Barry Eugene Carter, better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer and songwriter. A two-time Grammy Award winner known for his bass voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with the Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring soul, funk, and disco songs such as his two biggest hits: "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" and "You're the First, the Last, My Everything".
"Louie Louie" is a rhythm and blues song written and composed by American musician Richard Berry in 1955, recorded in 1956, and released in 1957. It is best known for the 1963 hit version by the Kingsmen and has become a standard in pop and rock. The song is based on the tune "El Loco Cha Cha" popularized by bandleader René Touzet and is an example of Afro-Cuban influence on American popular music.
The Human League is an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their third album Dare in 1981 after restructuring their lineup. The album contained four hit singles, including the UK/US number one hit "Don't You Want Me". The band received the Brit Award for Best British Breakthrough Act in 1982. Further hits followed throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, including "Mirror Man", "(Keep Feeling) Fascination", "The Lebanon", "Human" and "Tell Me When".
Richard Berry, Jr. was an American singer, songwriter and musician, who performed with many Los Angeles doo-wop and close harmony groups in the 1950s, including The Flairs and The Robins.
The Kingsmen are a 1960s American rock band from Portland, Oregon. They are best known for their 1963 recording of R&B singer Richard Berry's "Louie Louie", which held the No. 2 spot on the Billboard charts for six weeks and has become an enduring classic.
Marlon David Jackson is an American entertainer, singer, and dancer best known as a member of the Jackson 5. He is the sixth child of the Jackson family. Marlon now runs Study Peace Foundation to promote peace and unity worldwide.
Frederick Anthony Jackson is an American singer. Originally from New York, Jackson began his professional music career in the late 1970s with the California funk band Mystic Merlin. Among his well–known R&B/soul hits are "Rock Me Tonight " (1985), "Have You Ever Loved Somebody" (1986), "Jam Tonight" (1986), "Do Me Again" (1990), and "You Are My Lady" (1985). He contributed to the soundtrack for the 1989 film, All Dogs Go to Heaven with the Michael Lloyd-produced duet "Love Survives" alongside Irene Cara. He also appeared in the movie King of New York.
Joe Simon was an American soul and R&B musician. He began as a gospel artist singing with the Golden West Singers in the Bay Area in California. A consistent presence on the US charts between 1964 and 1981, Simon charted 51 U.S. Pop and R&B chart hits between 1964 and 1981, including eight times in the US top forty, thirty-eight times in the top 40 of the US R&B charts, and 13 chart hits in Canada. His biggest hits included three number one entries on the US Billboard R&B chart: "The Chokin' Kind" (1969), "Power of Love" (1972), and "Get Down, Get Down " (1975). In 2021, he was one of the 60 nominees for the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame.
Dare is the third studio album by English synth-pop band the Human League, first released in the United Kingdom in October 1981 then subsequently in the US in mid-1982. The album, produced by Martin Rushent and recorded between March and September 1981 following the departure of founding members Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh, and saw the band shift direction from their previous avant-garde electronic style toward a more pop-friendly, commercial sound led by frontman Philip Oakey.
Blackground Records 2.0 is an American record label founded and owned by Jomo and Barry Hankerson. Initially named Blackground Enterprises, the label switched its name to Blackground Entertainment then later Blackground Records in 2000. In 2021, the label rebranded as Blackground Records 2.0, reviving its company and catalogue onto streaming services, with a partnership with Empire Distribution. It co-operated with a publishing company founded by Hankerson, named Black Fountain Music.
Marvin & Johnny were an American doo-wop duo that recorded in the 1950s. The duo comprised Marvin Phillips and Emory "Johnny" Perry, who recorded the early doo-wop single, "Cherry Pie".
Dandy Livingstone is a British-Jamaican ska, rocksteady, and reggae musician and record producer, best known for his 1972 hit, "Suzanne Beware of the Devil", and for his song, "Rudy, A Message to You", which was later a cover hit for The Specials. "Suzanne Beware of the Devil", reached number 14 on the UK Singles Chart and number 78 in Australia. In the early 1960s, Livingstone recorded some of the bestselling UK-produced ska singles of the era.
"Goodnight My Love" is a popular song written by George Motola and John Marascalco in 1956.
Jesse Lorenzo Belvin was an American singer, pianist and songwriter popular in the 1950s. Belvin co-wrote the 1954 Penguins' doo-wop classic "Earth Angel", which sold more than 10 million copies, while his top recording was the 1956 single "Goodnight My Love", a song that reached No. 7 on Billboard's R&B chart.
"Love Action (I Believe in Love)" is a song by the British synth-pop group The Human League, released as a single in the UK in July 1981. It became the band's first Top 10 success, peaking at number three in the UK Singles Chart.
The Message Is Love is the self-produced tenth album by American R&B singer Barry White, released in March 1979. It was White's first release on his own CBS-affiliated custom label, Unlimited Gold, following his departure from long-time label 20th Century-Fox Records, and advance interest was high. The album however proved a disappointment both critically and commercially. However, the album was still certified RIAA Gold. The Message Is Love stalled outside the R&B album top 10 and only reached number 67 on the Billboard 200. The poor performance of the album set the pattern for White's career slump in the early 1980s, which saw him fail to place any other album on the Billboard Hot 100 during the decade.
Danny Ray is a Jamaican-born reggae singer and record producer who has been based in the United Kingdom since the late 1960s. He recorded for MCA Records and Trojan Records in the early 1970s and later set up his own Black Jack label.
Sheet Music is the self-produced eleventh album by American R&B singer Barry White, and the second release on his own CBS-affiliated custom label, Unlimited Gold. Although it peaked at #19 in the R&B charts, it was a commercial disappointment. "Love Makin' Music" was the most successful of the single releases, peaking at #25 in the R&B charts. White also recorded this track as well as "She's Everything to Me" in Spanish for the Latin-American market as "Mi nueva canción" and "Ella es todo para mí" respectively. The London branch of CBS Records went for "Rum and Coke" as the second single, but as none of his singles on his new labels had managed to reach the UK Singles Charts, they stopped releasing any further singles off any of his following 4 albums. The Netherlands belatedly released the track "Ghetto Letto" as a single in August 1981, choosing it over White's then current single "Louie Louie".
Change is Barry White's fourteenth studio album.
Dedicated was Barry White's fifteenth studio album, released in March 1983. White's popularity and record sales were at an all-time low and, as a consequence, his relationship with CBS Records had soured. Dedicated and his album Rise with the Love Unlimited Orchestra, released around the same time, sold poorly and failed to chart. All the tracks were recorded at White's R.I.S.E. studio in the grounds of Sherman Oaks, with White and Jack Perry playing all instruments of the rhythm section themselves. Gene Page added the strings. White dedicated the album to his mother, Sadie Marie Carter.
