Janice Michell McClain (born 25 January 1964 in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

) is an American R&B singer, probably best known for her 1979

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

hit "Smack Dab in the Middle".

Early life and teenage career

McClain was raised in North Philly, the only child of a construction father and a mother who worked as a secretary and later as a dressmaker. Singing nearly from infancy in church, McClain grew up in a musical household - both of her parents had themselves cut records as teenagers - , McClain becoming conversant at an early age with current

Soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

hits,

showtune A show tune is a song originally written as part of the score of a work of musical theatre or musical film, especially if the piece in question has become a standard, more or less detached in most people's minds from the original context. Th ...

s and opera: her early idols included

Freda Payne Freda Charcilia Payne (born September 19, 1942Some sources give a birth year of 1945, but this appears to be an error as all sources agree that she is older than her sister Scherrie, born 1944.) is an American singer and actress. Payne is best ...

and

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Known as the "Queen of Motown Records", she was the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown#Major divisions, Motown's most suc ...

and as a teenager McClain became an especial fan of

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

. A student at the

Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts The Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts, commonly known as CAPA, is a magnet school in South Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the edge of the Christian Street Historic District. It is a part of the School Distr ...

, McClain also studied at

Settlement Music School Settlement Music School is a community music school with branches in and around Philadelphia. Founded in 1908 by two young women, Jeannette Selig Frank and Blanche Wolf Kohn, it is the largest community school of the arts in the United States. I ...

. At age 14 McClain's evident vocal prowess led to her professional performing debut singing with the local jazz ensemble

Pieces of a Dream Piece or Pieces (not to be confused with peace) may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * Piece (chess), pieces deployed on a chessboard for playing the game of chess * ''Pieces'' (video game), a 1994 puzzle game for the Super NES * ...

: also when McClain was 14, her uncle Milton Tennant, a songwriter and record producer, had McClain cut her first record. Shortly after her fifteenth birthday McClain recorded the track "Smack Dab in the Middle", co-written and co-produced by Tennant and Thom Page (the latter also an uncle of McClain's): the track was successfully shopped to RFC, the recently launched

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

disco-oriented label, and released October 1979 to become one of the Top Ten most-played tracks in American

discothèque A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighting displays, and a ...

s for the first five weeks of 1980. However the track would not become a mainstream success - barely crossing over to the

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

with a #91 peak - and although McClain did cut tracks for a projected album she had no evident further releases prior to two mid-1980s

12" single The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12) is a type of vinyl (polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a "single" or a few related sound tracks on each surface, compar ...

Adult career

On 10 July 1982 - a month after her high school graduation - McClain was in the lineup of a Robin Hood Dell benefit concert alongside such

Philly soul Philadelphia soul, sometimes called Philly soul, the Philadelphia sound, Phillysound, or The Sound of Philadelphia (TSOP), is a genre of late 1960s–1970s soul music characterized by funk influences and lush string and horn arrangements. The g ...

stars as

McFadden & Whitehead McFadden and Whitehead were an American R&B duo, best known for their signature tune "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now". They wrote and produced some of the most popular R&B hits of the 1970s, and were primarily associated with the Gamble and Huff rec ...

Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes 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 ...

Billy Paul Paul Williams (December 1, 1934 – April 24, 2016), known professionally as Billy Paul, was an American soul music, soul singer, known for his 1972 Record chart, No. 1 single "Me and Mrs. Jones". His 1973 album and single ''War of the Gods (alb ...

. Two days before her nineteenth birthday McClain reportedly caused a local sensation making her debut at the premiere North Philly jazz club Jewel's, with McClain rapidly becoming established as a top lounge act, regular gigs at Jewel's leading to engagements at New Jersey venues. McClain also performed at the

Kool Jazz Festival The Newport Jazz Festival is an annual American multi-day jazz music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island. Elaine Lorillard established the festival in 1954, and she and husband Louis Lorillard financed it for many years. They hire ...

"jazz picnic" at

Waterloo Village Waterloo Village is a restored 19th-century canal town in Byram Township, Sussex County (west of Stanhope) in northwestern New Jersey, United States. The community was approximately the half-way point in the roughly trip along the Morris C ...

in June 1983, and would serve as opening act for Philly engagements of such top R&B acts as

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

and the

Commodores Commodores, often billed as The Commodores, are an American funk and Soul music, soul group. The group's most successful period was in the late 1970s and early 1980s when Lionel Richie was the co-lead singer. The members of the group met as m ...

, also opening for

the O'Jays The O'Jays are an American Rhythm and blues, R&B group from Canton, Ohio, formed in summer 1958 and originally consisting of Eddie Levert, Walter Lee Williams, William Powell, Bobby Massey, and Bill Isles. The O'Jays made their first chart appea ...

Atlantic City Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of the Atlantic City- Hammonton metropolitan sta ...

. While performing at the Trump Plaza (Atlantic City) showroom Jezebel's late in 1984 McClain was scouted by

Jheryl Busby Jheryl Busby (May 5, 1949 – November 4, 2008) was an American recording company executive who was the former President and Chief Executive Officer of Motown Records. Biography Busby grew up in South Central Los Angeles, where he went to Joh ...

, head a&r rep for the

Soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in African-American culture, African-American African-American neighborhood, communities throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps ...

division of

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other ...

: Busby had been tipped off re McClain by

Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American Rhythm and blues, R&B singer and actress. She has been referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godmother of Soul". LaBelle began ...

after the latter had caught McClain's act either at Jezebel's or at Harrah's Marina where McClain had made her Atlantic City debut that September. Mcclain was signed to MCA in July 1985 with her self-titled album originally scheduled for a 30 April 1986 release with a March release for the balladic track "Let's Spend the Night" as advance single: however the album's release was delayed until the year's end with the dance track "Passion & Pain" as lead single, "Let's Spend the Night" being issued as the second single in April 1987: neither the album nor its singles were successful with only "Passion and Pain" charting, stalling at #75 on the R&B chart. Subsequent to a 1994 12" single release, McClain's recording resume has comprised chorale duties for Philly-area sessions, contributing to the albums '' It's Long Overdue'' by Keith Martin (1994), ''All the Way From Philadelphia'' by the Three Tenors of Soul (

William Hart William Hart, also Will, Willy, Bill, or Billy Hart may refer to: Arts and entertainment * William Hart (actor) (died 1650), English Caroline actor * William Hart (painter) (1823–1894), Scottish-American painter * William Hart (singer) (1945– ...

, Ted Mills,

Russell Thompkins Jr. Russell Allen Thompkins Jr. (born March 21, 1951) is an American soul singer, best known as the original lead singer of the vocal group The Stylistics and noted for his high tenor, countertenor, and falsetto vocals. With Russell as lead singer, ...

) (2007), ''Love, Niecy Style'' by

Deniece Williams June Deniece Williams (née Chandler; born June 3, 1950) is an American singer. She has been described as "one of the great Soul music, soul voices" by the BBC. She is best known for the songs "Free (Deniece Williams song), Free", "Silly (song ...

(2007), and '' George Clinton & His Gangsters of Love'' (2008), plus the 2010 seasonal EP ''

Ronnie Spector Veronica Yvette Greenfield (, formerly Spector; August 10, 1943 – January 12, 2022) was an American singer who co-founded and fronted the girl group the Ronettes. She is sometimes referred to as the original "bad girl of rock and roll". ...

's Best Christmas Ever''. She remains an active live performer in Philadelphia and its surrounding area.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Janice McClain'' (

, 1986)

Singles

References

External links

* *

Allmusic profile AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the data ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:McClain, Janice 1964 births American child singers American disco singers Living people Singers from Pennsylvania 21st-century African-American women singers 21st-century American women singers 20th-century African-American women singers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers