Cheryl Lynn (born March 11, 1957) – Don’t Let It Fade Away (1979)
The epic closing cut to the great singer/songwriter's second album was one of her unsung gems, produced by Barry Blue and written by Rod Bowkett.
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The great singer/songwriter Cheryl Lynn followed up her iconic 1978 disco hit “Got To Be Real” with a string of other, lesser known but still slamming dancefloor anthems in the late 1970s and early 80s.
See our earlier post on Lynn for more on her musical career.
For her second album In Love, produced by Heatwave producer Barry Blue, she wrote the superb jam “Chances.” It was released as the B-side to the LP’s funky opening cut “I've Got Faith In You,” written by blue-eyed soul singer/songwriter Bobby Caldwell, but the single stalled out at #30 on the disco charts, #41 R&B and #86 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The LP’s all-star lineup featured Caldwell, Cornell Dupree, and Paul Jackson Jr. on guitars; eight keyboardists including Greg Phillinganes and Richard Tee; legendary drummers Bernard Purdie and James Gadson; Chuck Rainey and David Shields on bass; and Michael Brecker on sax.
Its powerful anthem “Love Bomb” was arguably the most socially conscious song Lynn ever recorded, and a cover of the title track to British singer/songwriter Lynsey de Paul’s 1975 LP. Barry Blue co-wrote it with de Paul.
Lynn and songwriter George Bryant co-wrote the superb dancefloor anthem “Keep It Hot” (1979). It was one of only three songs ever given disco remixes by famed arranger/producer Bert DeCoteaux. Issued as the second single from the album, “Keep It Hot” was a sizable hit for her, landing at #6 R&B, #12 on disco charts, and #15 on the Hot 100.
The album’s phenomenal closing cut “Don’t Let It Fade Away” was one of her little known gems, written by British songwriter Rod Bowkett.
Riding a wave of successful albums by his own group Raydio, and having played on Lynn’s debut LP including her first hit “Got To Be Real,” Ray Parker Jr. stepped in to produce her third studio album In the Night. It was recorded from October 1980 to March 1981, and released on April 6, 1981. He and Lynn both wrote or co-wrote five of its nine tracks, not all of them with each other. The end result was a great record packed with funky tracks. Despite only having one single, it was well-reviewed, and reached #13 on the Billboard 200 and #14 on the R&B albums chart.
Besides Parker’s multi-instrumental contributions on guitars, bass guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, drums, and percussion, the LP featured guitarists Melvin “Wah Wah Watson” Ragin and David T. Walker, George Dream and Mike Sutton among its many keyboardists, James Gadson on drums, and strings and horns arranged by Gene Page.
Parker solely wrote two songs, the stellar funky cut “I'm on Fire” and the album’s super funky title track.
Singer/songwriters Mike and Brenda Sutton of SAM Records co-wrote the slamming opening cut “Shake It Up Tonight,” which was released as the LP’s only single. It was a #5 hit on the R&B and disco charts, although it failed to cross over and peaked at #70 on the Hot 100. Lynn cut a video for it that showed her getting down at a very funky, very early eighties house party. This video should have been in heavy rotation on MTV when it officially launched that August, if the channel hadn’t been whitewashed from the start and refused to air videos by Black artists.
Lynn and keyboardist George Dream co-wrote the funky jam “What's on Your Mind” with thought-provoking lyrics that encouraged us all to constantly re-evaluate how we spend our limited time on this planet. She and Parker co-wrote two songs together. One was the funky closing cut “Baby,” which was issued as the B-side to “Shake It Up Tonight.” The other was the superb disco-funk jam “If You'll Be True to Me.”
Over the past six months, Lynn has enjoyed a resurgence of interest in her back catalog thanks to her #1 R&B hit “Encore” (1983) going viral on TikTok. This development also helped expose a fraudulent Twitter account which had been passing itself off as Lynn’s official account for years.
Happy Birthday to the fabulous Cheryl Lynn.
Further info:
“Cheryl Lynn,” interview by David Nathan, Soulmusic.com, 1979.
“Cheryl Lynn's Classic 'Encore' Goes Viral On TikTok,” BET.com, January 23, 2024.
“Fake Cheryl Lynn Account Exposed,” Atlanta Black Star, February 3, 2024.
#soul #funk #disco #BarryBlue #RayParkerJr #CherylLynn