Lipps, Inc. ( , a pun on the phrase "

lip sync Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , like the word ''sink'', despite the Hard and soft C, spelling of the participial forms ''synced'' and ''syncing''), short for lip synchronization, is a technical term for matching a Speech, speaking or singin ...

") was an American

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 ...

and

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

group from

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. The group is best known for the chart-topping 1980 worldwide hit single " Funkytown", which hit No. 1 in 28 countries and was certified as double

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

in sales. The group originally consisted of lead vocalist Cynthia Johnson and a changing line-up of

session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...

s, including guitarist David Rivkin, guitarist Tom Riopelle and bassist Terry Grant. Steven Greenberg, the creator of the act, wrote and produced most of the group's music.

History

Lipps Inc. started as a project of Steven Greenberg when he was a wedding DJ who wanted to try his hand at writing disco songs. He had intended to use the name Lip Sync, but it was in use by another group, so instead he chose the

homophone A homophone () is a word that is pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning or in spelling. The two words may be spelled the same, for example ''rose'' (flower) and ''rose'' (past tense of "rise"), or spelled differently, a ...

Lipps Inc. Greenberg was the sole member of the group until he met Cynthia Johnson while auditioning singers for his song "Rock It". Johnson joined the project, and Lipps Inc. became a duo. Lipps Inc.'s first release was the 1979 single "Rock It" on Greenberg's Flight imprint. The act released its debut album '' Mouth to Mouth'' in late 1979. With the release of the album, " Funkytown" became the second single from ''Mouth to Mouth'' and spent four weeks at No. 1 on both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and Hot Dance Music/Club Play charts in the United States; the previously released “Rock It” was also on the album, with a slightly different mix. The 7" single of "Funkytown" sold more than 2 million copies within a few months, and it was awarded a

platinum record Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music Sound recording and reproduction, recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video ...

within the year of its release. It reached No. 2 in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and was a hit throughout the world. Lipps Inc.'s later singles failed to match the band's previous success (the only other Hot 100 entry was "Rock It", which peaked at No. 64). However, more dance hits were released during the 1980s, including " How Long" in 1981 (originally a hit for Ace), which reached No. 4 on the U.S. dance chart. After '' Designer Music'', the group's third album, Johnson left the band and was replaced by Margie Cox and Melanie Rosales. Lipps Inc. released ''4'', its final album, in 1983, and disbanded two years later.

Europe

The "face" of the group in the Netherlands was the British dancer Doris D (Debbie Jenner), who playbacked the song in

TopPop ''TopPop'' was a Dutch television programme. It was the first regular dedicated pop music television series in the Dutch language area. The Netherlands broadcaster AVRO aired the programme weekly from 22 September 1970 to 27 June 1988. Presenter ...

with her dancers. Due to the success of this performance, they were invited to perform as Lipps Inc. in other European countries, including Germany. Jenner and her dancers then had success as "Doris D & the Pins" in early 1981.

Awards and recognitions

* Platinum and Double-Platinum Status with Funkytown * Inductee into Minnesota Music Hall of Fame

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles

References

External links

Photo gallery of Lipps Inc.
* * {{Authority control American dance music groups American disco groups American funk musical groups Casablanca Records artists Musical groups disestablished in 1985 Musical groups established in 1979 Musical groups from Minnesota Musical groups from Minneapolis Musical groups from the Twin Cities