Camille (American singer)

Last updated
Camille
Camille-vocalist-2015.jpg
Camille in 2015
Background information
Birth nameCamille Marie Filfiley
Born (1963-04-08) 8 April 1963 (age 61)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Genres Dance, R&B, freestyle music
OccupationSinger
InstrumentVocals
LabelsCamilleon, Martru, 4th & B'way
Website www.camillemusic.net

Camille Filfiley, known professionally as Camille, is an American singer best known for her recordings with Eumir Deodato and her prominence in the early 1990s freestyle music and dance music genres.

Contents

Biography and music career

Camille began singing at the age of seven, and by age 11 was performing professionally in New York City with appearances at notable Manhattan clubs like The Improv and Catch A Rising Star. [1] She achieved her first radio success in 1985 after getting hired by recording artist and hit producer Eumir Deodato. Camille was the featured vocalist on Deodato's album Motion , singing on the hits "S.O.S., Fire In The Sky" and "Are You For Real" (each credited on the album as Deodato featuring Camille). [2] The songs reached #6 and #17 respectively on the Billboard Hot Dance Chart and stayed on the chart for a combined 26 weeks. [3] "S.O.S., Fire In The Sky" was also an international hit, reaching the top of the charts in the Netherlands [4] and France. Camille performed live dates for the next two years in support of the Deodato album. It was during this time that she became established in New York's "Garage music" scene, which originated in the historic Paradise Garage dance club and was popularized by DJs Larry Levan and Tony Humphries. [5]

In the 1990s she followed with several solo releases for the record labels 4th & B'way Records and Martru Records (all credited as Camille), and was the lead singer for Rhythm Method on the label ZYX Music (credited as Rhythm Method featuring Camille). Camille also picked up numerous album credits as background or featured vocalist for many top Freestyle music artists, including The Cover Girls, TKA, Concept of One, Tony Moran, Latin Rascals, Angel Civiles and others. The TKA session was a cover of Deodato's "Are You For Real" for their album Louder Than Love (credited on the album as TKA featuring Camille). In the process she met TKA member Louis Sharpe, who used the stage name Kayel with TKA and later K7 as a solo artist. This led to Camille singing on K7's hip-hop hit "Come Baby Come" in 1993 (credited as Camille Shea, her married name). [6] The song reached #18 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart and #3 on the UK Singles Chart, and was RIAA certified gold. It has since been released on more than 40 compilation or soundtrack albums, [7] most notably Jock Jams, Volume 1 on Tommy Boy Records which was RIAA certified double platinum. [8] The song was also prominently featured in the 2006 Touchstone Pictures movie Stick It starring Jeff Bridges, as well as the 2016 New Line Cinema movie How to Be Single starring Dakota Johnson, Rebel Wilson and Leslie Mann. On the original recording session for "Come Baby Come", Camille improvised a vocal scat, which was then used by the producer as a repeating hook throughout the song. Although Camille came up with the vocal line, she did not receive any writing credit for the song.

In 1995, "S.O.S., Fire In The Sky" was included on the Rhino Records compilation The Disco Years, Vol 6: Everybody Dance, which AllMusic considered a "wise choice" for its inclusion. [9] The song was also released on the compilation Hi-NRG Dance Classics the same year, with Camille receiving equal billing as co-performer with Deodato. [10] 1997, she released an eponymous album of jazz standards titled Camille Filfiley, the only time in her career she would use her full birth name. Her promotion for the album included a televised live performance and interview on PBS. In 2003 Camille recorded with the Latin Head Huntrz on their self-titled album for Sound Factory Records, most notably as the featured vocalist on a remake of the Jefferson Airplane classic "White Rabbit" (song title listed as "White Rabbit featuring Camille").

She continued a regular schedule of studio work throughout the 2000s, while her earlier hits with Deodato and others were reissued on numerous compilation albums including Choice: A Collection Of Classics by Tony Humphries (2003), Happy Hour / Motion (2005) and The Greatest Hits (2006), both by Deodato, and Disco Discharge: Gay Disco & Hi-NRG (2009) which was credited to various artists and received a 4-star rating on AllMusic. [11]

In 2014 she formed her own record label Camilleon Records and released a solo album I Sing Stevie: The Stevie Wonder Songbook. [12] The album featured the songs of Stevie Wonder and included many top session players, including Will Lee, Mitchel Forman, Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez, Marc Quiñones and others. It received positive reviews, with Bass Musician Magazine commenting, "Camille has serious vocal skills and a wealth of experience that makes her the perfect performer to attempt this musical Mount Everest". [13] Famed jazz historian Scott Yanow wrote "One of the many joys of I Sing Stevie is hearing Camille giving fresh interpretations to a variety of mostly lesser-known Stevie Wonder songs. Her love for the music is obvious, as is her talented singing. One suspects that Stevie Wonder would love this CD." [14] In March 2015, the album was nominated for Best Tribute Album in the 14th Annual Independent Music Awards. In 2017 Camille received nominations for two JPF Music Awards, including Best Tribute Album for I Sing Stevie: The Stevie Wonder Songbook and Best Cover Song for "They Won't Go When I Go". [15]

Musical influences

In a 2014 interview with SmoothJazz.com, Camille said that her biggest vocal influences were Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell, Carmen McRae and Barbra Streisand, while crediting the recordings of Oscar Peterson for her early musical development and ear training. [16]

Discography

YearTitleArtistLabel
1984 Motion Deodato Warner Bros.
1984"S.O.S., Fire In The Sky" (single)Deodato feat. CamilleWarner Bros.
1985"Are You For Real" (single)Deodato feat. CamilleWarner Bros.
1988"There's No Party Here" (single)Camille4th & B'way
1990 Louder Than Love TKA feat. CamilleTommy Boy Records
1991"I've Been Thinking About You" (single)CamilleMartru Records
1991"What's The Need" (single)Nelson "FFWD" Cruz feat. CamilleCruzin' Nelson Records
1991"Can You Give Me Love" (single)Rhythm Method feat. CamilleZYX Records
1992"My Love Will Set You Free" (single)CamilleMartru Records
1992Here It Is The Cover Girls Epic
1993 Concept of One Concept Of OneCutting Records
1993 Swing Batta Swing K7 Tommy Boy
1993"Come Baby Come" (single)K7Tommy Boy
1994"Zunga Zeng" FUN Mob Remix(single)K7Tommy Boy
1997Camille FilfileyCamille FilfileyRS Jazz
2003Sound Factory Sessions Vol. 1Latin Headhuntrz feat. CamilleSound Factory Records
2006 Stick It (Original Soundtrack)Various ArtistsHollywood Records
2007The Greatest HitsDeodatoHigh Fashion
2014I Sing Stevie: The Stevie Wonder SongbookCamilleCamilleon Records

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stevie Wonder</span> American musician (born 1950)

Stevland Hardaway Morris, known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. One of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the 20th century, he is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include R&B, pop, soul, gospel, funk, and jazz. A virtual one-man band, Wonder's use of synthesizers and other electronic musical instruments during the 1970s reshaped the conventions of contemporary R&B. He also helped drive such genres into the album era, crafting his LPs as cohesive and consistent, in addition to socially conscious statements with complex compositions. Blind since shortly after his birth, Wonder was a child prodigy who signed with Motown's Tamla label at the age of 11, where he was given the professional name Little Stevie Wonder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sister Sledge</span> American vocal group

Sister Sledge is an American musical vocal group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formed in 1971, the group consists of sisters Joni, Kim, Debbie, and Kathy Sledge. The siblings achieved international success at the height of the disco era. In 1979, they released their breakthrough album We Are Family, which peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and included the 1979 US top-10 singles "He's the Greatest Dancer" and "We Are Family". "We Are Family" earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minnie Riperton</span> African American singer (1947–1979)

Minnie Julia Riperton Rudolph was an American soul singer and songwriter best known for her 1974 single "Lovin' You", her five-octave vocal range, and her use of the whistle register.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eumir Deodato</span> Brazilian pianist, composer, arranger and producer (born 1943)

Eumir Deodato de Almeida is a Brazilian pianist, composer, arranger and record producer, primarily in jazz but who has been known for his eclectic melding of genres, such as pop, rock, disco, rhythm and blues, classical, Latin and bossa nova.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maurice White</span> American musician (1941–2016)

Maurice White was an American musician, best known as the founder, leader, main songwriter and chief producer of the band Earth, Wind & Fire, also serving as the band's co-lead singer with Philip Bailey.

<i>Killing Me Softly</i> (Roberta Flack album) 1973 studio album by Roberta Flack

Killing Me Softly is a studio album by American singer-songwriter Roberta Flack, released on August 1, 1973, by Atlantic Records. She recorded the album with producer Joel Dorn for 18 months. The album was dedicated to Rahsaan Roland Kirk.

"Crickets Sing for Anamaria" is the English-language version of "Os Grilos", a song written by Brazilian musician Marcos Valle with his brother Paulo Sérgio Valle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philip Bailey</span> American musician (born 1951)

Philip James Bailey is an American singer, songwriter and percussionist, best known as an early member and one of the two lead singers of the band Earth, Wind & Fire. Noted for his four-octave vocal range and distinctive falsetto register, Bailey was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame as a member of Earth, Wind & Fire. Bailey was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame for his work with the band.

Ithamara Koorax is a Brazilian jazz and pop singer. For several years, she was voted one of the best jazz singers of the world by DownBeat Readers Polls. In 2008 and 2009, Koorax placed third on the "Female Vocalist" category on the 73rd DownBeat Readers Polls, with Diana Krall on the first place and Cassandra Wilson on second,, as well as on the 74th Annual Readers Poll.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spagna</span> Italian singer and songwriter

Ivana Spagna, also known simply as Spagna, is an Italian singer and songwriter. She is best known for her worldwide hit song "Call Me", released in 1987.

<i>Celebrate!</i> 1980 studio album by Kool & the Gang

Celebrate! is the twelfth studio album by American band Kool & the Gang. Released on September 29, 1980, the album reached No. 1 on the US R&B chart and #10 on the Billboard 200. The album produced perhaps Kool & the Gang's most recognizable hit song, the #1 chart-topper, "Celebration", which still receives heavy play today over four decades later.

<i>Let Me in Your Life</i> 1974 studio album by Aretha Franklin

Let Me in Your Life is the twentieth studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin, released on February 26, 1974, by Atlantic Records.

<i>Deodato 2</i> 1973 studio album by Deodato

Deodato 2 is a 1973 album by Brazilian keyboardist Eumir Deodato. It features noted session guitarist John Tropea on 4 tracks and virtuoso bassist Stanley Clarke on one song, "Skyscrapers". His version of George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" was used in Pontiac commercials during the early-1970s. The song reached #48 in Canada in 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pamala Stanley</span> American singer-songwriter

Pamala Stanley is an American disco and Hi-NRG singer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. She scored several dance/club hits from the late 1970s to the late 1980s. She is the sister of folk-pop recording artist and singer-songwriter James Lee Stanley.

Post-disco is a term and genre to describe an aftermath in popular music history circa 1979–1986, imprecisely beginning with the backlash against disco music in the United States, leading to civil unrest and a riot in Chicago known as the Disco Demolition Night on July 12, 1979, and indistinctly ending with the mainstream appearance of new wave in 1980. During its dying stage, disco displayed an increasingly electronic character that soon served as a stepping stone to new wave, old-school hip-hop, Euro disco, and was succeeded by an underground club music called hi-NRG, which was its direct continuation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">As (song)</span> 1976 Stevie Wonder song

"As" is a song written and performed by American singer and musician Stevie Wonder from his eighteenth album, Songs in the Key of Life (1976). The song was released in October 1977 by Tamla and reached number 36 on both the US Billboard Hot 100 and Black Singles chart. It gets its name from the first word of its lyrics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Another Star</span> 1977 single by Stevie Wonder

"Another Star" is a song written and performed by Stevie Wonder from his 1976 album Songs in the Key of Life. It is the final track on side four of the double LP. The flute player Bobbi Humphrey appears in the last section of the song.

"Are You For Real" is a hit song recorded by the Grammy Award-winning artist and producer Deodato for his 1984 album Motion and released by Warner Bros. Records. The song, which featured vocals by Camille and was written by Rick Suchow, reached the Billboard Top 20 Dance Chart and stayed on for 12 weeks in 1985. The album was re-issued in 2006 by Wounded Bird Records.

"Peter Gunn" is the theme music composed by Henry Mancini for the television show of the same name. The song was the opening track on the original soundtrack album, The Music from Peter Gunn, released by RCA Victor in 1959. Mancini won an Emmy Award and two Grammys for Album of the Year and Best Arrangement. In 2005, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yvonne Wright</span> American songwriter (1951–2016)

Yvonne Lowrene Wright was an American songwriter and vocalist best known for co-writing with Stevie Wonder in the 1970s. Their songs appear on the albums Music of My Mind, Talking Book, Fulfillingness' First Finale, and Stevie Wonder's Journey Through "The Secret Life of Plants".

References

  1. Barone, Sergio (October 1991). "Camille: Cover Story". Club NY/NJ Magazine. 1 (7): 26.
  2. Eumir, Deodato. "Deodato Discography". eumirdeodato.com. Tribeca Park Music, Inc. Archived from the original on 10 January 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  3. "Deodato Chart History". Billboard.com. Archived from the original on 26 October 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  4. "Ductch Charts 1985". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  5. Geerinck, Jan. "A History Of Garage Music". jahsonic.com. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  6. "K7 credits - AllMusic". AllMusic.com. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  7. ""Come Baby Come" on AllMusic". AllMusic.com. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  8. "RIAA Gold & Platinum Certifications". riaa.com. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  9. Kellman, Andy. "AllMusic review "The Disco Years Vol 6: Everybody Dance"". allmusic.com. All Media Network, LLC. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  10. "AllMusic listing "Hi-NRG Dance Classics"". allmusic.com. All Media Network, LLC.
  11. Kellman, Andy. "AllMusic review "Disco Discharge: Gay & Hi-NRG"". allmusic.com. All Media Network, LLC. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  12. "I Sing Stevie: The Stevie Wonder Songbook on AllMusic". AllMusic.com.
  13. Amador, Raul (September 2014). "Bass Musician Magazine review - "I Sing Stevie"". BassMusicianMagazine.com. V.I.E., LLC. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  14. Yanow, Scott. "Review: I Sing Stevie - The Stevie Wonder Songbook". CamilleMusic.net. Retrieved 25 December 2016.
  15. "2017 JPF Awards". jpfolks.com.
  16. "Camille Interview on SmoothJazz.com". SmoothJazz.com. Retrieved 23 December 2014.