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Any Way You Like It
''Any Way You Like It'' is the fourth album by Thelma Houston, released late October 1976 on Tamla Records. The album features energetic disco songs with fierce vocal performances by Houston on side 1, while side 2 focuses on ballads. It includes the major hit single, "Don't Leave Me This Way", Houston's remake of the Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes song, zooming to No. 1 in the US charts. In the US, "If It's the Last Thing I Do", a track originally recorded in 1972, was chosen for the second single release on MoWest, while Europe had an edited version of the Stevie Wonder cover, "Don't Know Why I Love You", produced and arranged by Michael Lovesmith. A re-recorded version of "Don't Leave Me This Way" was #19 on the dance charts in December 1994. The album was arranged by Arthur G. Wright, Michael Lovesmith, Harold Johnson, Paul Riser, Clayton Ivey, Ted Stovall, Michael Omartian, Perry Botkin, Jr. and Terry Woodford. The cover photograph was by Harry Langdon. Track listing # ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thelma Houston
Thelma Houston ( Jackson; born May 7, 1943) is an American singer and actress. Beginning her recording career in the late 1960s, Houston scored a number-one hit in 1977 with her recording of " Don't Leave Me This Way", which won the Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. Biography Early life and career Houston was born in Leland, Mississippi. Her mother was a cotton picker. She and her three sisters grew up primarily in Long Beach, California. After marrying and having two children, she joined the Art Reynolds Singers gospel group and was subsequently signed as a recording artist with Dunhill Records. Despite her surname, she is unrelated to Whitney Houston. In 1969, Houston released her debut album, entitled '' Sunshower'', produced, arranged and composed by Jimmy Webb except for one track. In 1971 she signed with Motown Records but her early recordings with them were largely unsuccessful. Her most notable single during that period was "You've Been Doing Wrong for So ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Omartian
Michael S. Omartian (born November 26, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, keyboardist, and music producer. He produced number-one records in three consecutive decades. He has earned 11 Grammy Awards nominations and won three. He spent five years on the A&R staff of ABC/Dunhill Records as a producer, artist, and arranger; then was hired by Warner Bros. Records as an in-house producer and A&R staff member. Omartian moved from Los Angeles to Nashville in 1993, where he served on the Board of Governors of the Recording Academy, and has helped to shape the curriculum for the first master's degree program in the field of Music Business at Belmont University. Artists who Omartian has produced albums for include Clint Black, Michael Bolton, Debby Boone, Steve Camp, Peter Cetera, Christopher Cross, Joe "Bean" Esposito, Amy Grant, Benny Hester, Whitney Houston, the Imperials, The Jacksons, Reba McEntire, Dolly Parton, Cliff Richard, Steely Dan, Rod Stewa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Perry Botkin Jr
Perry or pear cider is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally in England (particularly Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire), parts of South Wales, France (especially Normandy and Anjou), Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. There is growing interest in artisanal perry production in the fruit-growing regions of the northwest United States. Perry typically has an alcohol content ranging from 5% to 9% ABV. Production Fruit The pears used to make perry are typically not the large, sweet varieties eaten as fresh fruit. Perry pears tend to be small and relatively the distinction between table pears and perry pears is similar to the distinction between table apples and cider apples. Perry pears are thought to be descended from wild hybrids, known as ''wildings'', between the cultivated pear ''Pyrus communis'' subsp. ''communis'' and the now-rare wild pear ''Pyrus communis'' subsp. ''pyraster''. The cultivated pear ''P. communis'' was brought to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gerry Goffin
Gerald Goffin (February 11, 1939 – June 19, 2014) was an American lyricist. Collaborating initially with his first wife, Carole King, he co-wrote many international pop hits of the early and mid-1960s, including the US No.1 hits " Will You Love Me Tomorrow", " Take Good Care of My Baby", " The Loco-Motion", and " Go Away Little Girl". It was later said of Goffin that his gift was "to find words that expressed what many young people were feeling but were unable to articulate." After he and King divorced, Goffin wrote with other composers, including Barry Goldberg and Michael Masser, with whom he wrote " Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)" and " Saving All My Love for You", also No. 1 hits. During his career, Goffin wrote over 114 ''Billboard'' Hot 100 hits, including eight chart-toppers, and 72 UK hits. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, with Carole King. Biography Early life Goffin was born in New York City. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Do You Know Where You're Going To
"Theme from ''Mahogany'' (Do You Know Where You're Going To)" is a song written by Michael Masser and Gerry Goffin and produced by Masser. It was initially recorded by American singer Thelma Houston in 1973, and then by Diana Ross as the theme to the 1975 Motown/Paramount film ''Mahogany'' that also starred Ross. The song was released on September 24, 1975 by Motown Records as the lead single for both the film's soundtrack and Ross' seventh studio album, ''Diana Ross''. Masser and Goffin received a nomination for Best Original Song at the 48th Academy Awards. Also, the song was nominated for AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs list constructed by the American Film Institute in 2004. Production notes The song was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song. Ross performed the song live at the Academy Awards ceremony via satellite from Amsterdam. ''Record World'' said that "Diana handles he songwith consummate ease" and that "her frail but stunningly effective voice is captured amid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saul Chaplin
Saul Chaplin (February 19, 1912 – November 15, 1997) was an American composer and musical director. He was born Saul Kaplan in Brooklyn, New York. He had worked on stage, screen and television since the days of Tin Pan Alley. In film, he won three Oscars for collaborating on the scores and orchestrations of '' An American in Paris'' (1951), '' Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'' (1954) and ''West Side Story'' ( 1961). Biography Born to a Jewish family, Chaplin graduated with a B.A. in accounting from New York University's School of Commerce. After school, Chaplin joined the ASCAP and started out penning tunes for the theatre, vaudeville and for New York's famous songwriting district, Tin Pan Alley. While in New York, Chaplin teamed with Sammy Cahn to compose original songs for Vitaphone movie shorts, filmed in Brooklyn by Warner Brothers. During this period the team was sometimes billed only by surname ("Cahn and Chaplin"), in the manner of Rodgers and Hart or Gilbert and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sammy Cahn
Samuel Cohen (June 18, 1913 – January 15, 1993), known professionally as Sammy Cahn, was an American lyricist, songwriter, and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area. He and his collaborators had a series of hit recordings with Frank Sinatra during the singer's tenure at Capitol Records, but also enjoyed hits with Dean Martin, Doris Day and many others. He played the piano and violin, and won an Oscar four times for his songs, including the popular hit " Three Coins in the Fountain". Among his most enduring songs is " Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!", cowritten with Jule Styne in 1945. Life and career Cahn was born Samuel Cohen on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City, the only son (he had four sisters) of Abraham and Elka Reiss Cohen, who were Jewish immigrants from Galicia, then ruled by Austria-Hungary. His sisters, Sady ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kathy Wakefield
Kathleen Rae "Kathy" Wakefield is an American songwriter, singer and fiction author known for co-writing The Supremes' hit single " Nathan Jones" that was released by Motown and used as a soundtrack for the film ''Rain Man'' and for co-writing the Grammy-winning song " One Hundred Ways". Personal life and education Kathleen Rae Wakefield grew up in the Seattle area and attended the University of Washington. She divides her time between Los Angeles and Seattle, having previously lived part-time in London. Career She began her musical career singing in the 1960s with Dotty Harmony, performing as Dotty and Kathy. They released the pop single "The Prince of My Dreams," which was written by David Gates. Her first song, "Stand Tall," was co-written with Dotty Harmony and recorded by The O'Jays. Prior to her career in music, she was a showgirl at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. In 1970, Wakefield co-wrote the song "Feelin' Kinda Sunday" with Nino Tempo and Annette Tucker ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jermaine Jackson
Jermaine LaJuane Jacksun (né Jackson; born December 11, 1954) is an American singer, songwriter and bassist. He is known for being a member of the Jackson family. From 1964 to 1975, Jermaine was second vocalist after his brother Michael of the Jackson 5, and played bass guitar. In 1983, he rejoined the group, which had been renamed the Jacksons; he then consistently played in the group's performances and recordings until he left the group again in 2020. While Jermaine did not usually sing the lead vocal on the Jackson Five's biggest hits, he is featured on " I'll Be There" and " I Want You Back", among others. When four of the brothers left Motown Records for Epic Records in 1976 (having to rename the family act The Jacksons in the process), Jermaine, who had just married Motown founder Berry Gordy's daughter Hazel, stayed at Motown. He was replaced in The Jacksons by his youngest brother, Randy. Jermaine had a solo career concurrent with his brother Michael's, including some t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lula Mae Hardaway
Lula Mae Hardaway (January 11, 1930 – May 31, 2006) was an American songwriter and the mother of musician Stevie Wonder. She spent her early adult life in Saginaw, Michigan, but from 1975 until her death in 2006, lived in Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, .... Life Lula Mae Hardaway was born in Eufaula, Alabama, on January 11, 1930, the daughter of sharecropper Noble Hardaway. Her childhood years were marked by hardship, and she was moved around among relatives before eventually reaching Saginaw, Michigan, where she married the much older Calvin Judkin, father of her first two children. The blindness of her third child, Stevie Wonder, Stevland, is attributed to having been born weeks prematurely and then receiving too much oxygen in an incu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I Don't Know Why
"I Don't Know Why" (sometimes listed as "Don't Know Why I Love You") is a song by American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder, from the 1968 album ''For Once in My Life''. It was released as a single on January 28, 1969, with " My Cherie Amour" on the B-side. A few months later, the single was re-issued with sides reversed because of the growing popularity of "My Cherie Amour", which became a Top Ten hit. ''Cash Box'' stated that "Wonder is softened just a trifle on this slower and more dramatically developing ballad." Personnel *Stevie Wonder – vocals, clavinet *The Funk Brothers – all other instruments Charts The single peaked at No. 39 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song was recorded when Wonder was 18 years old, and became a moderate hit single, together with "You Met Your Match", another song from the album. It also showcases Wonder's talents on the clavinet. Rolling Stones version A rendition of "I Don't Know Why" by the Rolling Stones is included on th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leon Huff
Kenneth Gamble (born August 11, 1943, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and Leon A. Huff (born April 8, 1942, Camden, New Jersey) are an American songwriting and production duo credited for developing the Philadelphia soul music genre (also known as Philly sound) of the 1970s. In addition to forming their own label, Philadelphia International Records, Gamble and Huff have written and produced 175 gold and platinum records, earning them an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the non-performer category in March 2008. History Early years Gamble's childhood in Philadelphia shaped his adult life: he recorded himself on various arcade recording machines, assisted the morning show DJs on WDAS, operated a record store, and sang with The Romeos. In 1964, before there was "Gamble & Huff" there was "Gamble & Ross". Gamble was discovered and managed by Jerry Ross when Gamble was only 17 years old and they collaborated for many years. Gamble teamed up with Leon Huff (keyboards) fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
