LaDonna Adrian Gaines, known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the "Queen of Disco", while her music gained a global following.
New jack swing, new jack, or swingbeat is a fusion genre of the rhythms and production techniques of hip hop and dance-pop, and the urban contemporary sound of R&B. Spearheaded by producers Teddy Riley and Bernard Belle, new jack swing was most popular from the mid-1980s to mid-1990s. Its influence, along with hip hop, seeped into pop culture.
En Vogue is an American R&B/pop vocal group whose original lineup consisted of singers Terry Ellis, Dawn Robinson, Cindy Herron, and Maxine Jones. Formed in Oakland, California, in 1989, En Vogue reached No. 2 on the US Hot 100 with the single "Hold On", taken from their 1990 debut album Born to Sing. The group's 1992 follow-up album Funky Divas reached the top 10 in both the US and UK, and included their second US number two hit "My Lovin' " as well as the US top 10 hits "Giving Him Something He Can Feel" and "Free Your Mind".
Club Nouveau is an American R&B group formed by record producer/performer Jay King in 1986 in Sacramento, California following the breakup of the Timex Social Club. The group's name was changed from its original incarnation, "Jet Set", to capitalize on the breakup. The group was signed by Warner Bros. Records, on which Club Nouveau released its first three albums. Club Nouveau's go-go version of Bill Withers' song "Lean on Me" won a Grammy award for Best R&B Song in 1987.
David Walter Foster OC, OBC is a Canadian musician, composer, arranger, record producer and music executive who chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His career in the music industry has spanned more than five decades, mainly beginning as a keyboardist for the pop group Skylark, in the early 1970s.
Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes were an American soul and R&B vocal group. One of the most popular Philadelphia soul groups of the 1970s, the group's repertoire included soul, R&B, doo-wop, and disco. Founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the middle of the 1950s as The Charlemagnes, the group is most noted for several hits on Gamble and Huff's Philadelphia International label between 1972 and 1976, although they performed and recorded until Melvin's death in 1997. Despite group founder and original lead singer Harold Melvin's top billing, the Blue Notes' most famous member was Teddy Pendergrass, their lead singer during the successful years at Philadelphia International. The remaining members of the Blue Notes have reunited for Soul Train Cruises in 2013, 2015, and 2017.
Chicago 16 is the thirteenth studio album by the American band Chicago, released on June 7, 1982. It is considered their "comeback" album because it was their first album to go platinum since 1978's Hot Streets, it made it into the top ten of the Billboard 200, and it produced their second number one single in the United States, "Hard to Say I'm Sorry." The album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in August, 1982, two months after its release, and platinum in December, 1982, six months after its release. The song, "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
Chicago 18 is the fifteenth studio album by the American band Chicago, released on September 29, 1986. This album is the first without cofounding member Peter Cetera. This is also the first album to feature Jason Scheff on bass guitar and vocals.
Color Me Badd is an American contemporary R&B group that was formed in 1985 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma by lead singer Bryan Abrams, tenor Mark Calderon, second tenor Sam Watters and baritone Kevin Thornton. Color Me Badd broke up in 1998 before reuniting in 2010, with various lineups since.
Bessie Regina Norris, better known by her stage name Betty Wright, was an American soul and R&B singer, songwriter and background vocalist. Beginning her professional career in the late 1960s as a teenager, Wright rose to fame in the 1970s with hits such as "Clean Up Woman" and "Tonight Is the Night". Wright was also prominent in her use of whistle register.
Tavares is an American R&B, funk and soul music group composed of five Cape Verdean-American brothers. Some were born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and Providence, Rhode Island, and they would move back and forth between the two cities throughout their childhood. They are probably best known for their 1976 hit "Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel".
"After the Love Has Gone" is a single by Earth, Wind & Fire released in 1979 on ARC/Columbia Records. The song reached No. 2 on both the US Billboard Hot 100, behind The Knack's "My Sharona" and the US Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart, No. 4 on the UK Pop Singles chart and No. 3 on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary Songs chart. "After the Love Has Gone" has also been certified Gold in the US by the RIAA and Silver in the UK by the BPI.
The Art of Storytelling is the fourth and most recent studio album by British-American rapper Slick Rick, released May 25, 1999, on Def Jam Recordings. The album features production from DJ Clark Kent and Kid Capri, among others. Upon its release, The Art of Storytelling proved to be Slick Rick's highest-charting album, peaking at number eight on the Billboard 200, and number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, and was certified gold by the RIAA within a month of its release.
I Hear a Symphony is the eighth studio album released by American girl group the Supremes on the Motown label in 1966.
I Am is the ninth studio album by the American band Earth, Wind & Fire released in June 1979 on ARC/Columbia Records. The LP rose to Nos. 1 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums chart and No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart. I Am has been certified Double Platinum in the U.S. by the RIAA, Platinum in the UK by the BPI and Platinum in Canada by Music Canada.
"It Only Takes a Minute" is a 1975 song by Tavares. The song was the group's only top-10 pop hit in the United States, peaking at number 10, and their second number one song on the American soul charts. On the US Disco chart, "It Only Takes a Minute" spent five weeks at number two and was the first of four entries on the chart. The song was subsequently covered by Jonathan King performing as 100 Ton and a Feather in 1976 and by boy band Take That in 1992.
"You're the Inspiration" is a song written by Peter Cetera and David Foster for the group Chicago and recorded for their fourteenth studio album Chicago 17 (1984), with Cetera singing lead vocals. The third single released from that album, it reached No. 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in January 1985 and also climbed to the top position on the Adult Contemporary chart at the same time. The song won honors for Cetera from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), in 1986 in the most-performed songs category.
"Turn Your Love Around" is a pop/R&B single by George Benson. The song was written by Grammy winners Bill Champlin of Chicago, Steve Lukather of Toto and producer and guitarist Jay Graydon to help fill out Benson's 1981 greatest hits album, The George Benson Collection. The song won a Best R&B Song Grammy Award at the 25th Grammy Awards in 1983 for Champlin, Graydon, and Lukather as its co-writers.
Love Uprising is the ninth album by the American soul/R&B group Tavares. It was produced by Benjamin Wright and released in 1980 on Capitol Records. Love Uprising at the time was Tavares' least successful album, their first to fail to register on either the pop or the R&B top 100.
Benjamin Wright, Jr. is an American producer and composer.
