Jeanie Tracy
Encyclopedia
Jeanie Tracy is a female African American
R&B
, Dance-pop
, Hi-NRG
and house
singer-songwriter
and actress
, born in Houston, Texas
and raised in Fresno, California
.
and piano
. Tracy's first single, "Making New Friends," was released on the independent "Brown Door" label and became a hit with the UK's rare groove
scene. Tracy moved to San Francisco and starred in Oscar Brown Jr.'s musical Slave Driver. Tracy went on to do the lead role in Sing Mahlia Sing upon Jennifer Holliday
leaving the show, and director George Coates Right Mind. Tracy was noticed by Harvey Fuqua
who hired to her to write and produce for gospel group Voices of Harmony on his Milk and Honey record label. Tracy provided vocals for the experimental soundtrack
of Francis Ford Coppola
's film
, Apocalypse Now
.
In the early 1980s, Harvey Fuqua put Tracy with fellow mentor Sylvester, where she sang backgrounds with Martha Wash and Izora Armstead, better known as the Two Tons of Fun, leading to the 1981 duet with Sylvester, "Here Is My Love" for Fantasy Records
. Tracy traveled the world with Sylvester and the girls and sang backup with them as well for their projects. The following year Fantasy released her first album, Me and You
. The same year Tracy featured as lead singer on trumpeter Freddie Hubbard
's album Splash. In 1984, she performed on Star Search
where she was a semi-finalist in the Female Vocalist category.
She was then summed by San Francisco based Producer Narada Michael Walden to provide vocals on some of the top recording artist in the industry such as Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Tevin Campbell, Shaunice Wilson, and many others. She also worked with Narada's Protege Walter Affanasieff, on some of the top Movie soundtracks such as Hunch Back of Notre dame, Snow Dogs, Michael Bolton, Grover Washington, Peobo Bryson, Celine Dion and many others. Tracy provided lead vocals for the Disney Movie Channels theme song..The Wonderful World of Disney. Tracy also did the voice of Bantu the Snake and Kimmie the Cat in the PBS Children's weekly series, called The Adventures of KangaRoddy. She was summoned yet again by Carlos Santana to sing on his big return cd SUPERNATURAL with fellow artist Tony Lindsay," The Calling ", this gleaned her a second Grammy, with singing on the Titanic soundtrack with Celine Dion garnering her the first Grammy.
She had two hits on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play
chart in the mid-1980s. Those singles were "Time Bomb" and "Don't Leave Me This Way" which peaked at #22 on that chart.
After a hiatus from recording, Tracy returned, releasing her second album, It's My Time in 1995 in the UK on Pulse-8 records. The album scored a underground hit with the title track in the States. After releasing a steady stream of increasingly popular singles, Tracy experienced a career resurgence in the late 1990s which resulted in two Top 20 US Billboard
Hot Dance Music/Club Play with "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" (1998) and "Keep The Party Jumpin'" (1999) with producers Frank Abraham and Jimmy Markee on the San Francisco based AM Records. It was through AM records that Tracy was introduced to Ralphi Rosario and Abel Aguillera. In 2001, her collaboration with Rosabel (DJ's Ralphi Rosario and Abel), "The Power", spent one week at number one. In June 2004, she again reached number one on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart with "Cha Cha Heels", another collaboration with Rosabel and TommyBoy Records.
Tracy's third number one Billboard Hit came in February 2007 with "Party People", a collaboration with Altar
. Party People went on to be on at least twenty compilations and was chosen in the hit Universal Films " Bring it On 5 with Christina Milian in the most important part of the film(the competition). The success of her singles in recent years has prompted her, and her producers, to plan a possible full length album. If it materialized, it would be her first album in over a decade. Tracy's follow up single, "Everybody Up", also produced by Altar, was released in April 2008. In 2010, she appeared on TV One's Unsung program about Sylvester.
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
, Dance-pop
Dance-pop
Dance-pop is dance-oriented pop music that originated in the early 1980s. Developing from post-disco, it is generally up-tempo music intended for clubs with the intention of being danceable or merely dancey...
, Hi-NRG
Hi-NRG
Hi-NRG describes a form of high-tempo disco music as well as a genre of electronic dance music originating in the United States during the late 1970s...
and house
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
and actress
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, born in Houston, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and raised in Fresno, California
Fresno, California
Fresno is a city in central California, United States, the county seat of Fresno County. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 510,365, making it the fifth largest city in California, the largest inland city in California, and the 34th largest in the nation...
.
Career
Growing up Tracy sang in a church choir in addition to studying operaOpera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
and piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
. Tracy's first single, "Making New Friends," was released on the independent "Brown Door" label and became a hit with the UK's rare groove
Rare groove
Rare groove is defined as very hard to source or relatively obscure soul or jazz music. Rare groove is primarily associated with funk, jazz and pop, but is also connected to sub-genres including jazz fusion, Latin jazz, soul, R&B, northern soul, and disco. Vinyl records that fall into this...
scene. Tracy moved to San Francisco and starred in Oscar Brown Jr.'s musical Slave Driver. Tracy went on to do the lead role in Sing Mahlia Sing upon Jennifer Holliday
Jennifer Holliday
Jennifer-Yvette Holliday is an African-American singer and Tony Award-winning actress. She started her career on Broadway in musicals such as Dreamgirls, and later became a successful recording artist...
leaving the show, and director George Coates Right Mind. Tracy was noticed by Harvey Fuqua
Harvey Fuqua
Harvey Fuqua, was an African-American rhythm and blues singer, songwriter, record producer, and record label executive.Fuqua founded the seminal R&B/doo-wop group the Moonglows in the 1950s...
who hired to her to write and produce for gospel group Voices of Harmony on his Milk and Honey record label. Tracy provided vocals for the experimental soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
of Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
's film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now is a 1979 American war film set during the Vietnam War, produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The central character is US Army special operations officer Captain Benjamin L. Willard , of MACV-SOG, an assassin sent to kill the renegade and presumed insane Special Forces...
.
In the early 1980s, Harvey Fuqua put Tracy with fellow mentor Sylvester, where she sang backgrounds with Martha Wash and Izora Armstead, better known as the Two Tons of Fun, leading to the 1981 duet with Sylvester, "Here Is My Love" for Fantasy Records
Fantasy Records
Fantasy Records is a United States-based record label that was founded by Max and Sol Weiss in 1949 in San Francisco, California. They had previously operated a record-pressing plant called Circle Record Company before forming the Fantasy label...
. Tracy traveled the world with Sylvester and the girls and sang backup with them as well for their projects. The following year Fantasy released her first album, Me and You
Me and You (Jeanie Tracy album)
Me and You is the debut album by Jeanie Tracy, released in 1982 on Fantasy Records. It includes the single, "You and Me."-Track listings:# "Sing Your Own Song"# "Your Old Standby"# "I Feel Like Dancing"# "Me and You"# "I'm Your Jeanie"...
. The same year Tracy featured as lead singer on trumpeter Freddie Hubbard
Freddie Hubbard
Frederick Dewayne "Freddie" Hubbard was an American jazz trumpeter. He was known primarily for playing in the bebop, hard bop and post bop styles from the early 1960s and on...
's album Splash. In 1984, she performed on Star Search
Star Search
Star Search is a television show that was produced from 1983-95, hosted by Ed McMahon, and created by Alfred Masini. A relaunch was produced in 2003-04. The show was originally filmed at the old Earl Carroll Theatre at 6230 Sunset Blvd...
where she was a semi-finalist in the Female Vocalist category.
She was then summed by San Francisco based Producer Narada Michael Walden to provide vocals on some of the top recording artist in the industry such as Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Tevin Campbell, Shaunice Wilson, and many others. She also worked with Narada's Protege Walter Affanasieff, on some of the top Movie soundtracks such as Hunch Back of Notre dame, Snow Dogs, Michael Bolton, Grover Washington, Peobo Bryson, Celine Dion and many others. Tracy provided lead vocals for the Disney Movie Channels theme song..The Wonderful World of Disney. Tracy also did the voice of Bantu the Snake and Kimmie the Cat in the PBS Children's weekly series, called The Adventures of KangaRoddy. She was summoned yet again by Carlos Santana to sing on his big return cd SUPERNATURAL with fellow artist Tony Lindsay," The Calling ", this gleaned her a second Grammy, with singing on the Titanic soundtrack with Celine Dion garnering her the first Grammy.
She had two hits on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play
Hot Dance Club Play
The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs...
chart in the mid-1980s. Those singles were "Time Bomb" and "Don't Leave Me This Way" which peaked at #22 on that chart.
After a hiatus from recording, Tracy returned, releasing her second album, It's My Time in 1995 in the UK on Pulse-8 records. The album scored a underground hit with the title track in the States. After releasing a steady stream of increasingly popular singles, Tracy experienced a career resurgence in the late 1990s which resulted in two Top 20 US Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot Dance Music/Club Play with "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" (1998) and "Keep The Party Jumpin'" (1999) with producers Frank Abraham and Jimmy Markee on the San Francisco based AM Records. It was through AM records that Tracy was introduced to Ralphi Rosario and Abel Aguillera. In 2001, her collaboration with Rosabel (DJ's Ralphi Rosario and Abel), "The Power", spent one week at number one. In June 2004, she again reached number one on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart with "Cha Cha Heels", another collaboration with Rosabel and TommyBoy Records.
Tracy's third number one Billboard Hit came in February 2007 with "Party People", a collaboration with Altar
Altar (dance music band)
Altar is a house music duo of Brazilian producers and DJs Macau and VMC. Formed in 2001, the duo began receiving recognition in nightclubs in 2003 after the release of their single "Sexercize". A collaboration with vocalist Jeanie Tracy, "Party People" became their first number-one hit on the U.S...
. Party People went on to be on at least twenty compilations and was chosen in the hit Universal Films " Bring it On 5 with Christina Milian in the most important part of the film(the competition). The success of her singles in recent years has prompted her, and her producers, to plan a possible full length album. If it materialized, it would be her first album in over a decade. Tracy's follow up single, "Everybody Up", also produced by Altar, was released in April 2008. In 2010, she appeared on TV One's Unsung program about Sylvester.
Albums
- Me and YouMe and You (Jeanie Tracy album)Me and You is the debut album by Jeanie Tracy, released in 1982 on Fantasy Records. It includes the single, "You and Me."-Track listings:# "Sing Your Own Song"# "Your Old Standby"# "I Feel Like Dancing"# "Me and You"# "I'm Your Jeanie"...
(1982) Fantasy RecordsFantasy RecordsFantasy Records is a United States-based record label that was founded by Max and Sol Weiss in 1949 in San Francisco, California. They had previously operated a record-pressing plant called Circle Record Company before forming the Fantasy label... - It's My Time (1995) Pulse-8
Singles
- "Making New Friends" (1975)
- "Here Is My Love" / "Give It Up (Don't Make Me Wait)" (1981, with Sylvester)
- "Me and You" (1982)
- "Can I Come Over And Play With You Tonight" (1983)
- "Time Bomb" (1984)
- "Manhunt" (1984)
- "Don't Leave Me This WayDon't Leave Me This Way"Don't Leave Me This Way" is an R&B/soul/disco song written by Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff, and Cary Gilbert. First charting as a hit for Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, an act on Gamble & Huff's Philadelphia International label in 1975, "Don't Leave Me This Way" was later a hit single for both...
" (1985) - "Living For The City" (1986)
- "Earthquake" (1987)
- "Fire" (1987)
- "Do You Want My Love"
- "I Found Love" (1990)
- "Funkin' With Your Emotions" / "Picture This" (1991)
- "It's My Time" (1993)
- "If This Is Love" (1994) - UKUK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
#73 - "Do You Believe In The Wonder" (1994) - UK #57
- "Crying In My Sleep" / "Do The Right Thing" / "Do You Wanna Be" (1995)
- "It's a Man's Man's Man's WorldIt's a Man's Man's Man's World"It's a Man's Man's Man's World" is a song by James Brown and Betty Jean Newsome. Brown recorded it on February 16, 1966 in a New York studio and released it as a single later that year. It reached #1 on the Billboard Top R&B Singles charts and #8 in the Billboard Hot 100...
" (1995, duet with Bobby WomackBobby WomackRobert Dwayne "Bobby" Womack is an American singer-songwriter and musician. An active recording artist since the early 1960s where he started his career as the lead singer of his family musical group The Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guitarist, Womack's career has spanned more than 40...
) - UK #73 - "Answer My Prayer" (1998)
- "Hang In There Baby" (1998)
- "Can't Take My Eyes off of YouCan't Take My Eyes off You"Can't Take My Eyes Off You" is a 1967 single by Frankie Valli. The song was among Valli's biggest hits, reaching #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earning a gold record. It was Valli's biggest "solo" hit until he hit #1 in 1975 with "My Eyes Adored You"...
" (1999) - "Keep The Party Jumpin'" (1999)
- "The Power" (2001)
- "Cha Cha Heels" (2004)
- "Party People" (2007)
- "Everybody Up" (2008)
- "Turn it Out" (2009) w/ AltarAltar (dance music band)Altar is a house music duo of Brazilian producers and DJs Macau and VMC. Formed in 2001, the duo began receiving recognition in nightclubs in 2003 after the release of their single "Sexercize". A collaboration with vocalist Jeanie Tracy, "Party People" became their first number-one hit on the U.S...
- "Feel Good" (2010) w/Edson Pride
Compilations
- A Night in Orbit - DJ Manny Lehman (1999) 4Play Records
- Circuit 2K V.1 - DJ Frank Abraham (1999) AM Records
- Circuit 2K V.2 - DJ Frank Abraham (1999) AM Records
See also
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart