the love unlimited sound system

Soul Sister Minnie Ripperton was born in Chicago in 1947. Best remembered for her rare five and a half octave vocal range, and her 1975 hit single “Lovin’ You”. Minnie sadly passed away in 1979 at the young age of 31, she gave a lot to soul music during her short career.

Her early work included providing backing vocals for the likes of Stevie Wonder & Etta James, & a stint with the rock-folk-funk-soul group The Rotary Connection (1967 - 70).

By 1973 Minnie had semi-retired to start a family, however demos discovered by a college intern ultimately led to her re-locating to Los Angeles & resuming her musical career by signing to Epic Records. The album Perfect Angel was released in 1974 and it turned out to be one of Minnie Riperton’s best sellers. It included the massive “LoVin You” and the rocking soul anthem “Reasons”

 

 Minnie Ripperton - Reasons [3:27m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Think of Mtume (pronounced Em-Too-May) & usually the first track that springs to mind is the slick “juicy”(1983) sampled so much in hip-hop by so many performers.

From the band Reggie Lucas and James Mtume provided their magic touch to Stephanie Mills including the Grammy winning single “Never Knew Love Like This Before” (1979). Reggie Lucas also produced the majority of Madonna’s first album.

“So you wanna be a star”, is in the same vein as the massive “Bourgie Bourgie” penned by Ashford & Simpson and subsequently released by Gladys Knight & John Davis.

From the start this tracks a winner, it just builds-&-builds…it’s got the strings, deep-deep lyrics, spacey keys & killler horns. Disco Heaven.

Enjoy

 

 Standard Podcast [5:10m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download