Regina (American singer)

Last updated

Regina
Regina (American singer) (cropped).jpg
Regina in 1980
Background information
Birth nameRegina Marie Cuttita [1]
Also known asRegina Lee
Born Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)Singer
Years active1978–1993
Labels

Regina Marie Cuttita, also known as Regina Richards or simply Regina, is an American singer born in Brooklyn, New York. She began her career in the late 1970s as the frontwoman of the new wave band Regina Richards and Red Hot. She is perhaps best known for the hit single "Baby Love", which reached number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1986. "Baby Love" was her only song to chart on the Hot 100, making her a one-hit wonder. The song also reached number 50 on the UK Singles Chart that same year. [2]

Contents

Career

Regina, who majored in theater at Marymount Manhattan College, began her music career in the late 1970s, recording and performing with the new wave band Regina Richards and Red Hot. [3] The band regularly played New York City music venues such as CBGB, Max's Kansas City, and Irving Plaza. With the help of Richard Gottehrer, the band signed with A&M Records. The first single released was titled "Tyger", with "Tug of War" as the B-side. The second single "Don't Want You Back", with "Company Girl" as the B-side, was followed by a self-titled album; the records did not attain mainstream success. Subsequently, she dissolved the group and focused on writing songs for other artists and helping them record demos with Stephen Bray, her former Red Hot drummer. [3] One of the artists who approached them was Madonna, who was trying to secure a recording deal at the time; Regina helped Madonna with vocal harmonies on her demos. [3]

In 1986, Regina and Bray co-wrote "Baby Love", initially planning on selling it to Madonna or another artist. [4] Her record label, Atlantic Records, however, requested that Regina sing the song herself. [3] The single reached #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 that year and was included on Regina's Curiosity album, which also included "Say Goodbye", a song she had originally written with Kenny Rogers in mind. Another song from the album appeared on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart that year: "Beat of Love". Music publications of the time often commented on perceived similarities to Madonna, and called her the "queen of the wanna-bes". [5]

In 1987 she appeared in an anti-drug public service announcement with McGruff the Crime Dog that aired well into the 1990s. [6] In 1988, Regina released the song "Extraordinary Love". It reached #11 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. In 1990, no longer with Atlantic, she released her final single "Track You Down". Plans to release an album titled Best Kept Secret the same year were shelved indefinitely. [7]

In 1991, Australian singer Dannii Minogue released a cover of "Baby Love" as a single, reaching number 14 on the UK Singles Chart. [8]

Discography

With Red Hot

Solo

Charts

Chart performance for singles by Regina
TitleYearPeak chart positions
US
[10] 		US
Dance
[11] 		US
R&B
[12] 		UK
[2]
"Baby Love"19861013050
"Beat of Love (Remix)"—40——
"Head On"————
"Extraordinary Love"1988—11——

Note: Billboard incorrectly lists "Day by Day" as a 1997 hit for Regina. The song actually belongs to Regina "Queen" Saraiva.

See also

Related Research Articles

Peter Brown is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. Brown was a popular performer in the late 1970s and early 1980s. His biggest success was the release of the LP in 1977 called A Fantasy Love Affair which produced the disco hits "Do Ya Wanna Get Funky with Me" and "Dance With Me". He wrote, with Robert Rans, Madonna's hit "Material Girl".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisa Stansfield</span> British singer (born 1966)

Lisa Jane Stansfield is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. Her career began in 1980 when she won the singing competition Search for a Star. After appearances in various television shows and releasing her first singles, Stansfield, along with Ian Devaney and Andy Morris, formed Blue Zone in 1983. The band released several singles and one album, but after the success of Coldcut's "People Hold On" in 1989, on which Stansfield was featured, the focus was placed on her solo career.

Brenda Shannon Greene, known professionally as Shannon, is an American singer and songwriter of freestyle and dance-pop music. She is best known for her single "Let the Music Play", which topped the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart in 1983 and was certified gold.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anita Ward</span> American singer and musician (born 1956)

Anita Ward(sources differ) is an American singer and musician from Memphis, Tennessee. Beginning her professional music career in the late 1970s, Ward is best known for her 1979 million-selling chart-topper R&B/Disco hit "Ring My Bell" which was #1 on the United States Hot 100, R&B, Dance and United Kingdom charts.

Marilyn Martin is an American singer and songwriter. She is best known for her 1985 hit duet with Phil Collins, "Separate Lives", which went to number one.

Gwendolyn Guthrie was an American singer-songwriter and pianist who also sang backing vocals for Aretha Franklin, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, Peter Tosh, The Limit and Madonna, among others, and who wrote songs made famous by Ben E. King, Angela Bofill and Roberta Flack. Guthrie is well known for her 1986 anthem "Ain't Nothin' Goin' On but the Rent," and for her 1986 cover of the song "(They Long to Be) Close to You."

Robin Stone is an American singer and songwriter, who scored success in the 1990s with such house music singles as "Show Me Love" and "Luv 4 Luv". She has had three number ones on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart.

Kelly Llorenna is an English dance music singer, who was born in Slough, Berkshire and raised in Oldham, Greater Manchester. She is best known as the former lead vocalist for the dance group N-Trance in the 1990s. Their biggest hit was "Set You Free", which made the UK top five in early 1995. Since then she has had six UK top 10 singles.

Juliet Roberts is a British jazz, rock, soul and house music singer of Grenadian descent.

Alisha Ann Itkin is an American freestyle and dance-pop singer who had several club hits in the 1980s and 1990s.

Jenny Burton is an American R&B singer who had several hits on the US Billboard dance chart.

Claudja Barry is a Jamaican-born Canadian singer. Her successful songs were "Down and Counting", "Boogie Woogie Dancin' Shoes", "Dancing Fever", and others. As an actress, she is known for appearing in the European versions of stage musicals AC/DC and Catch My Soul.

Will to Power is an American dance-pop group that originated in South Florida in the mid-1980s founded by Miami producer Bob Rosenberg. The group recorded a number of hit singles on the Billboard dance and pop charts in the late 1980s and early 1990s, most notably "Baby, I Love Your Way/Freebird Medley", a medley of 1970s hits by Peter Frampton and Lynyrd Skynyrd that reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart in December 1988. A second band hit was "I'm Not in Love", a cover of 10cc's 1975 hit, number 7 on Billboard Hot 100 in 1990.

Joyce Melissa Morgan is an American R&B/Soul singer–songwriter. Morgan had a string of urban contemporary hits from the mid–1980s to the mid–1990s. Most notable include her cover version of Prince's "Do Me, Baby" (1985), "Do You Still Love Me" (1986) and "Still in Love with You" (1992).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Love Don't Live Here Anymore</span> 1978 single by Rose Royce

"Love Don't Live Here Anymore" is a song written by Miles Gregory and originally recorded by Rose Royce. It was produced by former Motown songwriter and producer Norman Whitfield for Whitfield Records. Lead vocals were sung by Gwen Dickey and the song was released as the second single from their third studio album Strikes Again. The song was developed as a result of producer Whitfield's interest to work with Paul Buckmaster, the British arranger and composer. Together they asked songwriter Miles Gregory to write a song for them. Gregory's undergoing medical care for his deteriorating physical health became the inspiration behind the song. "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" incorporated the use of the Pollard Syndrum TwinDrum, and was one of the first songs to effectively use the sound reverbs of the instrument. The song was mainly recorded at music contractor Gene Bianco's house, where Dickey was present during the recording.

Chantay Savage is an American R&B/dance singer. She experienced some success in the 1990s on various Billboard singles charts, one of which was "I Will Survive", a reworking of the Gloria Gaynor hit song.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madonna singles discography</span>

American singer Madonna has released 94 singles and 23 promotional singles and charted with 23 other songs. Among those releases, a total of 44 Madonna singles have topped the official chart in at least one of the world's top 10 music markets, from "Like a Virgin" (1984) to "Give Me All Your Luvin'" (2012). Globally, she has sold more than 100 million singles, which were predominantly in physical formats. According to Billboard, Madonna is the most successful solo artist in Hot 100 chart history, second overall behind the Beatles. In the United Kingdom, Madonna has scored a total of 64 top-ten hits and 12 number-two peaks. In 2012, she was ranked as the best-selling singles female artist in the UK with 17.6 million singles sold. At the 40th anniversary of the GfK Media Control Charts, Madonna was ranked as the most successful singles artist in German chart history. Her long-standing success with the single format was remarked upon in The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), where editors wrote that she is a "deserving candidate for the title of greatest singles artist since the 1960s heyday of the single"; the staff of Slant commented in 2020 that "by every objective measure, she's the most successful singles artist of all time".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">You Are Everything</span> 1971 single by The Stylistics

"You Are Everything" is a soul song written by Thom Bell and Linda Creed and originally recorded by the Philadelphia soul group The Stylistics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baby Love (Regina song)</span> 1986 single by Regina

"Baby Love" is a song by American singer Regina. The single hit number one on the dance charts for two weeks in mid-1986. The single crossed over to the pop singles chart, where it peaked at number 10 on US Billboard Hot 100 and at number 30 on the Billboard Soul Singles chart. "Baby Love" would be her only single to chart on both the Pop and Soul Singles charts, but several follow up singles charted on the dance chart.

Rozalla Miller, better known as simply Rozalla, is a Zambian-born Zimbabwean electronic music performer who was born in what was then Northern Rhodesia. She is best known for her three 1991/92 hit singles "Faith ", "Are You Ready to Fly", and particularly "Everybody's Free ", which has been remixed and re-issued several times. In December 2016, Billboard magazine ranked her as the 98th most successful dance artist of all-time.

References

  1. ↑ "Miss Cuttita Wed To Dr. Mark Lee". New York Times. October 21, 1990. Retrieved September 6, 2016.
  2. 1 2 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 458. ISBN   1-904994-10-5.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Matsumoto, Jon (August 15, 1986). "Regina: She's The Proud Parent Of 'Baby Love'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 6, 2016.
  4. ↑ staff (September 28, 1986). "This Singer Sounds Just Like Madonna". Quad-City Times. p. 64. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  5. ↑ "Artists". Musician (93–98). Amordian Press: 122. 1986. ISSN   0733-5253.
  6. ↑ "Users are Losers and Winners don't Use (Drugs) – YouTube". YouTube . Archived from the original on December 21, 2021.
  7. ↑ Trolli, Craig (April 25, 2003). "Lost Gens: Regina". Seattle Gay News. p. 40. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  8. ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 368. ISBN   1-904994-10-5.
  9. ↑ "Regina – Chart history – Billboard.com". Billboard . Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Regina Chart History: Billboard Hot 100". Billboard . Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Regina Chart History: Dance Club Songs". Billboard . Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  12. ↑ "Regina Chart History: Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs". Billboard . Retrieved March 26, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.