(A Chic Organisation song.)

Vocalist Norma Jean Wright, a native of Elyria, Ohio, was named the Top New Vocalist of 1977 by Billboard Magazine for the talent she brought to the popular band Chic. The Chic song "Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)" reached into the top 10 of both the Pop and R&B Billboard charts in early 1978.

Norma left Chic in late-1977 in order to pursue a solo career. While her album "Norma Jean", released in July 1978 by Bearsville Records, was not a big commercial success, it did produce two important singles, "Saturday" and "Sorcerer". "Saturday" was named by Newsweek as the song that represented the disco lifestyle. The 1979 songs "Hold Me Lonely Boy" and "High Society" were intended to be part of a second full Norma Jean album, but this album never materialized.

Three Norma Jean Wright singles were released in the 1980s. These were "Love Attack" (Mirage, 1983), "Shot in the Dark" (MCA Records, 1984), and "Every Bit of This Love" (MCA Records, 1985).

Norma was a background singer on many other important and groundbreaking albums of the 1970s and 1980s. She sang in Sister Sledge's 1979 multi-platinum disco album "We Are Family", which included famous songs like "He's the Greatest Dancer", "One More Time", "Thinking of You", and "We Are Family". In 1980, Norma provided background vocals for the group Fantasy on the song "You're Too Late", which topped the disco charts in January and February of 1981. Then she sang on Luther Vandross's 1981 debut solo album "Never Too Much", which sold over 2 million copies and topped the R&B charts with the superb song "Never Too Much". She joined Luther again on his next album, "Forever, For Always, For Love" (1982). She was also a vocalist on 1982's synth-dance record "Jump to It" by Aretha Franklin, which Luther produced. Another 1982 pop/dance album on which Norma sang was "Sex and Material Possessions" by Fantasy, released by Pavillion Records. A year later, she sang on Madonna's dance album "Madonna", released in 1983. This album included the hit single "Holiday". You can also find Norma singing background vocals on the 1986 album "Abstract Emotions" by Randy Crawford.

Other performers on the "Norma Jean" album:
Nile Rodgers (rhythm guitar), Bernard Edwards (bass), Tony Thompson (drums), Raymond Jones (piano), Sammy Figueroa (percussion), David Friedman (vibes), Jon Faddis (trumpet), Alex Foster (tenor saxophone), Barry Rodgers (trombone), Robb Sabino (acoustic piano), Gene Orloff (string contractor), Luther Vandross (background vocals), Alfa Anderson (background vocals), David Lesley (background vocals), Diva Gray (background vocals)

свернуть