Music you've never heard….'til now! A blog of rare, hardly-heard or remembered pop, hip-hop, R&B, freestyle, dance and country music from the '70s to the 2000s. From one-hit wonders to no-hit wonders, this blog has it all!!
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Livin’ Joy was a house dance music group from Italy that originally consisted of brothers Paolo & Gianni Visnadi (who were members of an Italian dance music project called Alex Party) and singer Janice Robinson.
In 1994, the group released their debut single “Dreamer.” The song topped Billboard’s Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart for a week in November of that same year.
It also peaked at #16 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart. It wasn’t until a year later that the song topped the U.K. Singles chart.
In the United States, the song was a sleeper hit on pop radio, but finally managed to peak at #72 on the Billboard Hot 100, #38 on Billboard’s Rhythmic Top 40 chart, #10 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart and #40 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. In mid-1996, “Dreamer” re-entered the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #95.
During that same year, Livin’ Joy released their only album “Don’t Stop Movin'” which peaked at #41 on the U.K. Albums chart. By that time, Janice left the group and was replaced by singer Tameka Starr (born Tameka Starr Diggs).
The album grouped together the hits including “Dreamer” with new vocals by Tameka (but the original version with Janice Robinson was a hidden bonus track).
The title song peaked at #5 on the U.K. Singles chart, #67 on the Billboard Hot 100, #23 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart and #3 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. The song was also moderately successful in Australia, Belgium, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden.
The third single from the album “Follow the Rules” peaked at #9 on the U.K. Singles chart. The song was also moderately successful in Australia, Finland and Sweden.
The fourth single “Where Can I Find Love” peaked at #12 on the U.K. Singles chart. The last single from the album “Deep in You” peaked at #17 on the U.K. Singles chart.
In 1999, Livin’ Joy’s plans for a widescale commercial release of a single called “Just for the Sex of It” were scrapped due to lack of interest, but it managed to receive a limited club run, was popular in the nightclubs and released as a single in Australia where it peaked at #76 on the charts.
After that, it seemed as if Livin’ Joy faded into obscurity. In 2008, recordings from their follow-up album were leaked online which were “Love Yourself,” “Lookin’ Fine,” “I Only Wanna Dance,” “U R My Livin’ Joy,” “You Don’t Love Me” and “Bump This.”
It is unknown what the Visnadi brothers and Tameka Starr are up to today, but Janice Robinson continues to be active in the music business as a solo artist.
Sesh (short for Strength Enforcing Serious Harm from the Bronx, New York) was a hip-hop/rap trio that consisted of Sigga, Lamp and Sgt. Ore.
In 1996, they released the single “Definition: Sesh” on their own record label Sesh Records. It’s unknown how or if the single made the charts.
Despite that, the single gained the trio some recognition and they performed at venues such as the B-Boy Summit in San Diego, California, Hoodstock in Miami, Florida and the annual Rock Steady Anniversary in New York City. They even traveled to Europe to get fans overseas.
In 1998, Sesh released their only album “4535” on J-Bird Records. It’s unknown how or if the album made the charts at all.
After that, it seems as if Sesh has faded into obscurity. Nothing much has been heard from the trio since.
Frankie (born George Franklin Jackson in 1978 in Washington, D.C.) was an R&B singer from the ’90s.
Frankie met music producer Chucki Thompson when he was 14 years old through a mutual acquaintance which happened to be Notch Howell of music group Born Jamericans. He was signed to Chucki’s Epic Records imprint label Chucklife.
In 1997, Frankie released his only album “My Heart Belongs To You” which peaked at #93 on Billboard’s R&B Albums chart.
The only single from the album to chart was “If I Had You” which peaked at #108 on Billboard’s Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart and #46 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart, staying on the chart for 14 weeks. The song also featured rapper Jadakiss.
The follow-up singles “I Have Love” and “One Last Time” failed to chart at all and after that, it seems as if Frankie has faded into obscurity. Nothing much has been heard from him since.
Teri DeSario (born Teri Lynn DeSario on November 27, 1951 in Miami, Florida) is a former pop singer from the late ’70s/early ’80s.
Out of high school, Teri worked within various music genres. From 1970 to 1977, she sang & played recorder and harp with a medieval and Renaissance music group called the Early Music Consort. She began her career as a folk music singer-songwriter and later expanded her love of folk music with her passion for jazz music.
After Teri married horn player/arranger/composer Bill Purse, they formed a pop-folk-jazz collaborative called Abacus. One night, a long-haired man named Albhy Galuten walked into the club where Teri was performing. He claimed to be the producer of the Bee Gees and as it turned out, he actually was.
The Bee Gees’ Barry Gibb heard Teri’s demo of original music; he was so inspired by her vocals, he wrote a song for Teri called “Ain’t Nothing Gonna Keep Me From You” and helped her get a recording contract.
In July of 1978, “Ain’t Nothing Gonna Keep Me From You” was released and managed to peak at #43 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song also managed to peak at #52 on the U.K. Singles chart. Barry Gibb provided background vocals on the song while Teri’s husband Bill played horns.
In October of 1978, Teri released her debut album “Pleasure Train” on Casablanca Records. It’s unknown how or if the album ever made the charts.
The follow-up single from Teri’s debut album “The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of” managed to peak at #41 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. Despite the moderate success of her first single, Teri didn’t enjoy the recording experience and wanted to move in a new direction. She later bumped into an old schoolmate of hers from her teenage years, K.C. and the Sunshine Band’s Harry Wayne Casey (also known as K.C.)
In 1979, Teri released her sophomore album, “Moonlight Madness” which peaked at #80 on the Billboard 200 and #57 on Billboard’s R&B Albums chart.
The first single from the album was a cover version of Barbara Mason’s 1965 hit song “Yes I’m Ready” K.C. liked the original version of “Yes I’m Ready” and wanted to record a cover version of it. At the time, he was producing Teri’s second album and the president of Casablanca Records, Neil Bogart had an idea to record the song as a duet.
The song became Teri’s only biggest hit song to date, peaking at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, #20 on Billboard’s Hot Soul Singles chart, staying on the chart for 13 weeks and topped Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart.
The follow-up single, a cover version of “Dancin’ in The Streets” managed to peak at #66 on the Billboard Hot 100. The title song was released as a single, but didn’t make the charts.
In 1980, Teri released her third album, “Caught.” The album didn’t appear to make the Billboard 200 chart and it reflected on her situation with her record company.
The title song and “All I Wanna Do” were released a singles, but failed to make any impact on the Billboard charts at all. Teri recorded another album called “Relationships,” but after Casablanca Records changed directions, the album was shelved.
In 1982, Teri performed a duet with K.C. & The Sunshine Band on the single “Don’t Run (Come Back To Me).” The song managed to chart at #3 on Billboard’s Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.
In 1983, Teri released her fourth album (and first Contemporary Christian album), “A Call To Us All” on DaySpring Records. The album peaked at #32 on Billboard’s Top Contemporary Christian albums chart.
In 1984, Teri released her fifth album, “Overnight Success” (featuring Joey Carbone and Richie Zito) which was released only in Japan. It’s unknown how successful the album was in Japan.
In 1985, Teri released her sixth album “Voices in the Wind” which peaked at #34 on Billboard’s Top Contemporary Christian chart. In 1986, she received a Grammy nomination in the gospel music category for “Best Female Performance.” During that same year, she requested to be released from her record label.
In 1989, she performed & recorded a version of “Lifeline” with The Maranatha! Singers on a a compliation album for Maranatha! Music. In 1993, she did production work on volume one of the “Laughing Medusa Theme Series.” She also produced vocals on the 1996 album “Truth & Light: Music From The X-Files.”
In 1999, she released a self-titled CD sampler that was released & exclusively recorded in the Philippines as a tie-up to promote Gloria Jeans Coffee. These days, Teri resides in Miami & Germany where she sings with The Marschfellows. She also performs in various Christian music groups.
To see a video for “Yes I’m Ready” (with K.C.), go to:
To see a video for “Ain’t Nothing Gonna Keep Me From You,” go to:
To see a video for “All I Wanna Do,” go to:
To see a video for “The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of,” go to:
Angela Garcia was a freestyle/dance singer from the ’90s. Not much information is given about her, but she released two singles before fading into obscurity.
In 1992, she released her first single “Tell Me Why” on Explosive Records. It’s unknown how or if the single made the charts at all.
A year later, she released her second single “Sounds of Heartbreak” on Viper Records. Like her first single, it’s unknown how or if it made the charts at all.
After that, it seemed as if Angela faded into obscurity, but it appears as if she is still performing these days.
To see a fan-made video for “Sounds of Heartbreak,” go to:
Tara Thomas (born in Houston, Texas) was a female R&B singer from the mid-’90s. Not much information is given about her, but she was signed to the Blunt Recordings record label.
In 1997, Tara released her only single “When You’re in Love” featuring rapper C.L. Smooth. The song managed to peak at #84 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart, staying on the chart for only 5 weeks.
After that, it seems as if Tara has faded into obscurity. Nothing much has been heard from her since the ’90s.
Quinella was an R&B/disco studio band from New York. Not much information is given about them, but they were signed to Becket Records.
In 1980, they released their only single “Your Place Or Mine” which peaked at #78 on Billboard’s Hot Soul Singles chart, staying on the chart for 5 weeks.
After that, it seems as if Quinella faded into obscurity. Nothing much has been heard about them since.
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