Evelyn "Champagne" King (born July 1, 1960) – Let's Get Funky Tonight (1980)
King co-wrote this epic opening cut and dancefloor anthem from her third album Call On Me along with genius Philly producer T. Life.
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Singer/songwriter and producer Evelyn “Champagne” King is best remembered for her hits “Shame” (1977), “I’m In Love” (1981) and “Love Come Down” (1982).
Evelyn King was born in the Bronx in New York City and raised in Philadelphia. Her father was a backup singer who worked for a time at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. Her mother was also in the music business and managed R&B artists.
See our post from June on the great producer Theodore Life aka T. Life, who discovered King and produced her first three albums, for more on her early career and their collaborations. He gave her the nickname “Champagne” because he thought Evelyn King sounded too grown-up.
King’s debut single “Shame” went gold after it hit #7 R&B, #8 on Billboard’s Disco Action charts, and peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September, 1978 almost a year after its initial release in 1977. King was only 16 when it was recorded and 17 when it was released.
Her third album was originally titled Sweet Delight and released in limited quantities before being withdrawn and retitled Call on Me (1980), then re-released.
One of the tracks originally on the LP before being cut for its re-release was the cosmic funk-flavored jam “Is It Good.” Life co-wrote it along with George Tindley, who co-produced the album with him.
Other tracks were added to the album, like its epic opening cut “Let’s Get Funky Tonight.” Co-written by King and Life with Hassan Ali and Kwame Hadi, it was also released as a single.
The album underperformed her previous two LP’s, only reaching #58 R&B and #124 on the Billboard 200 album charts. For her next album, she switched producers, and I’m In Love (1981) was produced by Morrie Brown, Willie Lester, Rodney Brown, Kashif, and Lawrence Jones.
Reflecting on the change years later, King said:
“I'm not going to say my new producers were a better fit than, say, T. Life. I'm going to just say they were a good match for the time…If you keep staying in the same area, if you sound the same all the time—people can get bored with that.”
The title track was a huge hit, going to #1 on both the R&B and dance charts, and peaking at #40 on the Hot 100. She duplicated this feat the following year with her even bigger smash “Love Come Down,” written by Kashif and produced by Morrie Brown, which went to #1 R&B and dance and hit #17 on the pop charts. It was the lead single from her fifth album Get Loose (1982).
#soul #funk #disco #EvelynChampagneKing