I admittedly didn't know anything about this artist or her repertoire, so consider me properly schooled! What a voice!
I may be biased here but I love Curtis Mayfield. From what you are saying here, I get the feeling he really did try his best. Shame Linda's career never took off the way it should.
Curtis Mayfield has an incredible body of work (definitely worth an episode đ), and I fully agree, Andy. He and the Curtom crew really gave her their best. Looking at the quality of her repertoire, itâs clear this wasnât a quick money grab but a carefully arranged, produced, and well-thought-out body of work. A shame she wasnât better positioned for that period. Thanks for reading and reacting, Andy, have a great weekend!
Not an artist I was familiar with but these were all great tracks. Itâs incredible how many talented artists have fallen by the wayside over the years because of poor luck and/or bad timing. Really feels like she shouldâve been a much bigger success.
Interesting that her only European breakthrough was in the UK. I suspect it helped that both Friends and Bridge were covers, as that would have helped capture the ears of a mainstream audience at a time when disco was at its commercial peak; perplexing why the same didn't happen in other European countries though. I don't know from which publication that ad comes from, but the upmarket domestic setting of the album cover certainly looks to be pitched at the mature sophisti soul crowd; disco for listening to as well as dancing! It does all look a bit dull though.
The ad is from one of the trade magazines (Billboard in this case) đ. They wanted to place her right at the crossroads of disco and soul, which explains the setting.
As for the UK success, I think it came down to the fact that the UK market was much more open to soul and American disco than most European markets at the time. Over here, by the late seventies, it was almost all Eurodisco. Crossovers did happen, but usually only when the record companies had real power to push them.
Warner did make an effort in Europe, you can see it in the French, German, and Spanish TV shows, but it never quite broke into the pop charts. And it wasn't a Warner artist so when they saw no "movement" anywhere they gave up.
Thanks for reading & reacting, Paul! Have a great weekend.
Good voice but you're right, she didn't have the structure around her to hit it big. I think she still tours. I wonder what else she sings besides her one hit.
She does, youâll find videos on YouTube. The power of her voice has faded a bit (understandable at her age), but itâs still there. Do check out the Curtom albums, Dan, theyâre really solid. She even wrote part of her repertoire herself, so she was never just a pretty face.
Thanks for reading & reacting, Dan. Have a great weekend!
Reminds me a little of Freda Payne who made it into the 80's roller outdoor disco central park scene dominated by Good Times and the new dance music KTU92 D-Train, Shalamar and my Euro faves Imagination so Good So Right etc. but the Broadway connection here really hits home as does her quote on the trials and tribulations of an artist period. Well said. Makes a day job look attractive. Another banger of an article. Disco Duck Rick Dees Gold Record picture came up in our local arts glossy GSO based O'Henry Magazine in Sept as he was an NC native how the times do change. That was the record credited with causing "the backlash", Other genres should be so lucky.
I agree "Disco Duck" didn't help đ. That's one song I'm sure I'll never ever do an episode on đ Thanks for reading & reacting Steve! Happy weekend
Great Linda overview, Pe! I'm glad you mentioned Warner/EU, as here in the states, my memory went right to Warner Bros. for her first two albums (I knew the Houston, TX regional WB rep, and would visit him weekly)! Linda's first two albums, "Linda" in '77, and "If My Friends" ('78) I had, and when I first saw your pic of the latter in your Notes ad, 'twas Warner Bros where my mind first went (and not at all Curtom)!
IMO, her best chance at hitdom was those two WB albums! Corporately speaking, that's where the PR/distributional clout would come (and what Curtom was counting on, hence the affiliate link to begin with). I'm just noticing that her first, "Linda," had two Evie Sands tracks on it...for MY money, I'd have leaned on those (if I was WB/Curtom) for break-out singles (at least "One Thing On My Mind": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLkcp45m_U0 They never gave it a chance as a single, and the other Sands track, "You Can Do It," was relegated to the B-side of the single they DID release, Bunny Sigler's "From Now On."
I didnât know Evie Sands at all, what a great discovery, Brad. The song definitely has that pre-disco feel, but at the same time it fits perfectly into AOR (or âYacht Rock,â as everyone calls it now đ). It just proves my point that disco and AOR are closely connected. Iâll be diving into your write-up for sure.
About the Warner link with Linda, so Curtom was distributed by Warner in the US too? That does make sense. Still, I doubt it helped her much. The Casablanca story shows again that being distributed by a major wasnât always an advantage. Warner had so many in-house labels that outside material often came second.
Thanks for reading & reacting, Brad. Have a great weekend, and thanks for the tip!
Sheâs an underrated singer, right up there with Loleatta Holloway and Martha Wash. Her peak period was definitely the Curtom releases, Kevin. Thanks for reading and reacting, wishing you a great weekend!
Itâll be a fun one too, since I'll get to write about Ish Ledesma, one of the prettiest disco/dance voices (Foxy) and the producer behind Company B đĽđĽđ. Thanks for reading and reacting, Vince. Wishing you a great weekend!
I admittedly didn't know anything about this artist or her repertoire, so consider me properly schooled! What a voice!
I may be biased here but I love Curtis Mayfield. From what you are saying here, I get the feeling he really did try his best. Shame Linda's career never took off the way it should.
Curtis Mayfield has an incredible body of work (definitely worth an episode đ), and I fully agree, Andy. He and the Curtom crew really gave her their best. Looking at the quality of her repertoire, itâs clear this wasnât a quick money grab but a carefully arranged, produced, and well-thought-out body of work. A shame she wasnât better positioned for that period. Thanks for reading and reacting, Andy, have a great weekend!
I agree! Iâll definitely check out her album in more detail. Happy weekend to you too!! đ¤
Not an artist I was familiar with but these were all great tracks. Itâs incredible how many talented artists have fallen by the wayside over the years because of poor luck and/or bad timing. Really feels like she shouldâve been a much bigger success.
Yeah I agree. Luckily she wrote some of her repertoire so did enjoy a reasonable income! thanks for reading and reacting Mark
Interesting that her only European breakthrough was in the UK. I suspect it helped that both Friends and Bridge were covers, as that would have helped capture the ears of a mainstream audience at a time when disco was at its commercial peak; perplexing why the same didn't happen in other European countries though. I don't know from which publication that ad comes from, but the upmarket domestic setting of the album cover certainly looks to be pitched at the mature sophisti soul crowd; disco for listening to as well as dancing! It does all look a bit dull though.
The ad is from one of the trade magazines (Billboard in this case) đ. They wanted to place her right at the crossroads of disco and soul, which explains the setting.
As for the UK success, I think it came down to the fact that the UK market was much more open to soul and American disco than most European markets at the time. Over here, by the late seventies, it was almost all Eurodisco. Crossovers did happen, but usually only when the record companies had real power to push them.
Warner did make an effort in Europe, you can see it in the French, German, and Spanish TV shows, but it never quite broke into the pop charts. And it wasn't a Warner artist so when they saw no "movement" anywhere they gave up.
Thanks for reading & reacting, Paul! Have a great weekend.
Good voice but you're right, she didn't have the structure around her to hit it big. I think she still tours. I wonder what else she sings besides her one hit.
She does, youâll find videos on YouTube. The power of her voice has faded a bit (understandable at her age), but itâs still there. Do check out the Curtom albums, Dan, theyâre really solid. She even wrote part of her repertoire herself, so she was never just a pretty face.
Thanks for reading & reacting, Dan. Have a great weekend!
Reminds me a little of Freda Payne who made it into the 80's roller outdoor disco central park scene dominated by Good Times and the new dance music KTU92 D-Train, Shalamar and my Euro faves Imagination so Good So Right etc. but the Broadway connection here really hits home as does her quote on the trials and tribulations of an artist period. Well said. Makes a day job look attractive. Another banger of an article. Disco Duck Rick Dees Gold Record picture came up in our local arts glossy GSO based O'Henry Magazine in Sept as he was an NC native how the times do change. That was the record credited with causing "the backlash", Other genres should be so lucky.
I agree "Disco Duck" didn't help đ. That's one song I'm sure I'll never ever do an episode on đ Thanks for reading & reacting Steve! Happy weekend
Great Linda overview, Pe! I'm glad you mentioned Warner/EU, as here in the states, my memory went right to Warner Bros. for her first two albums (I knew the Houston, TX regional WB rep, and would visit him weekly)! Linda's first two albums, "Linda" in '77, and "If My Friends" ('78) I had, and when I first saw your pic of the latter in your Notes ad, 'twas Warner Bros where my mind first went (and not at all Curtom)!
IMO, her best chance at hitdom was those two WB albums! Corporately speaking, that's where the PR/distributional clout would come (and what Curtom was counting on, hence the affiliate link to begin with). I'm just noticing that her first, "Linda," had two Evie Sands tracks on it...for MY money, I'd have leaned on those (if I was WB/Curtom) for break-out singles (at least "One Thing On My Mind": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLkcp45m_U0 They never gave it a chance as a single, and the other Sands track, "You Can Do It," was relegated to the B-side of the single they DID release, Bunny Sigler's "From Now On."
By the way, here's Evie's arrangement of her song (she wrote with Richard Germinaro)....early '74 disco!đ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sqOHMmsEdc I loved Evie's album this came from, her "Estate of Mind"! Mostly because she had one of my favorite production teams from the day, Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter (about whom I've written: https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/inside-tracks-18-lambert-and-potter )
You could write about Evie, and I'd be on board to join you in singing her praises! Thanks again for this.....great memories!
I didnât know Evie Sands at all, what a great discovery, Brad. The song definitely has that pre-disco feel, but at the same time it fits perfectly into AOR (or âYacht Rock,â as everyone calls it now đ). It just proves my point that disco and AOR are closely connected. Iâll be diving into your write-up for sure.
About the Warner link with Linda, so Curtom was distributed by Warner in the US too? That does make sense. Still, I doubt it helped her much. The Casablanca story shows again that being distributed by a major wasnât always an advantage. Warner had so many in-house labels that outside material often came second.
Thanks for reading & reacting, Brad. Have a great weekend, and thanks for the tip!
Thanks, Pe, and you're most welcome! Happy weekend to you, also!
Seeing this title reminds me of Kathie Lee Gifford's ads for Carnival Cruise Lines in the '80s, where she sang "If your friends could see you now..."
I know a little about Clifford, but not nearly enough. Thanks for this, Pe! Gonna do some more digging here.
Sheâs an underrated singer, right up there with Loleatta Holloway and Martha Wash. Her peak period was definitely the Curtom releases, Kevin. Thanks for reading and reacting, wishing you a great weekend!
And you as well! Thank you!
Thanks for another great post and Iâm excited to read about Company B! Love the Fascinsted music video
Itâll be a fun one too, since I'll get to write about Ish Ledesma, one of the prettiest disco/dance voices (Foxy) and the producer behind Company B đĽđĽđ. Thanks for reading and reacting, Vince. Wishing you a great weekend!