In 1975, "I Want'a Do Something Freaky To You" came out a few months after Ben E King's comeback tune "Supernatural Thing", and shared the same mysterious orchestral sound.

Leon had been working on his solo career since the early 60's before he was able to storm the pop charts with his brand of R&B. He was signed to 20th Century Records in 1974 and had Barry White as his label mate.

He was also graced with the presence of Gene Page who did the string arrangements on every Barry White/Love Unlimited production. His first single for his new label was "I Want'a Do Something Freaky To You" and it soared up the charts to #15 pop and #7 R&B. His 1976 follow up "Strokin' (Pt II) got to #13 R&B and then in 1978 his song "Party" peaked at #24 R&B.

His light dimmed for a while, but he came back in 1980 with "Don't Push It Don't Force It" that peaked at #2 R&B, #10 disco but only reached #49 on the Hot100. This burst of creativity continued with a song he wrote "She's A Bad Mama Jama" which he gave and produced for Carl Carlton in 1981. That song revived Carlton's career when it peaked at #2 R&B and #22 on the Hot 100.

He continued to record for various labels like Casablanca and Modern Records but failed to connect. Turning to production, he joined Edge Records and worked on his own label Evejim Records recording blues albums by Jimmy McCracklin, Ronnie Lovejoy and Buddy Ace.

On April 5, 2016 Leon passed away at the age of 74. His influence was felt by the hip hop generation who sampled "I Want'a Do Something Freaky To You" and "Mama Jama" to the likes of Dr Dre, Mariah Carey, Aaliyah, Redman and Public Enemy. Time to get freaky!

свернуть