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Precious Wilson | |
|---|---|
| Born | 18 October 1957 |
| Origin | Spanish Town, Jamaica |
| Genres | Dance-pop, dance, soul |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-Songwriter, Performer |
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Years active | 1974–present |
| Labels | Hansa Records, Jive Records Sony Music Entertainment |
| Website | https://www.preciouswilson.com |
Precious Wilson (born 18 October 1957 in Spanish Town, Jamaica) is a Jamaican soul singer.
Precious Wilson started out as a backing singer for the singing group Eruption. [1] The group enjoyed their first minor success when they won a talent competition in 1975, and then went on to record the song "Let Me Take You Back in Time". Shortly after, the lead singer left the group, and Precious Wilson stepped forward to front the band. [2]
The group relocated to Germany in 1976. The following year while on the road touring in Germany, Eruption was introduced to German producer Frank Farian who booked them to work with Boney M as their backing band, and as their support act on Boney M's first European tour. Frank Farian then went on to sign them to Boney M.'s label, Hansa Records, Farian released the single "Party Party" but it was their disco cover version of Ann Peebles' "I Can't Stand the Rain" from their first album which broke big, giving them a UK No. 5 hit [3] and a US No. 18 hit. After a second album and another hit single with Neil Sedaka's "One Way Ticket" (UK #9), [3] Precious Wilson left the group to pursue her solo career. [2]
Wilson's debut single as a solo artist was a cover version of Sam & Dave's "Hold On I'm Coming", released in August 1979. Produced by Frank Farian and set to a funky disco-beat, the single reached No. 45 in the Dutch charts. [4] The song was also included in Boney M's fourth album Oceans of Fantasy [5] which also yielded a guest performance by Wilson on the opening track "Let It All Be Music".
She co-wrote several tracks, including the title song of her debut album We Are on the Race Track, also produced by Farian, [1] was completed during 1980 on Hansa Records. It was released in October, heralded by the single "Cry to Me" which Wilson performed on TV, backed by the band that she created called Sky Train. The single reached number 3 in Switzerland. [6] The album's second single, "We Are on the Race Track", reached No. 11 in Switzerland in early 1981.
In October 1981, she released a cover version of "I Need You" which peaked at No. 6 in Switzerland. In Germany, it reached No. 39. In the summer of 1982, the electro-pop track "I Don't Know" was released, followed by her second album All Coloured in Love. The album was released with a different track selection in the UK, Italy and France under the name Red Light followed by several different single releases in the various territories.
Hot on the heels of the then Aerobic craze and Farian's success with the album Aerobic Fitness Dancing, the theme song "Let's Move Aerobic (Move Your Body)" was rush-released with Wilson's vocals in March 1983. Her third album Funky Fingers, consisting of two side-long medleys of soul standards, was released in December 1983. In 1985, she signed with Jive Records and teamed up with multiple producer teams for the album, including American songwriter, Monte Moir, a musician and songwriter, best known as a member of The Time.
The following year Wilson released several singles; "I'll Be Your Friend" (a U.S. Top 40 R&B hit), [1] the theme song from the Michael Douglas movie The Jewel of the Nile (the sequel to the movie Romancing the Stone), and "Nice Girls Don't Last" ("Love Can't Wait" in the U.S.).
In 1986, she contributed to the charity album titled The Anti-Heroin Project: It's a Live-in World, singing among others on the title track as well as on "Waiting in the Dark" and a song called "Something Better" with Kim Wilde and Darryl Pandy. [7]
A dance cover of Jerry Butler's "Only the Strong Survive" in 1987, produced by Stock Aitken Waterman. [2]
Precious was one of the three background singers on the Elton John song "Duets for One" (1993).
She has toured the former USSR on the invitation of the Soviet Cultural Ministry. The 55-date concert tour was arranged in six Soviet Republics, performing to full capacity audiences at each venue. She was the first black UK based female artiste to have undertaken such an extensive tour in the then USSR in 1988.[ citation needed ]
After another of her co-written songs, was the single "I May Be Right 4U" in 1990. She achieved two small hit singles in the early 1990s with a cover of Sheila and B. Devotion's "Spacer" (a hit single in France, 1992) and a cover of Donna Summer's "I Feel Love" (a UK No. 19 hit single with techno group Messiah, 1992). [8] Since then, Wilson has been touring extensively internationally, and also frequently tours as Precious Wilson of Eruption.
In 2017, Precious Wilson appeared on the Channel 4 programme First Dates . [9]
In 2018, Wilson was one of 12 co-authors of a book titled Mission Critical Messengers: How to Deliver a Difference. [10]
| Year | Title | Chart positions | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GER [11] | SWI [12] | NL [4] | UK [8] [13] | US R&B [14] | ||||
| 1979 | "Hold On, I'm Coming" | — | — | 45 | — | — | ||
| 1980 | "Cry to Me" | — | 3 | 12 | — | — | ||
| 1981 | "We Are on the Race Track" | 11 | — | — | — | — | ||
| "I Need You" | 39 | 6 | — | — | — | |||
| 1982 | "I Don't Know" | 33 | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Raising My Family" | 61 | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Red Light" (FR) | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1983 | "Let's Move Aerobic (Move Your Body)" | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1984 | "River Deep, Mountain High" / "Funky Fingers" | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1985 | "I'll Be Your Friend" | — | — | — | 87 | 40 | ||
| 1986 | "The Jewel of the Nile" | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Nice Girls Don't Last" | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Love Can't Wait" (US) | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1987 | "Only the Strong Survive" | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1990 | "I May Be Right 4U" | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1992 | "I Feel Love" (Messiah feat. Precious Wilson) | — | — | — | 19 | — | ||
| "Spacer" (Funky French Guy & Precious Wilson) | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | ||||||||
Boney M. are a disco group that specialises in R&B, reggae, disco and funk. The group was created by German record producer Frank Farian, who was the group's primary songwriter. Originally based in West Germany, the four original members of the group's official line-up were Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett from Jamaica, Maizie Williams from Montserrat, and Bobby Farrell from Aruba. The group was formed in 1976 and achieved popularity during the disco era of the late 1970s. Since the 1980s, various line-ups of the band have performed with differing personnel.
Franz Reuther, known professionally as Frank Farian, was a German record producer and singer who founded the 1970s disco-pop group Boney M., the Latin pop band No Mercy, and the pop band Milli Vanilli. He frequently created vocal groups in which the publicised members merely lip-synced to songs sung by session members. Farian owned the record label MCI and several subsidiaries. Over the course of his career, Farian sold over 850 million records and earned 800 gold and platinum certifications.
Elizabeth Rebecca Pemberton-Mitchell is a Jamaican-British singer, best known as one of the original singers of the 1970s disco/reggae band Boney M.
Eruption were a British disco, R&B and soul recording act in the 1970s and 1980s. They are best known for their covers of Ann Peebles's "I Can't Stand the Rain" and Neil Sedaka's "One Way Ticket", which were big disco hits in 1978 and 1979.
Marcia Barrett is a Jamaican-British singer and one of the original singers with the vocal group Boney M.
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Gilla is an Austrian singer from the late 1970s disco era.
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"I See a Boat on the River" / "My Friend Jack" is a double A-side single by German band Boney M., taken from their 1980 compilation album The Magic of Boney M. - 20 Golden Hits. "I See a Boat on the River" peaked at #5 in Germany but marked the group's waning popularity in the UK where "My Friend Jack" was promoted as the A-side, faring even worse than their former single "I'm Born Again", stalling at #57. Boney M. would use the double A-side format over the next years, typically with the A1 being the song intended for radio and A2 being more squarely aimed at discos. The sides would usually be switched on the accompanying 12" single.
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