Philippé Wynne (April 3, 1941 – July 14, 1984) – Breakout (1980)
The former Spinners lead singer wrote this superb disco funk jam for his Wynne Jammin' LP and co-produced it with George Clinton, feat. Bernie Worrell on keyboards.
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Philippé Wynne was a very talented artist best known for the years he spent as one of the lead singers of the Spinners from 1971-77. He also sang with the J.B.’s and Parliament-Funkadelic in addition to his own solo career.
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Philippé Escalante Walker was raised in an orphanage. He and his brother Michael ran away in 1956 to Detroit in search of their mother, and later formed a gospel duo dubbed the Walker Singers. After turning to secular music, he took his mother’s surname Wynn, with the addition of an “e.”
In 1968 he joined The Pacemakers, a Cincinnati-based funk group. When the entire band including bassist “Bootsy” Collins and his brother, guitarist Phelps “Catfish” Collins were hired as James Brown’s new band in March, 1970, Wynne briefly sang with the J.B.’s.
Wynne replaced his cousin G.C. Cameron as one of the Spinners’ lead singers shortly after their second album 2nd Time Around was released in October, 1970 and the group switched from Motown to Atlantic Records.
His lead vocals were featured on their classic “One of a Kind (Love Affair),” the third single released from their self-titled debut on Atlantic, written by Nat Turner Rebellion founder Joe Jefferson and produced by Thom Bell. It was their third consecutive single to hit #1 R&B, crossed over to #11 on the Billboard Hot 100, and went gold.
He also sang lead on “The Rubberband Man” (1976), one of their all-time biggest crossover hits. It topped the R&B charts and spent three weeks at #2 Pop. The song would have gone to #1 if not for “Tonight’s The Night” by Rod Stewart.
Eventually Wynne decided he wanted top billing, and pushed for their name to be changed to Philippé Wynne and the Spinners. It didn’t happen, and he left the group to go solo. His first album Starting All Over (1977) did not chart. In 1979 he began working with George Clinton and singing with Parliament-Funkadelic. He was featured on “(Not Just) Knee Deep” (1979) which was a #1 R&B hit for Funkadelic and a decade later, memorably sampled in De La Soul’s “Me Myself and I” (1989).
Wynne wrote the superb disco funk jam “Breakout” for his second solo LP, Wynne Jammin' (1980). He co-produced it along with the album’s producers, Ron Dunbar and Clinton.
Former Friends of Distinction and EWF member Jessica Cleaves was one of nearly twenty backing vocalists featured on the album, along with Andre Williams and all three members of the group Brandye.
The flawless strings and horns on “Breakout” were arranged by Paul Riser and Tony Camillo. It featured Bernie Worrell on keyboards and a stellar cast of other backing musicians. Funk Brother Dennis Coffey and Funkadelic’s Gary Shider both played guitar. Donnie Sterling was on bass, Tyrone Lampkin on drums, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra provided strings.
Sadly, Wynne passed away in 1984 after suffering a massive heart attack while performing at an nightclub in Oakland, CA. He was only 43 years old.
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