Stephanie Mills

[carlo]

I got the 2 CD "Gold" by Stephanie Mills for Christmas! :) It was on my list! I'm really enjoying her music. I've always known her song, "Never Knew Love Like This Before". When I was younger, I used to hear it on the radio and I thought it was Diana Ross. I played the song for my Mom yesterday and she said she was shocked because she always thought it was Diana Ross too. It's unfortunate her career never really took off. Of course she got a lot of attention and press in the 70's for being in the stage version of The Wiz, but her recording career should have got more attention than it did.

[skooldem1]

Carlo- Happy Holidays to you. I am a huge Stephanie Mills fan. Stephanie Mills is/was huge in the R&B/Soul community. She has been a "Star" since she was a teen. Crossover success is overrated. To me, and to many others I'm sure, Stephanie Mills did just great. She has some real classic songs. Many hits.

[carlo]

Happy Holidays, Skooldem!

I didn't realize Stephanie has a big R&B following. I guess that's why I only know the one song, since "Never Knew" was also a big pop hit. She also seems to have been off the radar for a while?? She did one concert recently, which an online friend of mine attended. Other than that...???

I would love to see her in concert someday.

[luke]

http://www.stephaniemillsmusic.com/pre1members.asp

[skooldem1]

Carlo- this woman is a legend. Love her. Love her voice. I can't say enough good things about her. But yeah, she has had a very successful career. Of course now after 30 years in the business, her career has cooled, but her lendendary status remains. Here is a clip of her singing "Never knew love like this before" and my favorite "Feel the fire".


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciT32gkE1qY


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIB9blye6bQ

[jsmith]

Stephanie was the star of the Wiz stage play, getting the role of Dorothy when she was just 15 in 1971 ... BUT ... D.R. wanted that role in the film.
So Stephanie was signed to Motown in the mid 70's [[one unpromoted LP being released) and of course D.R. got the role of Dorothy in the film [[which is why many think the film flopped; she was way too old for the role).
Stephanie moved on from Motown as quickly as she was able & started having hits [[with 20th Century Records) in 1979.
In all she had around 30 soul chart hits & 7 pop chart hits between 1979 & 1993.
Her biggest pop hit was "Never Knew Love Like This Before" in 1980 but strangely this didn't even make the Top 10 of the soul charts.
She had however have 5 No.1's in the soul chart between 1986 & 89 [[all for MCA).

[daddyacey]

Stephanie was a child prodigy. I had the chance to see her in The Wiz and she was the show. My uncle worked in the orchestra of the show and also was in Mtume's group and production company and played trumpet on her 20th Century work. When Mtume/Lucas was approached to do the 20th Century albums ,she originally said that she did not want to do any "love songs". They came back with "Never Knew Love Like This Before" and "Put Your Body In It". The key to the success of her 20th Century work was the timing. The Mtume/Lucas production company had musicians that were tried and true jazz musicians that had worked with Hancock ,Miles etc. They incorporated complex arrangements of strings and horns over a strong R&B base. The same formula that was used by Gamble and Huff and Leon Sylvers. This type of music was the thin dividing line between Dance R&B and Disco. This was a perfect platform for Stephanie who had the voice to carry the lead with the orchestration ,and still be R&B. The 20th Century product of Stephanie Mills is all based on REAL instruments ,on REAL complex textbook arrangements as opposed to the MCA and CASABLANCA work ,which used midi as a base.

jsmith --"Her biggest pop hit was "Never Knew Love Like This Before" in 1980 but strangely this didn't even make the Top 10 of the soul charts."
That is true ,but really ,any R&B-Black artist must score high with an Soul Music audience to be able to crossover into POP status. I don't know any Black Soul music person that don't have or know of NNLLTB ,even if they never went to a club or Disco. That says a lot to me on the validity of "Charts" per say ,[[Charts are not the holy grail of SOUL/R&B music rating, this from my observations as a DJ and Radio Programmer)

Stephanie Mills reached the point of "The State Of The Art". Like Luther ,Aretha, Chaka ,Gladys ,Dionne etc ,there will never be another quite like them. She is one ,like others that set the bar of achievement to a certain level and because of that tends to be set aside after a period of time so that others may try to equal or exceed that limit. That however does not take away from the fact that she is one of the GREATEST. You can never take that away from her.

[smark21]

Stephanie Mills was quite big on R and b radio, BET and shows like Aresenio Hall and Showtime at the Apollo in the late 80's early 90s with songs like Comfort of a Man, Something in the way You Make Me Feel and her remake of Home with Take 6.

[smark21]

Here's her performance of Home in 1990 on Showtime at the Apollo, one of the best performances ever on that show.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a5czUgDAMw

[splanky]

Stephanie Mills after Aretha Franklin and Patti Labelle had one of the most powerful voices in the business. Her song
I've Learned To Rescpect The Power Of Love knocked me the funk out and still gives me chills...

[rod_rick]

Carlo
Stephanie did 2 duets with Teddy Pendergrass. ALicia Keys "How Come You Don't Call Me Anymore" was orignally recorded Prince yes, but Stephanie put that song on the map, in fact her version put Prince and Alicia Keys to shame. Stephanie also had a fantastic stage show as well, That lady can SANG!!!!!

[brother_love]

Before being signed to Motown Stephanie had an album on ABC called "Movin' In The Right Direction" and Motown released two albums on her not one, "For The First Time" & "Love Has Lifted Me Up." She would make a great subject for Unsung.

[nabob]

Stephanie Mills after Aretha Franklin and Patti Labelle had one of the most powerful voices in the business. Her song
I've Learned To Rescpect The Power Of Love knocked me the funk out and still gives me chills...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RPk5XhYb40
Stephanie Mills at her best! The girl rocks the church.

[glencro]

Ok, I've pulled out both my "Best of Stephanie Mills" [[Funk Essentials) and "Stephanie Mills Greatest Hits [[1985-1993) because of this post. I haven't listened to these dics in years and I'm in musical heaven right now. "What Ca Gonna Do With My Lovin'", "Two Hearts", "SWEET SENSATION":), "Keep Away Girls", "I Feel Good", "Something In The Way"...WHEW, she has definitely made her contribution to music

[rod_rick]

Ok, I've pulled out both my "Best of Stephanie Mills" [[Funk Essentials) and "Stephanie Mills Greatest Hits [[1985-1993) because of this post. I haven't listened to these dics in years and I'm in musical heaven right now. "What Ca Gonna Do With My Lovin'", "Two Hearts", "SWEET SENSATION":), "Keep Away Girls", "I Feel Good", "Something In The Way"...WHEW, she has definitely made her contribution to music

We need all her albums released on cd cuz i'm tired of the Best Of. Stephanie had some killer album cuts. Night Games is one of favorite Stepahnie Mills songs. Pilot Error is another and the extended version of What Cha Gonna Do With My Lovin,:D

[luke]

I think compared to many Sephanie has had a long, successful career.

[nysister]

I seen Stephanie in the original broadway production of "The Wiz," and loved her ever since.
I had the pleasure of seeing Miss Mills a couple of years ago in Long Island with Ashford & Simpson and Jeffrey Osborne, It was a great show and Stephanie killed it!!! Her stage presence is undeniable and the voice is still incredible. Stephanie can stand toe to toe with any of today's so-called R&B female vocalist. Stephanie also recorded an inspirational album in the 90's produced by Donald Lawrence, and did a wonderful version of "I Had A Talk with God" on that album.

[Glenpwood]

Stephanie had a great career it just seems small to fans who only heard her via Pop Radio. It seems like she died off those listeners post 1981 but she kept having huge R&B hits [[jncluding several number ones) for another decade there. She also had several gold albums through 1990. It was really the next wave of youthful divas that wiped her off the map in the nineties [[Mariah & Toni). The last MCA album, Something Real, was a great disc in particular but didn't seem to get proper promotion. Her voice is still flawless and should be still putting out albums geared to the Urban AC crowd...

[stephanie]

When I saw Miss Mills in the Wiz in New York I cried and I have never cried at the age of 12 when someone is singing. Her voice is unique and I remember most of her RandB work which is great. I can remember people going ape over her the way they do Mary J Blige now who doesnt even have the range that this woman has. Stephanie Mills should have gone into movies because I always felt she would have made a big inroad as an actress. Most people under 30 only know her for HOME or that Medicine Song but she is a force to be reckoned with when she opens her mouth.

[daddyacey]

MCA now needs to release a detailed Box of that lables material. There are a lot of 12" mixes of the MCA tracks that are very good, no excellent. Also instrumental suites and dubs. So far they are only on vinyl ,mostly promo or low commercial release. I've collected quite a few that I didn't know existed from the net. Her MCA period and the re-mixes from then were produced by Louil Silas and are classic.

[Motown4Ever518]

The first Stephanie Mills album I purchased was Tantalizing Hot. The 'Bomb" cut "Last Night", was so funky, that Funk Bands of the era would have been proud to call it their own.

I saw her at a music festival about 30 years ago where she did "Home" with Take Six, and while I try to see the legends at least once, this was one of the top 5 moments that I ever witnessed in any genre.

I saw her about about 5 years later in a store in Manhattan, and looked at her and got all flustered trying to come up with something to say, she looked back at me and smiled in a way that said to me, "it's alright, I am just glad that you recognized me and it's okay". Which showed me a lot about who she is as a person, since she had a reputation as being diva-ish. Which I now understand to be her knowing what she wants.

I haven't gotten the Inspiration CD yet, I am sure I am going to love it! A Beautiful Woman of Song, who should be up there with the other one named icons. Do you think Mariah listened to her when she was younger?

[mellow_q]

@ Glenpwood:

I concur. Stephanie was the biggest thing in urban contemporary music when she dropped What'cha Gonna Do in the spring/summer of 1979. The title song and "You Can Get Over" were the only "singles," but the LP had a slew of popular "album tracks": "Put Your Body in It," "Starlight," "You and I," and "Feel the Fire." In addition, she was looking quite fly on the album cover.
The follow-up, "Sweet Sensation," did quite well for her, and she crossed over with "Never Knew Love Like This." She had a hit with "Two Hearts," the duet with Teddy Pendergrass, from her 1981 album, but there were no other hits from it. From what I remember, the follow-up single was "Top of My List," but the response was lukewarm.

When she came out with "Last Night" in the summer of 1982, the response wasn't all that much, and she was really treading water for the next couple of years [["Keep Away Girls," "How Come U Don't Call Me," "Pilot Error," "The Medicine Song," "Stand Back"). Some of these singles charted fairly well, but it was just enough to keep her name out there. She had a reprieve in late 85/early 86 when she had a # 1 R&B hit with a cover of Alton McClain & Destiny's "I've Learned to Respect the Power of Love." That really marked the end of phase one of her commercial career.

"Power of Love" laid the foundation for her to have back-to-back # 1 hits in the spring/summer of 87 with "I Feel Good All Over" and "You're Puttin' a Rush on Me," while "Secret Lady" charted fairly well. Stephanie hooked up with a red-hot Angela Winbush [[who had just resurrected the Isley Brothers' career) and had a # 1 with "Something in the Way You Make Me Feel" and followed with "Home," which also hit # 1.

Despite having two # 1 hits apiece on her last two albums, Stephanie wasn't heard from again until 1992 with "All Day, All Night," which did okay, but wasn't a blockbuster. As someone stated earlier, none of her post-"Never Knew Love Like This Before" songs even came close to going pop.

I may get in trouble for this, but Stephanie's career as a contemporary hitmaking artist ended in 1993 when she showed up at a Louis Farakkhan rally [[I saw the videotape), and he gave her a shout-out. From what I remember, she did a Christmas album, but that was about it, except for live performances.

Just my 3 cents.

Marc T.

[MIKEW-UK]

Incredible energy.....still. Here is a recent video....sound isn't top quality but still good and she puts enormous energy into her stagecraft.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGWmnumZUzM

and another recent performance of the same song..... don't miss the knockout vocals by the three dynamite support singers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uTZH7r3lPM