Old School Saturdays--Stephanie Mills
photo courtesy of pavilionconcerts.com
Have you ever watched the shows American Idol or America/Britain’s Got Talent and witnessed a little kid that has a voice that blows your mind? Well, when Stephanie Mills stepped on the music scene, she was known as “the little girl with the big voice.” She was born in March 1957 and has almost been singing every since.
By age 11, Mills had starred in her first play and had won Amateur Night at the world-famous Apollo Theatre a total of six times. Her wins lead to her being cast in the Broadway musical, Maggie Flynn, as an orphaned runaway slave. Between 1973 and 1976, she began opening for the Isley Brothers, which allowed her to be seen by Jackson 5 singer, Jermaine Jackson. A year later, Mills signed with Motown Records, but her first two albums were flops and they had a tough time finding a sound for her, so she left the label.
In 1975, Mills’ big break came when she got the part as Dorothy in the African-American portrayal of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz entitled, The Wiz. Her excellent performance of the song “Home” became her signature tune for years and brought stardom Mills’ way; “Home” was later covered by Diana Ross for the big screen three years later. Signing to 20th Century Fox record label in 1979, she released her first gold album, What Cha Gonna Do With My Lovin; this was her first true music success. Songs such as “What Cha Gonna Do With My Lovin,” “You Can Get Over,” and “Put Your Body In It,” are classic songs from the album. Stephanie continued creating hit after hit during the early to late 80s. Currently, she is touring, appearing on TV shows, performing at various events and working on other projects.
I remember hearing “Home” at a very young age and I was blown away then by Stephanie’s voice. I continued being a fan of her music over the years. This playlist has brought back so many memories of school dances (that I probably shouldn’t have been at) and community teen dances.
Read more about Stephanie Mills. To groove to Stephanie’s music, hit the play button on the playlist.
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4 comments:
great song and the introduction for this post was cool too. little girl with the big voice.
Once again these songs remind me of my college days....hmmmm....
will be back later for musical monday
@lazyking and @kavita, thanks for stopping by and i'm glad you enjoyed the post.
@kavita, i remember being young and visiting my aunt who always had music playing, just like in my house. i remember grooving to stephanie's songs.
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