Fritz Helder and the Phantoms’ Playlist

Photo by Lucy Madison

Last Friday night, at the venerable, trashy-fun Mr. Black, Fritz Helder & the Phantoms threw an outrageous, sweaty, over-the-top dance party for the release of their cheekily titled debut album, Greatest Hits, out now on Nelly Furtado’s new Nelstar label. Rumor is that Furtado—who discovered this foursome on the ground in Toronto, then invited a few of them to tour with her as dancers—actually started the label specifically for these guys. (This is totally unconfirmed, but fun to believe!) The album is all catchy electro-pop party jams, which mainly address such Very Important Issues as sex, dancing, outfits, and sexy dancing outfits (which, given what they consist of—”Red coat, white stockings, black shoes and a little beret”—could have come out of a Prince video or the movie Heathers), so the release party was an appropriately serious matter. Nelly was there to introduce the band, and the four members (singers Fritz Helder and Pastel Supernova, keyboardist Diego Superstar and guitarist Silk Helder) were decked out in their signature leather straps, crazy eye makeup, and dangerous lack of anything else. It is no surprise that the enviable dance moves were in abundance, nor that, at some point during the course of the 11-song set, Fritz managed to lose not only his very fashionable jacket, but also his wrestler-reminiscent leotard-top.

Because summer’s only halfway over and Fritz and Co. have to go back to Canada for awhile, the band has left us with a playlist of their favorite seasonal party jams. Just so we can keep things going until their next visit. Hopefully that will be soon.

Summer Party Jams
1. Malibu—Hole
2. Pull up to My Bumper—Grace Jones
3. Que Tal America—Two Man Sound
4. Automatic—The Pointer Sisters
5. Single Life—Cameo
6. Thong Song—Sisqo
7. Can You Feel It?—Jackson 5
8. Ready To Wear—Felix da Housecat
9, Burnin’ Up—Madonna
10. Hot in Herre—Tiga
11. U Don’t Even Know Me—Armand Van Helden
Encore Track
12. Summertime Girls—LFO