Jody Watley
From Soul Train dancer to solo superstar, Jody Watley has brought a distinctive sense of style to the world of Dance music. From Disco to recent electronic experiments, she has consistently riveted the attention of critics and fans alike.
Born in 1959 in Chicago, Jody Watley is the godchild of the late R&B superstar Jackie Wilson. Her family moved to Los Angeles in the early 1970s. When Jody was fourteen her father arranged for her to audition to be a dancer on Don Cornelius’ television show Soul Train. The audition was successful and Jody and her partner, Jeffrey Daniel became regular featured dancers on the show for four years. In 1977, Jody and Jeffrey were asked to become the faces for the studio group Shalamar which was basking in the glow of its first hit for Solar Records, the Motown medley Uptown Festival. Jody and Jeffrey joined Gerald Mumford, who was quickly replaced by Gerald Brown and then Howard Hewett, to become a permanent lineup for Shalamar.
Shalamar’s next album Disco Gardens included the minor hit Take That To the Bank, but it was the next album, 1980’s Big Fun which made Shalamar a superstar group. The smooth, rhythmic L.A. Disco sound of Second Time Around topped Disco and R&B charts while breaking the group into the Pop top 10. 1981’s Three For Love continued the success with the Disco hit of Full Of Fire and Make That Move. The album also featured the silky ballad This Is For the Lover In You. Unfortunately, the followup albums were less successful while featuring an occasional hit such as Night To Remember and the synth-drenched Dead Giveaway, released in 1983.
By 1984, amid rampant rumors of conflict between Jody Watley and Howard Hewett, Jody left the group. Escaping negative publicity over her decision to leave the group, she headed to England for over a year. She was asked to take part in the legendary Band-Aid recording session organized by Bob Geldof. The resulting single Do They Know It’s Christmas? raised over one million dollars for famine relief in Ethiopia. In 1985, Jody Watley recorded a single with the experimental music conglomerate Art Of Noise, but sales went nowhere.
In mid-1986, Jody returned to the U.S. and signed a recording deal with MCA Records. Working with some of Dance music’s top producers, Bernard Edwards of Chic fame, Patrick Leonard, known for producing Madonna, and Andre Cymone of Prince’s Minneapolis contingent, the album Jody Watley was a huge success. The leadoff single Looking For a New Love topped the Dance chart. It was followed in quick succession by Still a Thrill and Don’t You Want Me in the top 10. Jody became known not only for her sharp, funky Dance songs, but also the stylishness of her music videos which proved to be an outstanding visual accompaniment to the music in clubs. Jody Watley celebrated her successful solo career with a Grammy Award for Best New Artist.
Jody worked exclusively with Andre Cymone as her producer on the followup album, Larger Than Life. The bass heavy first single release, Real Love, became Jody’s second number one on the Dance chart. For the video, she worked with director David Fincher who has since directed such dynamic films as Seven and Fight Club. On the follow-up single, Friends, another Dance top 10, Jody traded vocals with rap star Erik B. of Erik B. and Rakim. Jody Watley closed out the 80’s at the peak of her solo career.
Following release of a mildly successful remix album and an exercise video, Jody Watley’s next album Affairs Of the Heart was released in 1991. She worked again primarily with Andre Cymone, her new husband, but the album was a change in focus. While sporting a broader lyrical scope, and including more introspective balladry, the album didn’t forget Dance audiences. The funky I Want You was a minor Dance hit, and Jody’s collaboration with producer David Morales, I’m the One You Need, reached the top 3 on the Dance chart. Ominously, however, Pop audiences were deserting Jody. Her next album, 1993’s Intimacy failed to crack the Pop top 100. Dance audiences remained interested as When a Man Loves a Woman and Your Love Keeps Working On Me both reached the Dance top 10.
After ending her marriage to Andre Cymone in early 1995 and the end of her contract with MCA, Jody Watley released Affection on her own record label and it proved to be a commercial flop. However, Jody remained in the public eye through her Broadway performance in the role of Rizzo in the musical Grease. 1996 brought a brief return to the top 10 on the Pop chart as Jody appeared as a guest vocalist with former collaborators Jeffrey Daniel and Howard Hewett on a remake of This Is For the Lover In You led by Babyface.
Significant commercial success in the United States has continued to elude Jody Watley in recent years, but she has released a number of intriguing Dance music recordings, mostly overseas. Two U.S. rleases, the singles Off the Hook and If I’m Not In Love With You reached the top of the Dance chart. Her 1998 album Flower reached platinum sales in the U.K. 1999’s album Saturday Night Experience, released in Japan, is an album of experimental electronic Dance music. Midnight Lounge, released overseas in 2002, was released in the U.S. in 2003 and included Jody’s first single to hit the Dance top 20 in 5 years, Whenever.
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