Lonnie Gordon
Lonnie Gordon (born November 8, 1965, Philadelphia) is an American female dance, pop and R&B singer and songwriter from New York's Bronx, who scored a few chart hits during the 1990s.
Early life and career
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Gordon moved to the Bronx at an early age. In the early 1980s, she started performing around the Harlem area in clubs as the lead singer of a band called Nythjar. After meeting her husband, she relocated to England in the late 1980s, and retired from the music scene to take care of her daughter Rikki.
Gordon resumed her singing career in 1988 singing lead vocals for club-oriented acts such as Offshore, Deja Vu and most notably, House ensemble Quartzlock, releasing the singles "No Regrets", "Love Eviction" and "You Make Loving Fun". In 1989, she contributed lead vocals to Simon Harris' cover of the On the House song "(I've Got Your) Pleasure Control", which became her first charting single in the UK. The record brought her to the attention of Supreme Records, who offered her a deal in 1989.
The first single on the Supreme label, a cover of First Choice's "Let No Man Put Asunder" (re-titled "It's Not Over (Let No Man Put Asunder)"), was a club hit but did not translate into pop success. For her next single, "Happenin' All Over Again", Gordon collaborated with British hitmaking team Stock Aitken & Waterman. The song had originally been written for Donna Summer,[1] but Gordon was offered the track as SAW had fallen out with Summer and had had a long association with the record label dating back to 1986 with the Supreme act Mel & Kim. The single was released in January 1990. It peaked at #4 in the UK Singles Chart,[2] and became a huge hit around Europe.
The planned follow-up single, the uptempo "How Could He Do This To Me", was scrapped (and was never released until years later), and the ballad "Beyond Your Wildest Dreams" was released instead in August 1990. The single peaked at #48. In November 1990, Gordon released her debut album's title track "If I Have To Stand Alone", which had a similar sound to "Happenin' All Over Again". The single charted at #68 in the UK.[2] As a result of the last two singles' placings her debut album, If I Have To Stand Alone was never officially released in the UK, and only received a limited release in Europe, Australia (where it peaked at #173 on the ARIA Albums Chart[3]) and Japan but to rave reviews.
In 1991, Gordon flew to Italy and recorded the song "Gonna Catch You", written and produced by the Italo house group Black Box. It was released as a single in the UK where it became a top 40 hit, peaking at #32. Due to its inclusion in the Vanilla Ice film Cool As Ice, the song became her debut release in the U.S., where it peaked at #1 on the U.S. Dance charts and at #79 on the Billboard Hot 100. This was Gordon's last release with Supreme Records.
Signed to SBK Records, Gordon released her second album Bad Mood in 1993. The album included two further U.S. #1 Dance singles, "Bad Mood", and a re-recorded "Happenin' All Over Again", which also peaked at #98 in the Billboard Hot 100. A follow up single, "Do You Want It", also did well on the dance charts in 1994.
Gordon has hit the U.S. dance chart two more times in 1996, with the songs "Dirty Love" on Geffen Records, which peaked at #6, and "If You Really Love Me" released on Big Bang Records, which peaked at #42. In 2000, she released the compilation album No Regret, which included many of her singles and album highlights, as well as two new songs. A cover of "He Lives in You", was released as its lead single.
In 2002, Gordon starred as the lead vocalist and narrator for "Zumanity" another side of Cirque du Soleil, in Las Vegas. Working with Cirque du Soleil and moving to Las Vegas, was a bold career move that provided an opportunity for Gordon to showcase her strong vocals and incredible stage presence. After leaving Cirque du Soleil, Gordon made her way back to London, England and constantly toured, working with uk based company Allaboutdivas.com
In 2007, Gordon established her own label Gordon Records, from which she released four compilation albums including several new songs. She also exhibited her paintings around this time in Las Vegas.
A remastered special edition CD of her unreleased UK 1990 album, If I Have To Stand Alone, was released in April 2009 on the Cherry Pop record label, with additional unreleased mixes from PWL's vaults.
In 2009, "Catch You Baby", a re-recording of the 1991 hit, "Gonna Catch You", was released by Positiva/EMI as a digital-only download in early August 2009, with a host of mixes, including by a mixes by Pete Hammond and 7TH Heaven.
In 2010-2011 Gordon again toured the UK and Europe to much acclaim as well as giving her time to perform at major H.I.V / A.I.D.S benefits worldwide. Gordon has always given her time and energy to this cause. In 2012 Gordon is launching her one-woman show entitled "No Apologies" - Who said Life Was easy?
Discography
Albums
- If I Have to Stand Alone (1991) Supreme Records – AUS #173[3]
- Bad Mood (1993) SBK/EMI Records
- No Regret (2000) Centaur Entertainment
- Very Best of Lonnie Gordon (2002) Night & Day Records
- Looking Through Time (2007) Gordon Records
- Anthems, Vol. I (2007) Gordon Records
- Anthology Vol. 1 (2007) Gordon Records
- Anthology Vol. 2 (2007) Gordon Records
- If I Have to Stand Alone - Special Edition (2009) Cherry Pop/Cherry Red Records[4]
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [2][5] |
AUS [3] |
BEL (FLA) [6] |
FRA [7] |
GER [8] |
IRE [9] |
NED [10] |
NZ [11] |
SWE [12] |
US [13] |
US Dance [14] | ||||
| 1989 | "It's Not Over (Let No Man Put Asunder)" | 91 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | If I Have To Stand Alone | |
| 1990 | "Happenin' All Over Again" | 4 | 33 | 25 | 24 | 44 | 3 | 35 | 43 | 14 | — | — | ||
| "Beyond Your Wildest Dreams" | 48 | 104 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "If I Have To Stand Alone" | 68 | 147 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1991 | "Gonna Catch You" | 32 | 145 | — | 37 | — | — | 27 | — | — | 79 | 1 | Cool as Ice | |
| 1993 | "Bad Mood" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | Bad Mood | |
| "Happenin' All over Again '93" (US only) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 98 | 1 | |||
| 1994 | "Do You Want It" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5 | ||
| 1996 | "Dirty Love" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 6 | singles only | |
| "If You Really Love Me" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 42 | |||
| 1998 | "Beat The Street '98" (UK only) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Happenin' All Over Again '98" (US only) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1999 | "Everybody's Talking" (AUS/NZ only) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2001 | "He Lives in You" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | No Regret | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | ||||||||||||||
As featured artist
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | US Dance | |||
| 1987 | "Cinco De Mayo" (by Tropical Beat) | — | — | |
| 1988 | "All Work And No Play" (by Offshore) | — | — | |
| "No Regrets" (by Quartzlock) | — | — | ||
| 1989 | "(I've Got Your) Pleasure Control" (by Simon Harris) | 60[15] | 23 | |
| "Beat The Street" (by Love Inc.) | — | — | ||
| 1990 | "We Got The Love" (by Touch of Soul) | 46[16] | — | |
| 1995 | "Love Eviction" (by Quartz Lock) | 32[2] | — | |
| 1996 | "A God That Can Dance" (by Shield) | — | — | |
| 2001 | "Falling In And Out Of Love" (by Orienta-Rhythm) | — | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | ||||
See also
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
References
- ↑ "Cafe80s: Lonnie Gordon Interview". freeserve.co.uk. Archived from the original on 29 February 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 "Official Charts > Lonnie Gordon". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
- 1 2 3 Australian peak chart positions:
- Top 50 singles peaks: "australian-charts.com > Lonnie Gordon in Australian Charts". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
- "Beyond Your Wildest Dreams", "If I Have To Stand Alone" (single), "Gonna Catch You" and "If I Have To Stand Alone" (album): "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 15 July 2015". imgur.com. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
- ↑ "Allmusic ((( Lonnie Gordon > Discography > Main Albums )))".
- ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 232. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ↑ "Lonnie Gordon - Belgian Chart" (in Dutch). ultratop.be. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
- ↑ "Lonnie Gordon - French Chart". lescharts.com. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
- ↑ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts > Lonnie Gordon – Happenin' All Over Again (single)" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
- ↑ "The Irish Charts – All there is to know > Search results for 'Lonnie' (from irishcharts.ie)". Imgur.com. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
- ↑ "Lonnie Gordon - Dutch chart". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
- ↑ "Lonnie Gordon - New Zealand chart". charts.org.nz. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
- ↑ "Lonnie Gordon - Swedish chart". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
- ↑ "Lonnie Gordon - US Hot 100". billboard.com. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
- ↑ "Lonnie Gordon - US Dance Club Songs". billboard.com. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
- ↑ "Official Charts > Simon Harris". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
- ↑ "Official Charts > Touch of Soul". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
