La Forrest Cope | |
---|---|
Birth name | La Forrest Cope |
Origin | Queens, New York City, U.S. |
Genres | R&B |
Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter |
Years active | 1981–1992 |
La Forrest 'La La' Cope is an American singer and songwriter. [1] She is best known for writing the hit song "You Give Good Love", recorded by Whitney Houston for her 1985 self-titled debut album, [2] which went on to sell over 25 million units worldwide.
La La was raised in the East Elmhurst neighborhood of Queens, New York City, United States. [3] She took up the piano at the age of five and gave a piano recital at Carnegie Hall at the age of nine. [3] After leaving New York's High School of Music and Art, she formed a band called Jack Sass, which played top 40 cover versions on the club scene. [3] As the group's reputation grew, La La began introducing more of her own songs into the repertoire before she went to Juilliard to major in composition. [3]
In 1981, she was invited to tour with Stacy Lattisaw who opened for the Jacksons on a national tour. [3] Following this, she sang with the group Change, along with Luther Vandross, where her voice was heard on their song "The Glow of Love", co-written by her childhood friend from East Elmhurst, Queens, Wayne K. Garfield. [3] She played one of her songs, "Stone Love", to another neighborhood friend, Kashif, who recorded it for his debut album in 1983. [3]
Throughout the 1980s, La La established herself as a songwriter, penning songs for many artists including Lillo Thomas ("All of You"), Melba Moore ("Living for Your Love" and "It's Really Love"), Glenn Jones ("Show Me" and "Stay"), Giorge Pettus ("My Night for Love") and a solo release, "Into the Night" which was featured on the Beat Street soundtrack album. [3]
Through Kashif, she had a couple of her songs recorded by new Arista signing Whitney Houston ("You Give Good Love" and "Thinking About You") before signing to the label herself (both Kashif and Houston's label) as an artist. [3] In 1987, she released her debut album La La, including duets with Glenn Jones and Bernard Wright and production by R&B group Full Force. She also duetted with Jermaine Jackson on a cover of Climie Fisher's "Rise to the Occasion" for his 1989 album Don't Take It Personal .
La La continued to write and produce for major artists including Carl Anderson and the top 10 US R&B hit "Secret Lady" for Stephanie Mills. [3] After a move to Motown Records, she released her second (and last to date) solo album La La Means I Love You! in 1991, which included her version of her much-covered R&B classic "Show Me" as well as contributions from Rene Moore, Marcus Miller and Lenny White.
In 2024, La La was inducted into the Women Songwriters Hall of Fame. [4]
Year | Song | US R&B [5] | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1984 | "Into the Night" | — | |||
1986 | "(If You) Love Me Just a Little" | 22 | |||
1987 | "My Love Is on the Money" | 48 | |||
"I Got a Thing for You" | — | ||||
"We'll Keep Striving" | — | ||||
1991 | "A New Way of Love" | — | |||
"—" denotes releases that did not chart. |
Whitney Elizabeth Houston was an American singer, actress, and film producer. Known as "the Voice", she is one of the most awarded entertainers and one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with sales of over 220 million records worldwide. Houston's crossover appeal on popular music charts and her performances influenced the breaking down of gender and racial barriers, as well as popular culture. Known for her vocal delivery and live concerts, Houston was ranked second by Rolling Stone on its 2023 list of the "200 Greatest Singers of All Time". Her life and career have been the subject of multiple documentaries and television specials.
Marie Dionne Warwick ( dee-ONWOR-wik; is an American singer, actress, and television host. During her career, Warwick has won many awards, including six Grammy Awards. She has been inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Grammy Hall of Fame, the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Apollo Theater Walk of Fame. In 2019, Warwick won the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Three of her songs have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Emily Drinkard, known professionally as Cissy Houston, was an American soul and gospel singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, Houston began singing with three of her siblings in the family gospel group, The Drinkard Singers. By the early 1960s, Houston began a career as a session vocalist for several secular musicians in the rhythm and blues, soul, rock and roll, pop and rock genres. After initially joining her nieces' group the Gospelaires for a session with Ronnie Hawkins in 1961, Houston gradually took control of the group, which revamped into "The Group" with Houston, niece Sylvia Shemwell, Myrna Smith and teenager Estelle Brown. She eventually founded the girl group The Sweet Inspirations with Shemwell, Smith and Brown in 1967 and that year signed a contract with Atlantic Records where, with Houston as lead singer, they would record four albums before Houston departed for a solo career in 1970. Her best known solo singles include the top 20 R&B chart single, "I'll Be There" and the top 5 dance single, "Think It Over". Her solo career culminated with two Grammy Award wins, both in the Traditional Gospel Album category.
Deborah Cox is a Canadian singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Born and raised in Toronto, she began performing on television commercials at age 12, and entered various talent shows in her teenage years before becoming a professional backing vocalist for Celine Dion. In 1994, Cox relocated to the United States and was signed to Arista Records by Clive Davis, releasing her self-titled debut album the following year. Her second studio album, One Wish (1998), was certified platinum in the United States. It was marked by the commercial success of the pop crossover single "Nobody's Supposed to Be Here", which would become her most successful entry on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number two and remaining there for eight consecutive weeks. Cox signed with J Records for her third studio album The Morning After (2002), which saw moderate commercial success.
Linda Diane Creed, also known by her married name Linda Epstein, was an American songwriter, lyricist and record producer who teamed up with Thom Bell to produce some of the most successful Philadelphia soul groups of the 1970s.
Whitney Houston is the debut studio album by American singer Whitney Houston, released on February 14, 1985, by Arista Records. Whitney Houston initially had a slow commercial response, but began getting more popular in mid-1985. It eventually topped the Billboard 200 for 14 weeks in 1986, generating three number-one singles—"Saving All My Love for You", "How Will I Know" and "Greatest Love of All"—on the Billboard Hot 100, which made it both the first debut album and the first album by a solo female artist to produce three number-one singles in the United States.
Just Whitney is the fifth studio album by American singer and actress Whitney Houston, released on November 27, 2002, by Arista Records. It was her first studio album to be released after her greatest hits compilation, Whitney: The Greatest Hits (2000), and the follow-up to her multi-platinum fourth studio album, My Love is Your Love (1998). Just Whitney was also Houston's first to be released after re-signing her contract with Arista in 2001 for $100 million - the largest recording contract for a female artist at the time.
"I Will Always Love You" is a song written and originally recorded in 1973 by American singer-songwriter Dolly Parton. Written as a farewell to her business partner and mentor Porter Wagoner, expressing Parton's decision to pursue a solo career, the country single was released in 1974. The song was a commercial success for Parton, twice reaching the top spot of the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart: first in June 1974, then again in October 1982, with a re-recording for The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas soundtrack.
"You Give Good Love" is the debut solo single by American singer Whitney Houston for her 1985 eponymous debut studio album. It was written by La Forrest 'La La' Cope and produced by Kashif. When La La sent Kashif a copy of the song, originally offered to Roberta Flack, he thought it would be a better fit for Houston and told Arista Records he would be interested in recording with her.
Michael William Masser was an American songwriter, composer and producer of popular music.
"We Didn't Know" is a mid-tempo duet by American recording artists Whitney Houston and Stevie Wonder, and was released as the sixth and final single from Houston's third album I'm Your Baby Tonight (1990). The single was released on April 14, 1992 by Arista Records. Wonder wrote and produced the song. The single peaked at number 20 on Billboard's R&B Singles chart. There was no music video made for the song. This is the first and only single from the album that was issued without a music video.
Kashif Saleem was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer from New York City. As a teenager, Kashif joined the funk group B. T. Express. He studied Islam and changed his name from Michael Jones to Kashif. He later signed with Arista Records enjoying success as a solo artist.
The Greatest Love World Tour was the debut worldwide concert tour by American singer Whitney Houston, in support of her debut studio album Whitney Houston. The four-month tour began in North America on July 26, 1986 at the Merriweather Post Pavilion with an itinerary that included visits in Europe, Japan and Australia.
Bruce Roberts is an American singer and songwriter. His songs have been recorded by such artists as The Pointer Sisters, Donna Summer, Barbra Streisand, Jeffrey Osborne, Whitney Houston, Alice Cooper and Laura Branigan. He has released three albums as a solo artist including Intimacy (1995), which featured musical and vocal contributions by many notable artists; Elton John and Kristine W contributed to the single "When the Money's Gone".
"I Look to You" is a pop-soul song performed by American recording artist Whitney Houston, from her seventh and final studio album of the same name. It was released as a worldwide promotional single and as the first US single from the album on July 23, 2009 on US radio following highly favorable reviews at pre-release album listening parties.
"Ain't No Way" is a song written by singer-songwriter Carolyn Franklin and sung by her elder sister Aretha Franklin as the B-side to her 1968 hit, "(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You've Been Gone". This song should not be confused with a different song of the same title, recorded by Aretha Franklin on her 2003 CD So Damn Happy: "Ain't No Way" by Barry J. Eastmond and Gordon Chambers.
"Thinking About You" is the fifth single by American singer Whitney Houston. It was written by Kashif Saleem and La Forrest "La La" Cope for Houston's debut studio album Whitney Houston (1985), while production was helmed by the former, released in October 1985. Even though it was not promoted as a single to top 40 radio stations, "Thinking About You" became a top 10 hit on the Hot Black Singles chart in the United States. It later appeared as the B-side to Houston's 1986 single, "Greatest Love of All".
"The Greatest Love of All" is a song written by Michael Masser, who composed the music, and Linda Creed, who wrote the lyrics. It was originally recorded in 1977 by George Benson, who made the song a substantial hit, peaking at number two on the US Hot Soul Singles chart that year, the first R&B chart top-ten hit for Arista Records. The song was written and recorded to be the main theme of the 1977 film The Greatest, a biopic of the boxer Muhammad Ali, and is performed during the opening credits.
I Will Always Love You: The Best of Whitney Houston is a posthumous greatest hits album by American recording artist Whitney Houston. The album was released on November 13, 2012 via RCA Records.