Rachel Sweet (born July 28, 1962)
accessed May 2, 2014. is an American singer, television writer and actress.

Biography

Born in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city ...

,Campbell, Mary (1979)
Rachel Sweet: Busy Singer at 16, Made Debut at 5
, Lewiston ''Daily Sun'', September 12, 1979, p. 16, retrieved 2010-11-22. Sweet began her singing career at the age of three, when she won an electric garage door opener in a singing contest, she began recording commercials at the age of six, toured with

Mickey Rooney Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last surviving stars of the ...

, and performed in Las Vegas as the opening act for

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and media personality. He made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentric ...

at the age of 12.Patterson, Jim (1992)
Best-of Album Leaves Desire for new Rachel Sweet Release
, ''Daily News'', November 8, 1992, p. 12C, retrieved 2010-11-22 She began recording

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

in 1974, but with little success beyond one minor hit. Switching to

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm ...

, she signed to

Stiff Records Stiff Records is a British independent record label formed in London, England, by Dave Robinson and Jake Riviera. Originally active from 1976 to 1986, the label was reactivated in 2007. Established at the outset of the punk rock boom, Stiff ...

and released her first album, '' Fool Around'', in 1978, dropping out of high school to concentrate on her career, although she was still required to devote time to her studies.Adams, Deanna R. (2002) ''Rock 'n' Roll and the Cleveland Connection'', , p. 397-8Loder, Kurt (1980)
Singer Rachel Sweet needs to take school books on tour
, ''

Tuscaloosa News The '' Tuscaloosa News '' is a daily newspaper serving Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States, and the surrounding area in west central Alabama. In 2012, Halifax Media Group acquired the ''Tuscaloosa News''. Prior to that, the paper's owner was Th ...

'', May 23, 1980, p. 12 Sweet was backed by

The Records The Records were an English power pop band formed in 1978. They are best remembered for the hit single and cult favourite "Starry Eyes". Music career The Records formed out of the ashes of the Kursaal Flyers, a pub rock group featuring drumme ...

on the Stiff Records tour in 1978. The album was a critical success, but sales were poor, although she did have some success with the single " B-A-B-Y" (a cover of the 1966

Carla Thomas Carla Venita Thomas (born December 21, 1942) is an American singer, who is often referred to as the Queen of Memphis Soul. Thomas is best known for her 1960s recordings for Atlantic and Stax including the hits "Gee Whiz (Look at His Eyes)" (1 ...

song), which was a

top-40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "conte ...

hit in the UK.Rachel Sweet
, Chart Stats, retrieved 2010-11-22 The record label generated some controversy by pushing a

Lolita ''Lolita'' is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. The novel is notable for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator, a middle-aged literature professor under the pseudonym Humbert Hum ...

-like image for her. Her follow-up album, '' Protect the Innocent'', produced by

Martin Rushent Martin Charles Rushent (11 July 1948 – 4 June 2011) was an English record producer, best known for his work with The Human League, The Stranglers and Buzzcocks. Early life Rushent was born on 11 July 1948 in Enfield, Middlesex. His father ...

and

Alan Winstanley Alan Kenneth Winstanley (born 2 November 1952) is an English record producer and songwriter, active from the mid-1970s onwards. He usually works with Clive Langer. His early career during the mid-1970s was as an audio engineer, working on albu ...

,Deming, Mark " ''Protect the Innocent'' Review,

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

, retrieved 2010-11-22 largely was ignored by the public and the music media, although it was popular with her fans as well as a much anticipated 1980 North American tour with her band The Toys. She then signed to

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...

in 1981, releasing ''... And Then He Kissed Me'', which launched the hit "Everlasting Love", a duet with Rex Smith. Sweet released only one more album, 1982's ''Blame It on Love'', which featured her hit song "Voo Doo". The video for the song was played on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

, and she performed the song on the musical TV show '' Solid Gold''. She resumed her education via correspondence courses and graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in French and English Literature in 1988. She returned to music sporadically as she focused on her education, recording the title track to John Waters' film '' Hairspray'' and many of the songs for his musical ''

Cry-Baby ''Cry-Baby'' is a 1990 American teen musical romantic comedy film written and directed by John Waters. It was the only film of Waters's over which studios were in a bidding war, coming off the heels of the successful '' Hairspray''. The film s ...

''. In 1989 and 1990, she hosted a show on The Comedy Channel (forerunner of Comedy Central) called ''The Sweet Life''. She also recorded the theme song to the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

series ''

Clarissa Explains It All ''Clarissa Explains It All'' is an American teen sitcom created by Mitchell Kriegman for Nickelodeon. In the series, Clarissa Darling ( Melissa Joan Hart), is a teenager who addresses the audience directly to explain the things that are happenin ...

''; the theme song was a reworking of the theme song for ''The Sweet Life'', her show on The Comedy Channel. She also provided the voice for the ''Barbie'' animated series. In 1992 Sweet appeared in a minor role as

George Costanza George Louis Costanza is a fictional character in the American television sitcom ''Seinfeld'' (1989–1998), played by Jason Alexander. He is a short, stocky, balding man who struggles with numerous insecurities, often dooming his romantic rela ...

's cousin on an episode of ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as a fictionalized version of himself and ...

'' titled " The Contest." She has since focused on establishing an acting, writing, and producing career. In 1994, she appeared in '' All Tied Up''. She worked as a writer and executive producer on the television series ''

Dharma & Greg ''Dharma & Greg'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on ABC from September 24, 1997, until April 30, 2002, for 119 episodes over five seasons. The show starred Jenna Elfman and Thomas Gibson as Dharma and Greg Montgomery, a ...

'', ''Commando Nanny'', '' George Lopez'', ''

Hot in Cleveland ''Hot in Cleveland'' is an American television sitcom on TV Land starring Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves, Wendie Malick, and Betty White. The series, which was TV Land's first original series, premiered on June 16, 2010, and was TV Land's hig ...

'',"'Commando Nanny': A Sweet Deal", ''

Akron Beacon Journal The ''Akron Beacon Journal'' is a morning newspaper in Akron, Ohio, United States. Owned by Gannett, it is the sole daily newspaper in Akron and is distributed throughout Northeast Ohio. The paper's coverage focuses on local news. The Beacon ...

'', July 18, 2004 ''

2 Broke Girls ''2 Broke Girls'' (stylized ''2 Broke Girl$'') is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS from September 19, 2011, to April 17, 2017. The series was produced for Warner Bros. Television and created by Michael Patrick King and Whitney Cum ...

'', ''

The Single Guy ''The Single Guy'' is an American sitcom television series that ran for two seasons on NBC, from September 21, 1995, to April 14, 1997. It starred Jonathan Silverman as struggling New York City writer Jonathan Eliot and followed several of his ...

'' and '' ''The Goldbergs'''' and has worked in television production since the late 1990s. In 1982, she had a starring role in a low-budget musical film entitled ''Rock 'n' Roll Hotel'', which also featured Judd Nelson. It was filmed in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, at the then-inoperative Jefferson Hotel. The film never was released to theaters, but eventually was finished by Sweet and her father and shown on HBO. In 1992,

Rhino Records A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species ...

released ''Fool Around: The Best of Rachel Sweet''. The CD compilation included all of her first album ''Fool Around'' as well as tracks from her other three albums, along with the theme to ''Hairspray''. Sweet bought

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

's former home, Los Pavoreales, selling it in 2010 for $4,895,000.Beale, Lauren (2010)
Singer Rachel Sweet sells Los Pavoreales for $4,895,000
, ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'', April 12, 2010, retrieved November 22, 2010

Discography

Albums

* '' Fool Around'' (1978), Stiff - US No. 97" Rachel Sweet - Charts and Awards,

, retrieved November 22, 2010 * '' Protect the Innocent'' (1980), Stiff - US No. 123 * ''... And Then He Kissed Me'' (1981),

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...

- US No. 124 *''Blame It on Love'' (1982), Columbia

Compilation albums

* ''B.A.B.Y. - the Best of Rachel Sweet'' (1978), Stiff * ''Fool Around: The Best of Rachel Sweet'' (1992), Rhino * ''...And Then He Kissed Me / Blame It On Love'' (2005), Sony * ''Baby: Complete Stiff Recordings 1978 - 1980'' (2014), RPM Records UK

Singles

* "Any Port in a Storm" (1976), Derrick * "Paper Airplane" (1976), Derrick * "The Ballad of Mable Ruth Miller and John Wesley Pritchett" (1978), Derrick * "B-A-B-Y" (1978), Stiff - UK No. 35, AUS #47 * "Stranger in the House" (1978), Stiff-Columbia * "Baby Let's Play House" (1979), Stiff * " I Go to Pieces" (1979), Stiff, AUS #36 * "Tonight" (1980), Stiff * "Spellbound" (1980), Stiff, US #107 * "Fool's Gold" (1980), Stiff * "Lover's Lane" (1980), Stiff/Columbia * "

Everlasting Love "Everlasting Love" is a song written by Buzz Cason and Mac Gayden, originally a 1967 hit for Robert Knight and since remade numerous times, most successfully by Love Affair, as well as Town Criers, Carl Carlton, Sandra Cretu, and Gloria ...

" (1981), Columbia - with Rex Smith, US No. 32 UK No. 35,Rex Smith And Rachel Sweet
, Chart Stats, retrieved November 22, 2010 AUS #41 * "Then He Kissed Me - Be My Baby" (1981), CBS, AUS #55 * "Shadows Of The Night" (1981), CBS * "Voo Doo" (1982), Columbia - US No. 72 * "Hairspray" (1988),

MCA MCA may refer to: Astronomy * Mars-crossing asteroid, an asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Mars Aviation * Minimum crossing altitude, a minimum obstacle crossing altitude for fixes on published airways * Medium Combat Aircraft, a 5th gen ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sweet, Rachel 1962 births 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American women singers Actresses from Akron, Ohio American country singer-songwriters American women country singers American film actresses American women pop singers American television actresses Television producers from Ohio American television writers Country musicians from Ohio Living people Musicians from Akron, Ohio Screenwriters from Ohio Singer-songwriters from Ohio American women television producers American women television writers 20th-century American singers 21st-century American women