Freda Charcilia Payne is an American singer and actress. Payne is best known for her career in music during the mid–1960s through the mid–1980s. Her most notable record is her 1970 hit single, "Band of Gold". Payne was also an actress in musicals and film, as well as the host of a TV talk show. Payne is the older sister of Scherrie Payne, a former singer with the American vocal group The Supremes.
Scherrie Ann Payne is an American singer. Payne is best known as the last lead singer of the R&B/Soul vocal group The Supremes from 1973 until 1977. Because of her powerful voice and petite stature (5'2"), Payne is sometimes referred to as "the little lady with the big voice." Payne is the younger sister of singer Freda Payne. Payne continues to perform, both as a solo act and as a part of the "Former Ladies of the Supremes" (FLOS).
Lamont Herbert Dozier is an American singer, songwriter and record producer, born in Detroit, Michigan. He has co-written and produced 14 US Billboard number 1 hits and 4 number ones in the UK.
The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972.
Holland–Dozier–Holland was a songwriting and production team made up of Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland. The trio wrote, arranged and produced many songs that helped define the Motown sound in the 1960s. During their tenure at Motown Records from 1962 to 1967, Dozier and Brian Holland were the composers and producers for each song, and Eddie Holland wrote the lyrics and arranged the vocals. Their most celebrated productions were singles for the Four Tops and the Supremes, including 10 out of the Supremes' 12 US No. 1 singles, such as "Baby Love", "Stop! In the Name of Love", and "You Keep Me Hangin' On".
Invictus Records was an American record label based in Detroit, Michigan. It was created by former top Motown producers Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Edward Holland, Jr.. It was the sister label to the Buddah-distributed Hot Wax Records, which was also owned by Holland-Dozier-Holland.
High Energy is the twenty-eighth studio album by the Supremes, released in 1976 on the Motown label. The album is notable for featuring the last Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 pop hit for the group, "I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do the Walking".
"Band of Gold" is a popular song written and composed by former Motown producers Holland–Dozier–Holland and Ron Dunbar. It was a major hit when first recorded by Freda Payne in 1970 for the Invictus label, owned by H-D-H. The song has been recorded by numerous artists, notably competing 1986 versions by contrasting pop singers Belinda Carlisle and Bonnie Tyler, and a 2007 version by Kimberley Locke.
"Want Ads" is a song that was a million-selling #1 pop and R&B hit recorded by female group, Honey Cone for their third album Sweet Replies and also appears on their fourth album Soulful Tapestry. The song on the Detroit-based Hot Wax label was written by Greg Perry, General Norman Johnson and Barney Perkins. It was produced by staff producer, Greg Perry, and features a young Ray Parker, Jr. ("Ghostbusters") on rhythm guitar.
Ruth Copeland is an English-born former singer, based in the United States since the 1960s and known for her collaborations with George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic.
The Best of Freda Payne is a 12-track collection of songs recorded by Freda Payne. Although it is a collection of previously recorded tracks, it also includes four unissued songs as well: "How Can I Live Without My Life," "Just a Woman," "You're the Only Bargain I've Got," and "Come Back". Six of the songs on this collection were previously issued as singles for the Invictus label.
Live in Concert is a recording of a live performance that Payne made in Los Angeles on November 6, 1993. It is actually an edited version of the live album An Evening With Freda Payne: Live in Concert, although six songs are longer on this album.. In this performance, Payne performs a variety of songs that were an important part in her career, particularly tracks 5 through 9. Tracks 15 through 18 is a tribute to the many female jazz singers of the 1930s and 1940s. The final track is a medley of two songs, both of which were not featured on An Evening With Freda Payne. Inside the album cover is an essay by Freda on her life and career and life in general and her special thank-yous.
Lost in Love is a ten-track collection of songs that were recorded by Freda Payne during the decade of the seventies. With the exception of her biggest hit "Band of Gold," the rest of the tracks were recorded after she left the label of Invictus Records in 1973. Tracks 2 through 9 were all taken from Payne's album Out of Payne Comes Love, while the final selection is from her album Payne & Pleasure, which was released a year before Out of Payne Comes Love.
Band of Gold: The Best of Freda Payne is a 24-track collection of songs that were recorded by Freda Payne for Invictus Records. Originally from the United Kingdom, it was released in the United States as an import. This collection features ten songs from her album Band of Gold, seven from Contact, all four from The Best of Freda Payne, and only three from Reaching Out. Many of the songs were written by Holland, Dozier and Holland themselves, often using the pseudonym Edithe Wayne for copyright reasons. Inside the album cover is a biographical essay about Payne's life and career which concentrates mostly on her career with the Invictus label and was written in August 2000 by Geoff Brown of Mojo.
Unhooked Generation: The Complete Invictus Recordings is a collection of every single recording that Freda Payne had made for Invictus Records, including single versions of her hits "You Brought the Joy" and "Deeper and Deeper" and an alternate version of her biggest hit "Band of Gold." Like its predecessor Band of Gold: The Best of Freda Payne, it was released by a British distributor and then released in the US as an import. Inside the album cover is an essay on Payne's life and career by Peter Doggett, along with a transcript from a phoned interview of Payne by David Nathan.
Contact is Freda Payne's fourth American released album and her second for Invictus Records. The majority of the material on this album contains sad themes, with the exception of "You Brought the Joy." The album begins with a dramatic 11-minute medley of "I'm Not Getting Any Better" and "Suddenly It's Yesterday," both of which were written by Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier. Some people thought that Holland and Dozier were trying to compete with Diana Ross's hit "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" as both songs contain spoken segments and dramatic musical arrangements. The only cover song is "He's in My Life", which was an album track by The Glass House featuring Freda's sister Scherrie Payne. It was written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland, jointly with Ron Dunbar.
Donald Charles Baldwin is a United States musician, arranger and composer who achieved significant commercial success with recordings he wrote, arranged and performed for Motown Records and Invictus/Hot Wax Records from 1970 to 1980. Notable work includes his recordings with many widely known musical acts including: Temptations, Commodores, Bonnie Pointer, Chairmen of the Board, Lionel Richie, Freda Payne, Smokey Robinson and members of Funkadelic, as well as record producers Holland-Dozier-Holland and Jeffrey Bowen.
General Norman Johnson was the frontman of Chairmen of the Board and an American rhythm and blues songwriter and record producer.
"Bring the Boys Home" is a song recorded by rhythm and blues singer Freda Payne in 1971 during the Vietnam War era. It was an anti-war song that was aimed at the sending of troops to fight in an increasingly unpopular war.
Ronald Dunbar was an American songwriter, A&R director and record producer who worked closely with Holland–Dozier–Holland, and with George Clinton. His co-writing credits include the hit songs "Give Me Just a Little More Time", "Band of Gold", and "Patches", for which he won a Grammy. His Grammy award was sold for $2,350 to the owners of TV show Pawn Stars.
