We are all shocked and in Mourning the death of a close personal friend and dance
industry Icon.
Sandra Casanas, known today as SANDY,Sandra Harvey or Freestyle artist SANDEE passed on over the weekend.
The service for SANDEE will be this Saturday at the Fred Hunter Funeral Home
6301 Taft St
Hollywood, Fl
954-989-1550
The time is being set up now, we’ll keep you posted on the time
A memorial fund has been established to help with the cost of funeral arrangements.
YOU CAN MAKE A DEPOSIT TO SANDEE’S MEMORIAL FUND AT:
WACHOVIA ACCT # 1010221663273
IF SENDING A WIRE THE ROUTING NUMBER IS 063000021.
One of the sweetest and strongest persons known in the dance music community, Sandee formed part of the original 1983/1984 Lewis Martinee group X-Posed (later known as Expose, along side Lourie Miller and Ale Lorenzo) and had great success and influence in the early 80′s club scene and sound of electro syncopated dance beats and melodies that would define the Miami Latin dance sound known as Latin Freestyle or Latin pop/Miami Sound. “Exposd to love” ( which was never re-recorded with the second batch of vocalist) as well as “Point of No Return” and other numbers would trace out the blue print for the 3 girls and a drum machine groups that would follow in the club and pop world of Music.
From the later Cover Girls to the U.K’s Bananarama or Latin America’s Pandora. X-Posed (Pantera) would infuse the world with its sound and its underground new wave, punk rock meets inner city street fashions; that in many ways still influence todays younger hipster and altenative crowds.Sandee, being at the forefront.
When Expose later changed its memebers, Sandee moved on as a solo artist as did Ale (“I Want To Know”). She continued to work over the years with everyone from Lewis Martinee, Avy Gonzales, Clivilles & Cole and others. Her single “Your the one (Myheart beats for)” would single handedly define the live brass Miami sound of the late 80′s and quickly rise to the billboard charts. An anthem on Miami’s Power 96 and then dance music station Hot 105fm, Cali’s Power 106, NYC Hot 97 and serve as a dance floor scorcher at clubs like Club1235 (today’s Mansion in sobe) or New York’s Roseland, Redzone, Hearthrob and 1980′s Studio 54.
Her other anthems “Maybe Tonight” “Love Desire” and “Notice Me” would have the same impact on the dance and pop music community of the time and have her sign deals with everyone from Fever Records to Atlantic.
Today SANDEE has been one of few artist to FIRST come back to her Dance music roots (Freestyle), while practicing her ministries, and had a chance to inplant the spirit of artistry into a new generation of dance music purist. DJs, vocal artrist, promoters and then some.
In the HOUSE MUSIC world, she is still a figure in LATIN HOUSE and a figure in a transition period between the 80′s Era of Freestyle and Hi NRG and the 90′s era of House music. An icon in Dance Music in general and has had her CASA MIX of “Notice Me” SAMPLED BY ALMOST EVERY DJ IN PRODUCTION OR MIX SETS.
Sandee can be heard in everything from THE MIGHTY DUB CATS “MAGIC CARPET RIDE” to todays CUBE GUYS “TE QUIERO” under the Roger Sanchez umbrella.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family members and to all our friends, who like us, are in mourning.
(info was grabbed from Jon Pito’s myspace bulletin and from Alyssa of Erotic Exotic’s bulletin on myspace)