There were early signs that Melba Moore would become an entertainer. The most obvious motivation was her mother, Bonnie Davis, who was also a successful singer. Witnessing the success that her mother endured, Moore knew the entertainment industry would not escape her. The world of performing arts was formally introduced to her by way of dance lessons at the age of four. Moore's mother impressed upon her that "if you don't touch people's hearts, it doesn't mean anything." Her stepfather would also become an instrumental figure in the development of her early career. All her siblings were musically inclined. Melba's interest was dance. However, her stepfather insisted that she learn the piano. Against her will, she conceded — and to her benefit. She gained much admiration for the blues and jazz pianists. Upon graduating from college, she became a music teacher, which she found very fulfilling. Nonetheless, Moore's affinity for the entertainment industry persisted. Her stepfather, also a musician, gave her invaluable advice and guidance. He sensed his stepdaughter's irresistible urge to be in the entertainment industry, so he began to show her the ropes. The results landed Moore jobs singing jingles and background vocals. She hit it big when she joined ...

Singer Evelyn "Champagne" King first came to fame with the million-selling '70s disco smashes "Shame" and "I Don't Know if It's Right." Born July 1, 1960, in the Bronx, NY, she had a showbiz lineage. Her uncle was actor/singer/dancer Avon Long, who first played Sportin' Life in the play Porgy and Bess and later starred in the '70s play Bubblin' Brown Sugar. Her father, Erik King, was a singer and often augmented groups that appeared at New York's Apollo Theater. By her teens, King had relocated to Philadelphia with her mother, and began singing in several groups. To make ends meet, King and her mother became cleaning women. For a teenager, King's voice was quite mature; many at first thought she was a grown woman. While working one night at Philadelphia International Records' recording base, producer T. Life overheard some tantalizing vocals coming from a washroom. There he discovered 16-year-old Evelyn King and her mother. Signing the singer to a production deal and a contract with RCA, Life's first single with Evelyn "Champagne" King was "Dancin'"Dancin' "Dancin'." Her debut LP Smooth Talk was released August 1977. But it was a song written by John Fitch and Reuben Cross, called "Shame," that ...

I got sloppy for a couple of years (83/4) while I was loved up, engaged, married and becoming a home-owner (not reccomended) and missed the arrival of this beautiful platter. I was in Rhodes a few years later and made a lot of friends because the sounds comin’ from my poolside ghettoblaster were agreeable. Shortly after, we took over the sound system in the bar and a great holiday was had by all. During that time I was asked if I had heard this track and also The System - You’re In My System which I’ll put up as soon as I find it. I hadn’t? The 12″ release is a remix by John Luongo and since I’ve not heard the album version I don’t know how different it is but I do know that this version is awesome. The lead vocal is handled by a very competent Rob Van Shaik who is ably supported by a featured guest vocalist, Gwen Guthrie. All in all, a very worthy acquisition, I got my education.

I got sloppy for a couple of years (83/4) while I was loved up, engaged, married and becoming a home-owner (not reccomended) and missed the arrival of this beautiful platter. I was in Rhodes a few years later and made a lot of friends because the sounds comin' from my poolside ghettoblaster were agreeable. Shortly after, we took over the sound system in the bar and a great holiday was had by all. During that time I was asked if I had heard this track and also The System - You're In My System which I'll put up as soon as I find it. I hadn't? The 12" release is a remix by John Luongo and since I've not heard the album version I don't know how different it is but I do know that this version is awesome. The lead vocal is handled by a very competent Rob Van Shaik who is ably supported by a featured guest vocalist, Gwen Guthrie. All in all, a very worthy acquisition, I got my education.

Pioneering synth duo the System rode the '80s wave of emerging synth/MIDI music technology to help lay the foundation for contemporary electronic popular music with their upfront, unapologetic use of synths and intelligent songwriting. In the early '80s, singer Mic Murphy and keyboardist David Frank met in New York. Collecting on studio time that he had bartered for in exchange for playing on sessions, Frank asked Murphy to join him in the studio to work on some ideas. After their overnight session, Murphy took the master tape to an engineer friend that transferred the tape onto a 12" lacquer record. The duo took the record to Atlantic's Mirage Records and were signed right away. Their 1982 single "You Are in My System" quickly became the rage on both the dancefloor and on urban-formatted radio, leading to the release of Sweat on Mirage/Atlantic. Other tracks from the album got dancefloor attention, such as "Sweat" and "I Can't Let Go." Their next album, X-periment, included the infectious "I Just Want to Make You Feel Good," the sweet ballad "Promises" b/w "X-periment," and the stunningly passionate "I Can't Take Losing You." In 1986, the duo performed the title album track/hit single "The Pleasure Seekers" on ...

Shalamar was the creation of Dick Griffey, the booking agent for the television R&B program Soul Train, and British R&B producer Simon Soussan. The group's first single, the 1977 Motown medley "Uptown Festival," featured a bevy of faceless studio musicians; once it became a hit, Griffey decided to form a performing group under the name Shalamar. Through Soul Train, Griffey found Jody Watley, Jeffrey Daniels, and Gerald Brown, the three vocalists that became Shalamar; Brown was quickly replaced by Howard Hewitt in 1978. Shalamar's string of poppy dance-soul hits began in 1979 with "Take That to the Bank"; later that year, "The Second Time Around" hit the Top Ten. Throughout the early '80s the group were favorites on the U.S. R&B scene, as well as scoring a number of British hit singles. Watley and Daniels left the group in 1982 and were replaced by Delisa Davis and Micki Free in 1984; Watley went on to stardom as a solo act. The following year Shalamar won a Grammy award for "Don't Get Stopped in Beverly Hills," which was featured in Beverly Hills Cop. Hewitt left for a solo career in 1986, signaling the end of the band's career as hit-makers. Sidney Justin ...

  I Level was a short-term U.K. band consisting of Duncan Bridgeman, Jo Dworniak, and Sam Jones. Bridgeman and Dworniak — both from Essex, England — met through a classified ad in Melody Maker and first played together in Scrambled Egos and Shake Shake before evolving into I Level, with the addition of Sam Jones from Sierra Leone, Africa. With Jones, a former member of the reggae band Brimstone, I Level snagged a deal with Virgin Records in 1982. The year before, Bridgeman was a brief member of the Last Dance and recorded with the band. They scored out-the-box in the U.K. with "Give Me," which became a Top Five R&B single in the U.S. via Epic Records. The success inspired a whole album of songs. I Level dropped early in 1983 and two more not as successful singles, "Minefield" and "Teacher," bubbled out. 1985 saw the release of the trio's second and final LP, Shake, which contained the controversial track "In the Sand," an acclaimed U.K. rare groove. When the album didn't move, I Level disbanded. Dworniak became a sought after session man with credits too numerous to mention. He was a member of the duo Gardening by Moonlight with John Johnson ...

  Vocalist L.J. Reynolds hovered on the edge of stardom in the '80s, but never made the major single or album he needed to explode as a solo artist. Reynolds had some good singles in the early '60s, when he was recording for Tri-Spin as Larry "Chubby" Reynolds. He moved to Mainstream in 1969, then was lead vocalist for The Relations in 1970. After cutting singles for several small independents and landing one Law-ton single in the R&B Top 30 ("Let One Hurt Do" in 1971), Reynolds replaced William Howard in The Dramatics in 1973, remaining with them until 1980. He then signed a solo deal with Capitol, and his LPs were frequently well received, but never sold very well. Only the song "Touch Down" among his many Capitol releases ever reached the R&B Top 30. Reynolds rejoined The Dramatics in 1986.

  52nd Street was a vocal group from Manchester, England, who had a 1986 Top Ten R&B hit with "Tell Me How It Feels." The lineup was John Dennison, Diane Charlemagne, Tony Bowry, and Rony Henry. They were part of the mid-'80s British soul music invasion that included Junior, Loose Ends, Five Star, and Soul II Soul. The group recorded for the same label as Loose Ends, MCA Records, shared the same producer, Nick Martinelli, and to some extent the same sound. "Tell Me How It Feels" made it to number eight R&B on Billboard's chart in spring 1986. The single was on their LP Children of the Night, which included the whimsical "Never Give Up on You," the jazzy, loping radio-aired title track — not to be confused with the same-named classic by the Stylistics; "Look I've Heard," an ode to self-centered teenagers; the jaunty "I Can't Let You Go"; the slammin' "Let's Celebrate"; and the follow-up single "You're My Last Chance." Their second LP, 1987's Something's Going On, yielded the charting single "I'll Return." // -->

  52nd Street was a vocal group from Manchester, England, who had a 1986 Top Ten R&B hit with "Tell Me How It Feels." The lineup was John Dennison, Diane Charlemagne, Tony Bowry, and Rony Henry. They were part of the mid-'80s British soul music invasion that included Junior, Loose Ends, Five Star, and Soul II Soul. The group recorded for the same label as Loose Ends, MCA Records, shared the same producer, Nick Martinelli, and to some extent the same sound. "Tell Me How It Feels" made it to number eight R&B on Billboard's chart in spring 1986. The single was on their LP Children of the Night, which included the whimsical "Never Give Up on You," the jazzy, loping radio-aired title track — not to be confused with the same-named classic by the Stylistics; "Look I've Heard," an ode to self-centered teenagers; the jaunty "I Can't Let You Go"; the slammin' "Let's Celebrate"; and the follow-up single "You're My Last Chance." Their second LP, 1987's Something's Going On, yielded the charting single "I'll Return."