Shandi Sinnamon (1952 – July 4, 2024) was an American

singer Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

and

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

Career

Shandi was born to a

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

family as Shandra Sinnamon in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. After dropping out of

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

, she left home for

Big Sur Big Sur () is a rugged and mountainous section of the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of the U.S. state of California, between Carmel Highlands and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Range, Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from th ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Her ambition was to become a singer and songwriter. After a bicycle accident in L.A., she went back to

for recuperation. While recovering, she studied music and drama at a

community college A community college is a type of undergraduate higher education institution, generally leading to an associate degree, certificate, or diploma. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an open enr ...

. While she was singing in a local restaurant, a disc jockey noticed her talent and introduced her to Elektra/Asylum Records. In 1976, she released her first album, ''Shandi Sinnamon'', on Asylum Records. Around the same time in

Los Angeles 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, ...

, California, Mike Chapman discovered her. In 1980, they released her second album '' Shandi'' from his Dreamland Records, with Chapman producing. Shandi and Ronald Magness wrote and performed the song "He's a Dream" that was used in the 1983 film '' Flashdance'', the

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

of which won the Grammy Award for Best Album of Original Score in 1984. The song was covered by Deep Dish in 2004 as " Flashdance". She has since written and performed songs for films and TV dramas, including "Tough Love" for the film '' The Karate Kid'', "Living on the Edge" & "Double Trouble" for the film '' Making the Grade'', "Fight to Survive" for the film '' Bloodsport'', "Gotcha", title song for the film '' Gotcha!'', "Seven Day Heaven" for '' Where the Boys Are '84'', "Eyes of Fire" for '' The Little Drummer Girl'', "Wild Roses" for ''

Echo Park Echo Park is a neighborhood in the east-Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles, California. Located to the northwest of Downtown Los Angeles, Downtown, it is bordered by Silver Lake, Los Angeles, Silver Lake to the west and Chinato ...

'', and "Boy of My Dreams" for '' Tower of Terror'', among many others. TV compositions include: "Leave Yesterday Behind" for the TV drama '' Leave Yesterday Behind'', "Slow Dance" for the movie '' Can You Feel Me Dancing'', and sang the theme song '' Charles in Charge'' for the 1984-1990 TV series. In 1985, her song "Making It" (composed by

Richie Zito Richie Zito (born August 21, 1952) is an American songwriter, composer and record producer from Los Angeles. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Zito has experienced success as a prolific session musician, being featured on a wide array of ...

) became a local hit in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. She also sang the song "Only a Memory Away" as

Sailor Mercury , better known as is a fictional character in the ''Sailor Moon'' manga series created by Naoko Takeuchi, a teenage Japanese schoolgirl, and a member of the Sailor Guardians, supernatural female fighters who protect the Solar System from evil. ...

in the English adaptation of the Japanese series ''

Sailor Moon is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi. It was originally serialized in Kodansha's Shōjo manga, ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Nakayoshi'' from 1991 to 1997; the 60 individual chapters (later reorganized into ...

'' (1995). (See also Sailor Moon soundtracks (USA)) She has worked as a backing vocalist for

Todd Rundgren Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the bands Nazz and Utopia. He is known for his sophistica ...

, Bernadette Peters, Hoyt Axton, and

Johnny Hallyday Jean-Philippe Léo Smet (; 15 June 1943 – 5 December 2017), better known by his stage name Johnny Hallyday, was a French rock and roll and Pop music, pop singer and actor, credited with having brought rock and roll to France. During a career ...

. She lived in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

. In 2005, she was named Eugene's S.L.U.G. Queen as "Frank SlugSnotra". Shandi Sinnamon died on July 4, 2024.

Discography

Albums

* 1976: ''Shandi Sinnamon'' * 1980: ''Shandi'' * 1980: ''Leather and Pearls'' * 1982: ''Love Ordeal'' * 1985: ''Back on the Streets'' * 1986: ''Slow Dance'' * 1986: ''Damsel in Distress'' * 1987: ''Americana'' * 1987: ''Little Bird'' * 1990: ''Urban Berlin'' * 1992: ''Straight One Take'' * 2004: ''I'm Packin''

Single

* "Making It" 1985

Award

* 1984: ''He's A Dream'' - Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media

References

External links

* *

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 Mus ...

br>Shandi Sinammon radio interview on Rundgren RadioFlashdance the Movie - Includes Music Credits
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinnamon, Shandi 1952 births American women singer-songwriters American women pop singers American people of French descent Singers from Miami Singer-songwriters from Florida Grammy Award winners 21st-century American women