Stephanie Mills

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    Stephanie Mills first came to fame as "the little girl with the big voice" as the star of the hit Broadway play, The Wiz, an adaptation of L. Frank Baum's classic book, The Wizard of Oz. She had many R&B hits such as "I Have Learned to Respect the Power of Love," "I Feel Good All Over," "(You're Puttin') A Rush on Me," "Something in the Way (You Make Me Feel)," and "Home," along with one certified, million-selling single, "Never Knew Love Like This Before." In addition, she also had five gold albums: Whatcha Gonna Do with My Lovin', Sweet Sensation, Stephanie, If I Were Your Woman, and Home.

    Born on March 22, 1957 in Brooklyn, NY, Mills honed her rich vocals singing gospel music at Brooklyn's Cornerstone Baptist Church as a small child. At age nine, she began appearing in the Broadway play Maggie Flynn. She was presented with first prize after winning "The Amateur Hour" talent contest six weeks straight at New York's famed Apollo Theater when she was nine. That success led to her being chosen as the opening act for the Isley Brothers, eventually becoming good friends with lead singer Ronald Isley. Many years later, Isley would manage and later marry singer/songwriter Angela Winbush, who co-wrote one of her number one R&B hits. Mills' debut album, Movin' in the Right Direction was recorded for ABC Records in 1974. A year later, she won the role of Dorothy in The Wiz. Her rendition of the beautiful ballad "Home" was a showstopper, mesmerizing audiences nightly for a number of years. The original cast recording of The Wiz was produced by Jerry Wexler and issued by Atlantic Records in spring 1975. Curiously, when The Wiz was made into a full-length feature film by Motown Records' film division and Universal Pictures, Diana Ross played the role of Dorothy instead of Mills. The film ended up being a major flop.

    Singer Jermaine Jackson referred Mills to Motown head Berry Gordy, who signed her to the label. Her Motown debut was For the First Time, written and produced by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, issued in October 1976. For the First Time is a sweet affair with Mills convincingly covering Bacharach/David standards, most of which were originally recorded by Dionne Warwick. In 1978, she signed to 20th Century Records and was teamed with the hit production duo of James Mtume -- later leader of Mtume, who had a gold single with "Juicy Fruit" -- and Reggie Lucas. Her first LP for the label, Whatcha Gonna Do with My Lovin', went gold, going to number 12 R&B and number 22 pop on Billboard's charts in summer 1979 and spawned the singles "Whatcha Gonna Do with My Lovin'" and "You Can Get Over." Her next LP, Sweet Sensation (number three3 R&B, number 16 Pop, spring 1980) yielded "Sweet Sensation," "Never Knew Love Like This Before," and the radio-aired LP track, "Try My Love." Around this time, she briefly married former Soul Train dancer Jeffrey Daniels of the group Shalamar. Next came the LP titled Stephanie in spring 1981, which also was a huge hit, peaking at number three R&B and number 30 Pop. The album included notable songs such as "Two Hearts" -- a midtempo duet with Teddy Pendergrass -- "Night Games," and the radio-aired LP cut, "Don't Stop Doin' What Cha Do."

    In 1981, Mills switched to Neil Bogart's Casablanca Records. Her LPs for the label included Tantalizingly Hot, Merciless, and I've Got the Cure. During 1983, she had her own NBC-TV daytime talk show, and reprised her role in a Broadway revival of The Wiz. She also signed with MCA Records, where she released her Stephanie Mills album.

    The first single from the Stephanie Mills album was "Stand Back," in late 1985, which also included the passionate ballad "I Have Learned to Respect the Power of Love." "I Have Learned to Respect the Power of Love" was initially written by Rene Moore and Angela Winbush -- best known as the hit singing duo Rene & Angela -- as a gospel song and originally was recorded by Alton McClain and Destiny on their self-titled 1978 Polydor LP. The original version is available on Polygram's Power of Love: Best of Soul Essentials Ballads. Because of its massive radio play as an album track, Mills' version of "I Have Learned to Respect the Power of Love, -- produced by Philly soul keyboardist Ron Kersey -- was reissued as an A-side holding the number one R&B spot for two weeks in spring 1986. Its follow-up, "Rising Desire," reached number 11 R&B in summer 1986.

    Her next LP's title cut was the Clay McMurray/Gloria Jones/Pam Sawyer song, "If I Were Your Woman," originally a 1971 number one R&B, number nine Pop smash for Gladys Knight & the Pips. Philly-based producer Nick Martinelli gave Mills her second number one R&B hit with "I Feel Good All Over," written by husband-and-wife songwriting duo, Gabriel Hardeman and Annette Hardeman. The song held the number one R&B spot for three weeks in spring 1987. Originally submitted to Mills' fellow MCA labelmate Patti Labelle by the Hardemans, the track was included on Mills' LP If I Were Your Woman in issued June 1987, which peaked at number 30 Pop in summer 1987. Paul Laurence and Timmy Allen produced and co-wrote the chugging "(You're Putting) a Rush on Me" giving the singer her third number one R&B hit in fall 1987. The single made it to number 85 Pop and was followed by "Secret Lady," which landed at number seven R&B in late 1987. Her covers of "If I Were Your Woman" and "Where Is the Love" followed. All were included on her If I Were Your Woman album, which peaked at number one R&B, number 30 Pop in summer 1987. Following these hits, Mills contacted Ronald Isley about working with singer/songwriter/producer Angela Winbush, who'd had hits as half of Rene & Angela and was forging a hit-filled career as a recording artist and producer for the group Body among others. The collaboration between Mills and Winbush resulted in another number one R&B single, "Something in the Way You Make Me Feel," in summer 1989.

    Having starred for five years in the smash Broadway show The Wiz and recorded the song "Home for the play's 1975 original cast soundtrack album, she wanted to record the song again as a posthumous tribute to the play's producer, Ken Harper, and the song's composer, Charlie Smalls. On her new version of "Home," Take 6 sung the background vocals. The song went to number one R&B in late 1989 and was followed by "Comfort of a Man" and "Real Love." The Home LP ended up peaking at number five R&B, number 82 Pop in summer 1989. She then recorded a charting single with J.T. Taylor titled "Heart to Heart" in late 1991. Her final MCA album, Something Real, included the hit "All Day All Night" and "Never Do Wrong." Following this album, she recorded a gospel album, Personal Inspirations, for Interscope Records and in the late '90s, recorded several tracks at Philadelphia International Records with Bunny Sigler, among others. Allmusic by Ed Hogan


    Album: Moving In The Right Direction (1974)


    01. Movin' in the Right Direction
    02. Of All the Things
    03. I'll Never Love Nobody Else but You
    04. My Baby's Melody
    05. Sweet Salvation
    06. Home
    07. I Knew It Was Love
    08. You Do It to Me
    09. I Don't Want to Go Back
    10. Danny Boy
    11. Somewhere Over the Rainbow


    http://www.fileserve.com/file/HzGkxrP


    Album: For The First Time (1975)



    01. I Took My Strength From You
    02. Living On Plastic
    03. No One Remembers My Name
    04. If You Can Learn How To Cry
    05. Loneliness Remembers (What Happiness Forgets)
    06. This Empty Place
    07. The Way I Feel About You
    08. I See You For The First Time
    09. All The Way To Paradise


    http://www.fileserve.com/file/KEpeS8x

    Album: What'cha Gonna Do With My Lovin' (1979)


    01. What Cha Gonna Do With My Lovin'
    02. You Can Get Over
    03. Deeper Inside Your Love
    04. Feel The Fire
    05. Put Your Body In It
    06. Starlight
    07. You And I
    08. Don't Stop Dancin'


    http://www.fileserve.com/file/FMYA2PR

    Album: Sweet Sensation (1980)


    01. Sweet Sensation
    02. Try My Love
    03. I Just Wanna Say
    04. Wish That You Were Mine
    05. Dancin’
    06. Still Mine
    07. Never Knew Love Like This Before
    08. Mixture Of Love

    http://www.fileserve.com/file/4TT5um4

    Album: Stephanie (1981)



    01. Winner
    02. Two Hearts
    03. Don't Stop Doin' What 'Cha Do
    04. Top of My List
    05. I Believe In Love Songs
    06. Night Games
    07. My Love's Been Good To You
    08. Magic


    http://www.fileserve.com/file/QRPNJB7

    Album: Tantalizingly Hot (1982)



    01. Last Night
    02. Still Lovin' You
    03. Keep Away Girls
    04. You Can't Run From My Love
    05. True Love Don't Come Easy
    06. 'Ole Love
    07. Your Love Is Always New
    08. I Can't Give Back The Love I Feel For You


    http://www.fileserve.com/file/4ceVegn

    Album: Merciless (1983)


    01. How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore
    02. Never Get Enough Of You
    03. Eternal Love
    04. His Name Is Michael
    05. Here I Am
    06. My Body
    07. Do You Love Him
    08. Pilot Error
    09. Since We've Been Together


    http://www.fileserve.com/file/UvsWnWU

    Album: I've Got The Cure(1984)



    01. The Medicine Song
    02. Edge Of The Razor
    03. In My Life
    04. Give It Half A Chance
    05. Outrageous
    06. You Just Might Need A Friend
    07. Everlasting Love
    08. Rough Trade
    09. Undercover


    http://www.fileserve.com/file/BMHZ5pR

    Album: Stephanie Mills (1985)



    01. Stand Back
    02. Automatic Passion
    03. Rising Desire
    04. Time Of Your Life
    05. Hold On To Midnight
    06. Just You
    07. I Have Learned To Respect The Power Of Love
    08. Under Pressure


    http://www.fileserve.com/file/R4G33vT

    Album: If I Were Your Woman (1987)



    01. I Feel Good All Over
    02. If I Were Your Woman
    03. (You're Puttin') A Rush On Me
    04. Jesse
    05. Secret Lady
    06. Touch Me Now
    07. Running For Your Love
    08. Can't Change My Ways


    http://www.fileserve.com/file/rWjNJGn


    Album: Home (1989)


    01. Something In The Way (You Make Me Feel)
    02. Real Love
    03. Home
    04. So Good, So Right
    05. Comfort Of A Man
    06. I Come To You
    07. Good Girl Gone Bad
    08. Ain`t No Cookin`
    09. Fast Talk
    10. Love Hasn`t Been Easy On Me
    11. I`m More Than A Woman


    http://www.fileserve.com/file/NFyBhtJ

    Album: Something Real (1992)


    01. Never Do You Wrong
    02. All Day, All Night
    03. Somewhere in This Broken Heart
    04. Stone Cold Woman
    05. Love the Hurt Away
    06. Heartache
    07. Policy of Love
    08. I Found a New Love
    09. All in How Much We Give
    10. 24 Hour Woman
    11. Never Gonna Give You Up
    12. I Just Want Love


    http://www.fileserve.com/file/af8VeAW


    Album: Personal Inspirations (1995)



    01. I Had a Talk With God
    02. Sweepin' Through the City
    03. He Cares
    04. In the Morning Time
    05. Everything You Touch
    06. Everybody Ought to Know
    07. Power of God
    08. People Get Ready
    09. He Cares (Reprise)
    10. I'm Gonna Make You Proud


    http://www.fileserve.com/file/rYbXKy4

    Album: The Best Of Stephanie Mills - Funk Essentials (1995)



    01. Sweet Sensation (12 Inch Version)
    02. Put Your Body In It (12 Inch Version)
    03. Starlight
    04. Still Mine
    05. Two Hearts
    06. How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore
    07. Deeper Inside Your Love
    08. The Medicine Song
    09. You Can Get Over
    10. Never Knew Love Like This Before
    11. Keep Away Girls
    12. You And I
    13. Feel The Fire
    14. You Can't Run From My Love
    15. What Cha Gonna Do With My Lovin' (12 Inch)


    http://www.fileserve.com/file/deBarZB


    Album: The Ultimate Collection (1999)

    01. The Passion & The Rain
    02. Movin' In The Right Direction
    03. Home (Finale) Original Cast
    04. I Took My Strength From You
    05. What Cha gonna Do With My Lovin'
    06. Sweet Sensation
    07. Never Knew Love Like This Before
    08. Keep Away Girls
    09. How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore
    10. The Medicine Song
    11. I Have Learned To Respect The Power Of Love
    12. I Feel Good All Over
    13. (You're Puttin') A Rush On Me
    14. Something In The Way (You Make Me Feel)
    15. Comfort Of A Man


    http://www.fileserve.com/file/jpZUBEB


    Album: Born For This (2004)



    01. Can't Let Him Go
    02. Never Knew Love
    03. Healing Time
    04. Love Of My Life
    05. Free
    06. For U
    07. You Still Mean So Much
    08. Something In The Way
    09. Baby Love
    10. Born For This


    http://www.fileserve.com/file/qXy65tz

    Album: Gold (2006)


    CD 1:

    01. Whatcha Gonna Do With My Lovin'
    02. Put Your Body In It
    03. You Can Get Over
    04. Feel The Fire
    05. Better Than Ever
    06. Sweet Sensation
    07. Never Knew Love Like This Before
    08. Two Hearts
    09. Night Games
    10. Last Night
    11. Keep Away Girls
    12. You Can't Run From My Love
    13. Wailin'
    14. Pilot Error
    15. His Name Is Michael
    16. How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore

    CD 2:

    01. The Medicine Song
    02. Stand Back
    03. I Have Learned To Respect The Power Of Love
    04. Rising Desire
    05. I Feel Good All Over
    06. A Rush On Me (You're Puttin)
    07. Secret Lady
    08. If I Were Your Woman
    09. Where is The Love
    10. Something In The Way (You Make Me Feel)
    11. Home
    12. Comfort Of A Man
    13. Real Love
    14. All Day, All Night


    http://www.fileserve.com/file/Yq3eAPM


    Enjoy!!!!

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