move for me,” she related, “and it’s been a wonderful experience.”

    Asked if she misses her days as a television and radio journalist, Baratti was upbeat.

    “All the perks of being a journalist I still get to do,” she pointed out. “I still get to be a storyteller, and I get to be really creative here. And I can tell you,” she added with a laugh, “I haven’t ruined one pair of shoes since I’ve been here.”

  • A job easier on the shoes

    Courtesy of Nina Baratti
    Nina Baratti, a 2011 graduate of Haddon Heights High School, got her first taste of working in media at Philadelphia’s KYW Radio.

    Whether on television or radio, Nina Baratti has made a career of informing the public. Now, the 32-year-old informs the township of all that’s happening in its school district.

    “As the public information officer, I work as the spokesperson with the media,” Baratti said, “and I do a lot of work updating the school district’s social media pages, updating photos, taking videos at events, editing them and getting them online.

    “We have so many positive things that are happening in the district that it’s a very special thing for me to be able to tell these stories.”

    Baratti’s documentation of what’s going on in the township’s school system has made an impression on its staff – particularly the top administrator.

    “The thing about Nina,” noted Superintendent Dr. Kwame Morton, “is that she has this energy, presence and personality that truly is amazing. She radiates this enthusiasm for people, for life, and a way of communicating that I was really just blown away by.”

    Baratti, a 2011 graduate of Haddon Heights High School, got her first taste of working in media when she participated in KYW News Radio’s Newstudies program, for which area students research, write and record their own news segments for broadcast on the station.

    After high school, Baratti majored in broadcasting at Montclair State University and interned at Fox 29-Philadelphia. Upon graduation in 2015, she soon got her first job as a multimedia journalist/reporter at the now-defunct SNJ Today television, a Millville-based broadcast focused on South Jersey. She covered everything from air shows, food bank donations and blood drives to alley cats prowling the Atlantic City Boardwalk.

    “I did my own camera work, set up the shots, gave my stand-up report,” Baratti explained. “I was a one-man band. As my first job as a journalist, it (SNJ Today) was very special for me because I had a very supportive manager. I think very creatively, and she would say, ‘I trust you; go out there and see what you come back with.’”

    Baratti left that job – and New Jersey – in 2018. She headed to Harrisonburg, Virginia, where she became one of the main anchors for WHSV-TV’s 5 p.m. news and anchored and produced its 6 p.m. broadcast.

    “I enjoyed being a producer,” she noted, “because you’re putting together a big puzzle all day. One of my favorite parts of my job there was training the new reporters who had just gotten out of college. It wasn’t technically part of my job description, but I enjoyed the mentoring aspect of it.”

    Baratti left WHSV four years ago and came back home to New Jersey, where she became a breaking news reporter at Philadelphia’s KYW, the very station where she got her first broadcast journalism experience as a high schooler.

    “I was a nighttime reporter – my shift was from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m.,” she recalled. “So a lot of my stories were crime related, sports related and covering town hall and school board meetings … I was kind of sent all over the place, wherever the news was.

    “One of my favorite parts of the job was covering the sports playoffs,” Baratti added. “I got to do fan reaction, ‘red October’ Phillies games. That was fun.”

    She discovered the job posting for the township’s public information officer while still at KYW. Though she wasn’t actively looking for a new gig, the job piqued her interest.

    “I remember reading the job description and thinking, ‘This sounds like an interesting job,’ Baratti recounted. “I think I can do it.’”

    She began her new job in November.

    “It felt like the right move for me,” she related, “and it’s been a wonderful experience.”

    Asked if she misses her days as a television and radio journalist, Baratti was upbeat.

    “All the perks of being a journalist I still get to do,” she pointed out. “I still get to be a storyteller, and I get to be really creative here. And I can tell you,” she added with a laugh, “I haven’t ruined one pair of shoes since I’ve been here.”

  • ‘I definitely like it all’

    Ccourtesy of Pretty Poison
    When asked what she prefers – live appearances or writing and recording – Pretty Poison’s Jade Starling said she “loves it all.”

    The ’80s may be over, but Pretty Poison’s career isn’t.

    The Cherry Hill-based dance-pop group – known for its 1987 hit “Catch Me (I’m Falling)” – continues to tour and release new music, acquiring new generations of fans in the process.

    The group’s latest single, “Freedom,” is a fresh, house-music reworking of its 1987 recording, “Let Freedom Ring,” that listeners can hear on their favorite streaming services.

    For Jade Starling, the crimson-haired siren of Pretty Poison, “Freedom” couldn’t be more relevant.

    “The song delivers a message of love and unity,” she explained, “and we’re in a time where we need songs that bring us together, not tear us apart.”

    To that end, Pretty Poison is known for its loyal advocacy of the LGBTQ community and regularly performs at Pride celebrations.

    “(The LGBTQ community) have followed us and supported us for years,” noted Starling, “because they know we have that message of acceptance and non-judgment.”

    In addition to “Freedom,” Pretty Poison has released a holiday song, “Alone at Christmas.”

    When the band was formed, it was not a dance-music outfit.

    “We were influenced by the early Pretenders, Blondie to a certain extent, and the artists of the time, like Pat Benatar,” said Whey Cooler, Pretty Poison’s founder, keyboardist and co-songwriter with Starling.

    Cooler, however, soon became inspired by the synth pop coming out of England. He bought two drum machines, and, gradually, Starling and Cooler’s vision of the band’s sound became more rhythmic and syncopated.

    Pretty Poison’s breakout single, “Nightime,” was released by Svengali Records in 1984 and re-released on Virgin Records in 1988.

    “We were embraced by Power 99, which was still a relatively open-formatted station,” Cooler recalled. “They liked that our music fit their format.”

    That was followed three years later by what would be the group’s signature song, “Catch Me (I’m Falling),” ultimately released on Virgin Records, with its video used to promote the 1987 Jon Cryer film, “Hiding Out.” Cooler and Starling had no idea the song would become such a sensation.

    “I had the song on a cassette in my pocket,” Cooler remembered. “We wrote it for somebody else.”

    “We never thought that this little song would make so much noise and become the iconic song that it is today,” Starling remarked.

    “Catch Me” was a massive success, making it to No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Club Dance Play chart and peaking at No. 8 on the music trade magazine’s Hot 100 chart. It remained in the Top 40 for 14 weeks.

    Its popularity led Pretty Poison to appearances on “American Bandstand,” “Soul Train,” “Solid Gold,” “The Arsenio Hall Show” and “Top of the Pops.” Along with “Nightime,” “Catch Me” also became a prime example of the freestyle dance movement of the 1980s, a high energy, Latin-infused type of electronic dance music associated with groups and singers such as Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam, Stevie B, The Cover Girls, Expose and Shannon.

    According to Cooler, “Catch Me (I’m Falling)” has been used in 32 major films and television shows – most recently the MTV series, “The Challenge,” and an episode of last season’s “Will Trent” on ABC – and he plans more inclusions of the song.

    Today, Pretty Poison shows no signs of slowing down: Band members continue to perform and unleash new music at a prodigious rate. When asked what she prefers – live appearances or writing and recording – Starling doesn’t hesitate to answer.

    “I definitely like it all,” she said.

    “We split the time between touring and recording,” Starling pointed out. “Actually, we’ve had a pretty full schedule this year, and I’m grateful that our schedule allows us to have time to record, to write, and to be out there, touring and performing.”

    For more information about Pretty Poison,visit the www.prettypoisonmusic.com website.

  • ‘I definitely like it all’

    Ccourtesy of Pretty Poison
    When asked what she prefers – live appearances or writing and recording – Pretty Poison’s Jade Starling said she “loves it all.”

    The ’80s may be over, but Pretty Poison’s career isn’t.

    The Cherry Hill-based dance-pop group – known for its 1987 hit “Catch Me (I’m Falling)” – continues to tour and release new music, acquiring new generations of fans in the process.

    The group’s latest single, “Freedom,” is a fresh, house-music reworking of its 1987 recording, “Let Freedom Ring,” that listeners can hear on their favorite streaming services.

    For Jade Starling, the crimson-haired siren of Pretty Poison, “Freedom” couldn’t be more relevant.

    “The song delivers a message of love and unity,” she explained, “and we’re in a time where we need songs that bring us together, not tear us apart.”

    To that end, Pretty Poison is known for its loyal advocacy of the LGBTQ community and regularly performs at Pride celebrations.

    “(The LGBTQ community) have followed us and supported us for years,” noted Starling, “because they know we have that message of acceptance and non-judgment.”

    In addition to “Freedom,” Pretty Poison has released a holiday song, “Alone at Christmas.”

    When the band was formed, it was not a dance-music outfit.

    “We were influenced by the early Pretenders, Blondie to a certain extent, and the artists of the time, like Pat Benatar,” said Whey Cooler, Pretty Poison’s founder, keyboardist and co-songwriter with Starling.

    Cooler, however, soon became inspired by the synth pop coming out of England. He bought two drum machines, and, gradually, Starling and Cooler’s vision of the band’s sound became more rhythmic and syncopated.

    Pretty Poison’s breakout single, “Nightime,” was released by Svengali Records in 1984 and re-released on Virgin Records in 1988.

    “We were embraced by Power 99, which was still a relatively open-formatted station,” Cooler recalled. “They liked that our music fit their format.”

    That was followed three years later by what would be the group’s signature song, “Catch Me (I’m Falling),” ultimately released on Virgin Records, with its video used to promote the 1987 Jon Cryer film, “Hiding Out.” Cooler and Starling had no idea the song would become such a sensation.

    “I had the song on a cassette in my pocket,” Cooler remembered. “We wrote it for somebody else.”

    “We never thought that this little song would make so much noise and become the iconic song that it is today,” Starling remarked.

    “Catch Me” was a massive success, making it to No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Club Dance Play chart and peaking at No. 8 on the music trade magazine’s Hot 100 chart. It remained in the Top 40 for 14 weeks.

    Its popularity led Pretty Poison to appearances on “American Bandstand,” “Soul Train,” “Solid Gold,” “The Arsenio Hall Show” and “Top of the Pops.” Along with “Nightime,” “Catch Me” also became a prime example of the freestyle dance movement of the 1980s, a high energy, Latin-infused type of electronic dance music associated with groups and singers such as Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam, Stevie B, The Cover Girls, Expose and Shannon.

    According to Cooler, “Catch Me (I’m Falling)” has been used in 32 major films and television shows – most recently the MTV series, “The Challenge,” and an episode of last season’s “Will Trent” on ABC – and he plans more inclusions of the song.

    Today, Pretty Poison shows no signs of slowing down: Band members continue to perform and unleash new music at a prodigious rate. When asked what she prefers – live appearances or writing and recording – Starling doesn’t hesitate to answer.

    “I definitely like it all,” she said.

    “We split the time between touring and recording,” Starling pointed out. “Actually, we’ve had a pretty full schedule this year, and I’m grateful that our schedule allows us to have time to record, to write, and to be out there, touring and performing.”

    For more information about Pretty Poison,visit the www.prettypoisonmusic.com website.