Carla Benson is one of the most recorded background vocalists in music history and after over 50 years, she’s ready to tell her story. “Journey Into Love” is Carla’s self-published memoir about her time with her late cousin Barbara Ingram and late best friend Evette Benton as the dynamic backing…
Aleem had long been a part of New York’s thriving Black music scene, going back to their association with a wild-child guitarist from Seattle named Jimi Hendrix in the 1960s. TaharQa Z. and Tunde Ra Aleem, also known as the Fantastic Aleems, started their own NIA Records imprint in 1979…
The Valentine Brothers, John and Billy, are R&B veterans of many years, spanning the Stax era to the synth-dominated early 80s. After experiencing success with the 1982 song “Money’s Too Tight (To Mention),” the Columbus, Ohio-born siblings returned to the studio for Have A Good Time, released on A&M Records…
August 8th is celebrated in the music community thanks to the Roland TR-808 drum machine, a programmer that gave Hip-Hop, House, Electro and more a solid base to craft memorable jams on. The TR-808 was introduced by the Roland Corporation of Japan in 1980, on the heels of the CR-78,…
Cashmere was an electro-funk group from the city of Brotherly Love who found their way onto the dance charts with a song that shared a title with an earlier Philly classic. People’s Choice, one of the newer acts on Philadelphia International Records’ TSOP sub label, struck it big in early…
Dana Meyers, a key part of SOLAR Records’ songwriting and production team that churned out hits for The Whispers, Lakeside, Shalamar and others, died suddenly earlier this week. He was 73 years old. Mr. Meyers was born in Dayton, Ohio and moved to Los Angeles and quickly became a part…
It’s always been easy to get lost in the shuffle of a competitive art form such as music, which explains why a lot of artists/producers/songs/albums/sounds go unheard for years. A Youngstown, Ohio-bred family singing act called The McCrarys were no different as they moved between spiritual and secular music for…
By Chris Stevens Ari Lennox is one of today’s favorite R&B artists, but it seemed she was out of place or constantly lost in the shuffle on J. Cole’s Dreamville Records imprint. No longer is that the case as Ari celebrated the release of a new single “Soft Girl Era”…
Today is Philip Bailey’s 72nd birthday and what better way to celebrate one of the premier falsetto singers of all-time than to look back at the lead single from his third solo album, Chinese Wall. Prior to the release of Chinese Wall, Bailey had already lent his incredible voice to…
The early 1980s were a tough time for Black musicians as R&B/Funk bands were caught up in the anti-disco avalanche that killed the genre in the late 1970s. Ever the innovators, Black musicians and producers embraced modern technology, which took away from bands and session players of various instruments, but…