Loleatta Holloway
Loleatta Holloway arguably possessed one of the most recognizable voices in disco and house music. Her 1980 collaboration with songwriter-producer Dan Hartman on "Love Sensation" set dance floors on fire. The song — and Holloway's career — enjoyed a second wind a decade later when it was sampled by both Black Box for "Ride on Time" and Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch for "Good Vibrations." Holloway died after a brief illness on March 21, 2011.
Captions by Kimberly A. Hines
Sylvester
Heating up dance floors in the late 1970s and early 1980s with his high-energy hits "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" and "Do You Wanna Funk," Sylvester James was one of a kind. The former child gospel star from Los Angeles moved to San Francisco, where he lived as an openly gay man and often performed in full drag. Quite a disco diva, Sylvester lived his life loud and proud until his death in 1988 of complications from AIDS.
Martha Wash
Martha Wash's voice has been a clubland staple for more than 30 years. The robust singer got her start backing Sylvester alongside Izora Armstead as Two Tons O' Fun, who later became the Weather Girls and counted "It's Raining Men" as their signature song. Wash was tapped by both C+C Music Factory and Black Box to provide vocals for their 1990 debut albums, but neither group credited Wash for her contributions, and she successfully sued both acts for proper credit and royalties.
Taana Gardner
With her two most popular songs entitled "Work That Body" and "Heartbeat," there's no doubt that Taana Gardner wanted people to get physical when listening to her music. The first lady of West End Records in the late 1970s and early '80s, Gardner stepped out of the spotlight to raise her children. But the flirtatious "Heartbeat" remained her label's biggest-selling single and would go on to be famously sampled by numerous hip-hop and soul acts, from De La Soul ("Buddy") to Musiq Soulchild ("B.U.D.D.Y.").
Gwen Guthrie
Gwen Guthrie may not have coined the phrase "no romance without finance," but the refrain from her 1986 musical manifesto "Ain't Nothin' Goin' On but the Rent" helped make the song both catchy and controversial. The singer-songwriter also penned tracks for Sister Sledge and Roberta Flack, but it was her solo work that brought her the most fame. Guthrie died in 1999 after a battle with uterine cancer.
Jocelyn Brown
Jocelyn Brown's music career is already into its fourth decade, and the soul powerhouse shows no signs of retiring anytime soon. Brown began her journey in the late 1970s as a singer in a variety of groups, including Change and Musique, then went on to achieve solo success with the bittersweet jam "Somebody Else's Guy" in 1984. Since that time, she's also lent her voice to projects by Nuyorican Soul, Incognito and Soulpersona, and currently records both secular and gospel music.
Shannon
In the post-disco days, the abandoned genre branched off into a few different directions, such as house, dance and freestyle. One of the artists to achieve crossover success in the latter was Shannon, who was plucked from her life as a college student while gigging with a jazz ensemble in New York City. The two biggest songs of her career — "Let the Music Play" and "Give Me Tonight" — can be found on her debut album. Almost 20 years after hitting the charts, Shannon is still singing and working on new music.
Joyce Sims
Singer-songwriter-musician Joyce Sims delivered a trifecta of hits on her 1987 debut album with the club grooves "Come Into My Life," "All and All" and "Lifetime Love." She released a sprinkling of songs after that record, but nothing got people up out of their seats quite like those tracks. Sims continues to perform in Europe, has released an updated version of "Lifetime Love" and has a new album in the works.
Colonel Abrams
Colonel Abrams was the Teddy Pendergrass of '80s club music. The deep-voiced singer had a long string of hits — enough to populate a decent greatest hits collection — such as "Trapped," "I'm Not Gonna Let" and "Speculation." In addition to his signature sound, the Detroit-born and New York City-bred singer was known for the ornate military-style jackets that he wore. Colonel is still recording and performing.
Inner City
Hailing from Detroit, the duo Inner City showcased a different type of sound from the home of Motown. The soul was still there, but it had a heavy dose of house and a little techno thrown into the mix. Producer-composer Kevin Saunderson's smooth style complemented Paris Grey's voice, and together they appealed to domestic and international audiences with their 1989 debut, Paradise, which featured the cuts "Big Fun" and "Good Life." Inner City broke up after releasing a few more albums, but Saunderson still produces.
Crystal Waters
Music may be in Crystal Waters' blood, but she became a recording artist in an unlikely way. While working behind the scenes for the production team Basement Boys, she penned the song "Gypsy Woman" for the artist Ultra Nate. Waters' demo was so impressive that they decided to release her version as a single, catapulting her onto the dance charts, where she's stayed since 1991. Twenty years after her debut album, Crystal is still making music to make people dance.
Ultra Nate
Since stepping onto the house-music scene in 1991, Ultra Nate has solidified her status as the new-millennium dance diva. With five albums to her credit and a slew of singles, she has been one of the most consistent artists in the genre. Although she had to go across the pond to Europe to find success initially, the Baltimore-area native still gets love from U.S. audiences for her biggest stateside hit, "Free." Expect her sixth album to drop this year.
Peven Everett
Peven Everett's talents are seemingly as endless as his catalog of songs, which run the gamut from R&B to U.K. garage to deep house. Everett not only crosses genres with relative ease but also sings, writes, produces, plays multiple instruments — and makes it all look so simple in the process. Introduced to most of us in 1997 by Roy Davis Jr. with the dance-floor scorcher "Gabriel," the Chicago resident has been a prolific and eccentric figure in modern club music.