Freestyle music, also called Latin freestyle or (initially) Latin hip hop, is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in the New York metropolitan area and Philadelphia, primarily among Hispanic Americans and Italian Americans in the 1980s. It experienced its greatest popularity from the late 1980s until the early 1990s. A common theme of freestyle lyricism originated as heartbreak in an urban environment typified by New York City.
Exposé is an American freestyle vocal group formed in 1984 in Miami, Florida. Primarily consisting of lead vocalists Jeanette Jurado, Ann Curless, and Gioia Bruno, the group achieved much of their success between 1984 and 1993. They became the first group to attain four top-10 entries on the Billboard Hot 100 since their debut album, including 1988 number-one single "Seasons Change." In March 2015, Billboard magazine named the group the eighth most-successful girl group of all-time.
The Cover Girls are an all-female, New York City-based freestyle music group that achieved most of its chart success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Among the group's best-known songs are "Show Me", "Because of You", "Don't Stop Now", "Funk Boutique", "Wishing on a Star", and "Thank You".
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.
"Thank God I'm a Country Boy", also known as "Country Boy", is a song written by John Martin Sommers and recorded by American singer/songwriter John Denver. The song was originally included on Denver's 1974 album Back Home Again. A version recorded live on August 26, 1974, at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles was included on his 1975 album An Evening with John Denver. The live version was released as a single and went to No. 1 on both the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles and Billboard Hot 100 charts. The song topped both charts for one week each, first the country chart, and the Hot 100 chart a week later. Thank God I'm a Country Boy also became the name of a variety special show hosted by Denver in 1977.
C+C Music Factory was an American musical group formed in 1989 by David Cole and Robert Clivillés. The group is best known for their five hit singles: "Gonna Make You Sweat ", "Here We Go ", "Things That Make You Go Hmmm...", "Just a Touch of Love", and "Keep It Comin'". The band stopped recording in 1996, following Cole's death. In 2010, C+C Music Factory reformed with Eric Kupper replacing Cole. Original member Freedom Williams acquired trademark rights to the name in 2003 and still tours under that moniker.
"Let the Music Play" is a song recorded by American singer Shannon and released on September 19, 1983 as both her debut single and the lead single from her 1984 debut studio album of the same name. Written by Chris Barbosa and Ed Chisolm, and produced by Barbosa and Mark Liggett, "Let the Music Play" was the first of Shannon's four number ones on the US Dance Club Songs chart, reaching the top spot in October 1983. It also became a huge crossover hit in the US, peaking at number two on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1984. It was Shannon's only Top 40 hit in the US. Some mark "Let the Music Play" as the beginning of the "dance-pop" era.
Robert Manuel Clivillés is an American record producer, songwriter, arranger, and music video director most noted for his work with C+C Music Factory, a group he founded with musical partner David Cole. He is of Puerto Rican ancestry.
Frederick Brandon Williams, better known by his stage name Freedom Williams, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter, who gained fame as the lead rapper on C+C Music Factory's biggest hits.
"I'm Every Woman" is a song by American singer Chaka Khan, released as her debut solo single from her first album, Chaka (1978). It was Khan's first hit outside her recordings with the funk band Rufus. "I'm Every Woman" was produced by Arif Mardin and written by the successful songwriting team Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson. The single established Chaka's career outside the group Rufus, whom she would leave after their eighth studio album Masterjam was released in late 1979.
Rachel Alexandra Mercaldo, better known as Rockell, is an American freestyle, hi-NRG and pop singer-songwriter, best known for her 1997 hit single, "In a Dream".
"Running Bear" is a teenage tragedy song written by Jiles Perry Richardson and sung most famously by Johnny Preston in 1959. The 1959 recording featured background vocals by George Jones and the session's producer Bill Hall, who provided the "Indian chanting" of "uga-uga" during the three verses, as well as the "Indian war cries" at the start and end of the record. It was No. 1 for three weeks in January 1960 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. The song also reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart and New Zealand in 1960. Coincidentally, "Running Bear" was immediately preceded in the Hot 100 No. 1 position by Marty Robbins' "El Paso", and immediately followed by Mark Dinning's "Teen Angel", both of which feature a death of, or affecting, the protagonist. Billboard ranked "Running Bear" as the No. 4 song of 1960. The tenor saxophone was played by Link Davis.
"Mony Mony" is a 1968 single by American pop rock band Tommy James and the Shondells, which reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 3 in the U.S. Written by Bobby Bloom, Ritchie Cordell, Bo Gentry and Tommy James, the song has appeared in various film and television works such as the Oliver Stone drama Heaven & Earth. It was also covered by English singer-songwriter Billy Idol in 1981. Idol's version, which took in more of a rock sound, became an international top 40 hit and additionally revived public interest in the original garage rock single. In 1986 it was covered by Amazulu, who gave it a ska rendition.
"Fascinated" is a song by the freestyle girl group Company B. It was the first single released off their 1987 self-titled debut album. It was written and produced by Ish Ledesma, mixed by Ciro llerenea and Randy Miller and released by Atlantic Records.
We Can't Go Wrong is the second album from the New York-based R&B–dance trio The Cover Girls. Although the album only made it to #108 on the Billboard album chart, by the end of 1990 it had been certified platinum and become the group's biggest-selling album. We Can't Go Wrong features songwriting and production by Albert Cabrera, Andy "Panda" Tripoli, David Cole, "Little" Louie Vega, Robert Clivilles, and Tony Moran.
"Two to Make It Right" is a song by the American girl group Seduction, released as a single in late 1989. It appears on the group's first album, Nothing Matters Without Love featuring April Harris and Michelle Visage on lead vocals. "Two to Make It Right" peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The music video was directed by Stu Sleppin and produced by Bob Teeman.
"Come Go with Me" is a song by American girl group Exposé from their debut studio album Exposure (1987). Composed and produced by Lewis A. Martineé, the song was released in January 1987 as the third single from Exposure. The group’s second lineup recorded "Come Go with Me", with Jeanette Jurado singing lead vocals, and Gioia Bruno and Ann Curless singing backup. Some vocals from the original lineup of Exposé remain in the released track.
Robert Clivillés and David Cole (1962–1995), known collectively as Clivillés and Cole, were American record producers, songwriters, and remixers active from the late 1980s who achieved success in the 1990s.
Trilogy was an American freestyle and hip hop group from The Bronx, New York City, founded in 1985 by Carlos "CNR" Rivera, Duran Ramos and J.R. Mansanet. The group pioneered freestyle music and scored several hit songs including "Love Me Forever Or Love Me Not", "Good Time", and "Do You Wanna Get Funky".
Show Me is the debut album by the R&B–dance trio the Cover Girls released on independent label Fever Records. The album would produce the hit title track, "Show Me", as well as the Top 40 singles "Because of You" and "Promise Me". This would be the only album to feature original member Sunshine Wright, who would depart the group after the unsuccessful release of second single "Spring Love" and would be replaced by Margo Urban for the remainder of the album's singles. The other two members of the original lineup for this album were Angel Mercado and Caroline Jackson. The album peaked at No. 64 on the Billboard Hot 200 on 26 February 1988 and No. 74 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart on 4 March 1988.
