Cheryl Lynn was a Super Talent

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From her discovery on the Gong Show, national touring member of The Wiz cast, to the background vocals she did for Toto, Cheryl Lynn remained a severely under-rated talent.  Oh the notes she could hit (a 4.4 octave vocal range)!  You gotta know she came from the church choir.

After earning a perfect 30 on The Gong Show for her rendition of "You are so Beautiful" she had the record companies come calling.  But that doesn't mean that she was able to become the superstar that she deserved to become.

I'm gonna have to say she suffered from the big girl syndrome, like Patti Austin, Martha Wash, Randy Crawford and many other huge talents.  Record companies did not know how to market them and ended up marginalizing the careers of many a full-bodied woman.  Adele has had the last laugh by becoming the biggest female vocalist of our time, but back then when Cheryl was releasing super high quality singles it wasn't easy.

Though her only huge pop hit was her debut single "Got to be Real" immortalized in the film Paris is Burning.  It rode up the U.S. pop charts peaking at #12 and was the first of two #1 hits on the R and B charts.  It took until 1984 with Encore for her to hit the peak again.  1981's smash "Shake it Up Tonight" produced by Ray Parker Jr. was another of her most memorable hits.  It also proved her best showing on the Billboard dance chart peaking at #5.

Star Love from her debut album went on to be a classic at The Saint.  I think of that one as a real Robbie Leslie record.  While You Saved my Day is a legendary gospel tinged disco record that didn't get much play and was brought to  my attention on a wonderful Frankie Knuckles compilation.  It went on to become my very favorite Cheryl Lynn song.  I still play it regularly on my iTunes and it always gets me worked up.  I've seen the 12" got for $200 on eBay.  It was a promo only white label.

Great Zip of Cheryl
even more Cheryl

On her 9 albums she worked with a lot of talents including Jimmy Jam and Terry lewis, Ray Parker Jr. Teddy Riley and Luther Vandross to name a few.  She also sang background vocals or duets with the likes of Luther Vandross, Richard Marx and Teddy Riley.  If this World were Mine her duet with Luther Vandross peaked at #4 on the R
and B charts in 1982.

To me she's the quintessential underdog.  9 album releases and if you asked the typical person if they've ever heard of her they'd probably say they hadn't.  Others even call her a one-hit wonder which she was clearly not.  She deserves so much more.  She's a true songbird of legendary status like the Gwen Guthrie's, the Minnie Riperton's and the Patti Austin's.  They may not have had the hits either but they got the respect, at least in the industry.

By 1990 she no longer hit the charts again, but people like me remember her fondly and hold her in the highest esteem.

This is one of those rare videos where they are actually dancing to the song stated.  I despise when people put footage on you tube and you can tell so clearly they aren't dancing to the song listed.


This music video for Encore is a camp classic.  This Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis jam was from 1983 my favorite year for music.  I was a teenager and feeling it deeply.

A Sharon Redd Retrospective….IN THE NAME OF LOVE….

In honor of the gay pride festivities around the world I've decided to post this gem again.
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It's been a few years since I started this blog and I can't remember if I've ever done a proper Sharon Redd retrospective.  It would only be right as Sharon is probably the disco diva I hold closest to my heart.  Hhmm why might you ask?  Well in reality most of the other disco diva's were kinda before my time.  As much as I loved them I was too young to go to clubs.  But by the time Sharon was churning them out I was in the clubs dancing away night after night.  And Sharon was often there too doing a public appearance. I've probably seen her live five times.  Perhaps also because she was from Norfolk and I was going to university in D.C.

She started as a back-up singer for Bette Midler also known as The Harlettes.  In 1978 she was on an album with two other gals Ula Hedwig and Charlotte Crossley billed as formerly the Harlettes.  Then she was part of a group of people led by Luther Vandross on the album Soiree along with Fonzi Thornton, Jocelyn Brown, Yvonne Lewis and again Ula Hedwig.  They did a gorgeous remake of You Keep me Hanging On among other cuts.  Then in 1979 still not getting top billing her voice was the magic behind Love Insurance (hot edit) a #1 disco hit for Front Page.  SHAZZY ZIP 1  SHAZZY ZIP 2

redd zip

By this point she was very much on my radar.  So when Can you Handle It came out in late 1980 I was ready for the full on occupation of this disco diva.  Then when the Shep Pettibone WKYS master mix came out New York City was all about Sharon Redd and Can you Handle it.  I'd venture to say that it was one of the most satisfying remixes of an already fabulous record that I had ever heard at that point.  The sassiness of the track was pumped up deeply and the clubs like The Paradise Garage and Zanzibar had found a major anthem for the season.  In the U.K. even the downtempo Love is Gonna Get You saw a twelve inch release.

Shep is still brining them joy on a dance floor thirty years later!  

The next album Redd Hott seemed much more geared towards the gay crowd.  Now Sharon was more of a Saint disco diva then Zanzibar but in any case she had her first #1 on the Billboard disco charts and the album had several huge dance-floor anthems including Never Give You Up, Beat the Street and In the Name of Love (particularly adored by the gay crowds and subject to many remixes).  In the U.K. even the downtempo Takin' a Chance on Love was released on twelve inch.  

 

The 1983 album Love How You Feel was sort of Sharon's last hurrah.  It featured hits like the title song, You're a Winner and Liar on the Wire but they just weren't as big as her earlier dance floor stompers.  

 Many of Sharon's remixes were done by the genius Francois Kevorkian.  No doubt increasing their appeal on dance floors worldwide.

Her last twelve inch single for Prelude Undercover Girl came out in 1985 and was not that great it was followed up by 1988's Second to None which was sort of a weak attempt to cash in on the then popular freestyle sound and it remains pretty obscure though not bad really.  The vocals are distinctly Sharon and Sharon can SANG!  

On May 1, 1992 she succumbed to A.I.D.S. and I remember really feeling really sad that day.   It had been a minute since I had heard any Sharon but she had held a special place in my heart as she does now.  I hope you enjoy the two zips I have provided.  They include most of her hits and quite a few more recent edits that have been going around.

When is the Luther Vandross version not the best one? Georgy Porgy perhaps.

GEORGY PORGY


SIDE EFFECT VERSION



http://www.mediafire.com/?wawzdogyxkz
SIDE EFFECT VERSION
zip o Georgy



In 1978 Cheryl Lynn dropped from the heavens onto the stage of the Gong Show. She won and was soon in the studio with the brothers from Toto, David and Marty Paich who produced, arranged and played on her debut album. Which incidentally is one of the most impressive debuts in disco history.


They also brought Cheryl in to record the vocals for Georgy Porgy which David Paich incidentally wrote and included on their own debut l.p. This version remains the definitive version. An out and out disco classic. The mesh of the smooth vocals and the vocal supremacy of Cheryl Lynn is disco history on the jazz tip.

The next version by Charme with uncredited vocals by Luther Vandross was released in 1979 on RCA Records. Luther's voice is as always a rich cup of hot chocolate and the accompaniment of Deborah McDuffie is under-stated. But the package simply sounds flat and tame when held up against the Toto and Cheryl Lynn original. But this didn't stop the label from re-releasing it in 1982 with a Jonathan Fearing mix. At this point Luther Vandross had become a bona fide star in his own right.

A year later in 1980 Side Effect, best known for their own 1976 seminal disco classic, Always There, recorded their own version. It was produced by Wayne Henderson, another name for Roy Ayers. This solid version was released on Elektra and so therefore is not included on their Fantasy records greatest hits release. It too features over the top screaming female vocals but is a bit more R and B then Toto's disco version.