Here for the "How Do I Live" showdown, though. I almost thought you left it off!
Daytime Emmy-winning Trisha's Country Kitchen, my darling! Halfway to a (D)EGOT! If only she had pulled a Gaga and "rearranged" How Do I Live! Only Diane wasn't as desperate then.
Let's go for a woman who could have been a big contender - but pulled back, voluntarily.
Lisa Fischer. The Unsung Voice of the 90s!
Born in Fort Greene, Brooklyn (I went to high school there!) By 17, she was an orphan - and had to take care of her younger brothers. She also discovered the (then) LG (sorta B and T) community, and felt immediately embraced by them. She put out a freestyle singer in the mid-80s under the name Xena! That got her attention, and she became a heavily sought after background singer.
She launched her solo career in 1991, and her second single would become her biggest hit. Her signature song, so to speak.
Coming on the heels of the arrivals of 1990's big voices, and released while radio was in thrall with quiet storm music, How Can I Ease The Pain hit - and hit. It gave Fischer the opportunity to flex every bit of her four octaves - the rich lows, creamy middles, powerful chest voice, and the whistle! Number one for three weeks on the R&B charts, and number #11 on the Hot 100 - how Cool for the Summer of her!
Unlike Demi, Lisa got a Grammy for this performance.
She also had hits on R&B radio and the clubs with later singles from the album.
Somewhere along the line, Lisa got tired of the industry ******** - she didn't want to be a star anymore. She just wanted to sing.
She's been a legend in the background world ever since. Would have been cool to see her give Toni/Anita/Mariah/Whitney a run for their money, though.
I honestly have only heard Mi Vida Loca out of all of these songs (and that is just because of drag race), but I'll definitely try and do this because I love getting in to older music and country music has really grown on me this year. I've mainly been listening to staples like Dolly, Reba, and Loretta Lynn, but I'm pumped to listen to these.
You know how I said Trisha has one of my favorite voices to emerge from this decade?
Tamia has another one. A Canuck, just like last rate's Deborah Cox. Singing in church since 6, Tamia became nationally known as a teenager and won Canada's Vocal Achievement Award at the age of 18! She headed to America to achieve her dreams, and quickly signed to a major label. She got to work on her debut album, but legendary producer Quincy Jones wanted to get her in to collaborate on his next release. He picked a single by a British R&B singer, named Mica Paris.
Quincy and Tamia's version of You Put a Move on My Heart came out in 1995, and went to #12 on R&B radio!
One can't help but wonder if it had arrived 2.5 years earlier - what damage could it have done?
MY GIRL Hoping Imagination and Officially Missing You are included in the songs we'll be rating (the latter, probably not). 11 contenders right there. I'm guessing Stranger In The House and So Into You are shoe-ins.
She's my favorite girl in this rate. Sad I missed Deborah Cox though. Did y'all do Sentimental justice last time around?
MY GIRL Hoping Imagination and Officially Missing You are included in the songs we'll be rating (the latter, probably not). 11 contenders right there. I'm guessing Stranger In The House and So Into You are shoe-ins.
She's my favorite girl in this rate. Sad I missed Deborah Cox though. Did y'all do Sentimental justice last time around?
Remember - we're only rating the stuff they released from 90 - 99!
Tamia had just started, but already, her vocal prowess was being recognized. In 1996, she was asked to join a truly all star group of singer - Brandy, Chaka Khan, and Gladys Knight - to record the unofficial theme to the film Set It Off. The result? Missing You, which garnered the foursome a Grammy nomination.
Arguably, Tamia offers the strongest non-Gladys vocal!
Tamia
So Into You and Officially Missing You saved me
Tamia's self-titled debut album took a while to finish, but was released in 97/98. First single Imagination was/is a stone-cold Jermaine Dupri produced BOP, with a very timely video:
It's pretty much everything Nine Inch Nails/Marilyn Manson were doing at the time visually, but it's so amazing that the treatment was applied to a R&B video! Usually they're as basic as basic can get!
The next single would be even better, and would come back around five years later to give her a second wind.
In 1999, she collaborated with Eric Benet and scored a top 3 hit on R&B radio!
You Put a Move on My Heart (with Quincy Jones)
Missing You (With Brandy, Chaka Khan, and Gladys Knight)
Imagination (with Jermaine Dupri)
So Into You
Spend My Life with You (with Eric Benet)
Yolanda Denise Whitaker - better known as Yo-Yo. Born and raised in Compton, Yo-Yo concentrated on rap when she was in high school. Around the time, Ice Cube - of (then) NWA fame - was looking for a female to mentor/co-sign. The met, and his appearance on her first single helped her establish herself in the game.
Yo-Yo was an enlightened sister, and You Can't Play With My Yo-Yo boldly and definitively stated this. Here was a defiant, intelligent, beautiful black woman, unafraid to be herself completely - she fit right in line with the women of early 90s hip-hop.
Unfortunately, without Ice Cube's presence, her feminist-minded second LP floundered. Shame, as Black Pearl is something quite special!
Of course, rap itself had changed by the mid 90s - the sound of the day was harder, rougher, more intense. Yo-Yo recoupled with Cube and they produced the biggest female rap single of 1994.
She even added a verse to the third most iconic remix of the 90s.
And then rap changed, as women weren't allowed to be a different type of feminine. They either had to sell sex first (hello Foxy and Kim!) or be a true visual genius (calling for Misdemeanor here.) This left Yo-Yo (and Latifah, and Lyte, and many others) on the outs.
You Can't Play With My Yo-Yo
Black Pearl
The Bonnie and Clyde Theme (with Ice Cube)
Tracie Spencer! An Iowan, who, at the age of eleven, appeared on Star Search.After her appearance on the show, she signed with Capitol Records - then the youngest female in history to sign a major label deal. Her first album was released in 1988, but for the purposes of this rate, we'll concentrate on her breakthrough sophomore release!
First single Save Our Love went top ten on the R&B charts!
Can you believe she was only fourteen at the time?
Second single This House also went top ten on black radio, but peaked higher (?!??!) on the pop charts - her biggest hit ever.
Amongst the Blacks, she's most affectionately remember for her #1 (on the R&B charts!) ballad Tender Kisses.
But she took far too long to release new material - far too long! ABM came and knocked her out the game, and she was too young to go sultry like Janet and Toni. Shame!
She did have a top twenty hit with her 1998 "comeback" single, It's All About You.
Save Your Love
This House
Tender Kisses
It's All About You (Not About Me)
I really have no idea why she waited 7 years between the end of her second era and the start of her third. It can't have been label issues cause she was with the same label when she came back. Maybe she wanted to put her education first?
You know, famed and acclaimed former member Nick posted a video of Shanice performing Alejandro in her living room once. It was the camp event of 2010.
Shanice was born in Philly, but moved to LA - her mother and aunt wanted to be stars. They soon channeled all their ambition into their daughter/niece, and by age 9, Shanice was appearing with the one and only Ella Fitzgerald! She was also a star of Kids Incorporated, a Disney show (that I watched) that also gave us Jennifer Love Hewitt and Fergie! Like Tracie, she appeared on Star Search, and like Tracie, she got a record deal with A&M Records. Her debut album produced hits on R&B radio, and put her in the great position of being snatched by (still important) Motown.
In 1991, she released her sophomore release, Inner Child. It contains one of the greatest pop songs ever recorded/released.
I Love Your Smile is pop nirvana in a little over four minutes. The track, with its inimitable chorus, Branford Marsalis sax feature, and a rap from Shanice herself, also became a bit of a global phenomenon. Not everyone has that. Tracie sure didn't. It went to number one with the blacks, number 2 in the mainstream, number 2 in the UK, number 2 in Canada, number 7 in France, number 8 in Australia, number 8 in Ireland, number 9 in Spain, and garnered Shanice a Grammy nomination. It also put her name in the top 200 of baby girl names for the year of 1992!
The power. The impact. The slayage.
Fun Fact: Janet Jackson and her second husband laugh at the end of the song. How cute!