Precious Wilson
Encyclopedia
Precious Wilson is a soul
singer.
for the all-male group Eruption
. The group enjoyed a minor hit when they won a talent competition in 1975 with the song "Let Me Take You Back in Time". Unable to sustain their momentum, the lead singer left the group, and Precious stepped forward to front the band.
While on the road in Germany, Eruption was discovered in 1977 by German producer Frank Farian
who hired them to support Boney M. on their tour. Signing them to Boney M.'s label
, Hansa Records
, Farian released the single "Party Party" but it was their cover version of Ann Peebles
' "I Can't Stand the Rain
" from their first album which broke big, giving them a UK #5 hit and a US #18 hit. After a second album and another hit single with "One Way Ticket" (UK #9), Wilson left the group to pursue a solo
career.
as a solo artist was a cover version
of Sam & Dave
's "Hold On I'm Coming
", released in August 1979. Produced by Frank Farian
and set to a funky disco-beat, the single disappointingly failed to chart in Germany and the UK, reaching only a modest #45 in the Dutch charts. The song
was also included in Boney M.'s No. 1-album Oceans of Fantasy
which also yielded a guest performance by Wilson on the opening track "Let It All Be Music".
Her debut album On the Race Track, also produced by Farian, was completed during 1980 with high expectations from Hansa. It was released in October, heralded by the single "Cry to Me" which Wilson performed on TV
, backed by the dancing troop Sky Train. The single reached #3 in Switzerland
. While it failed to reach the German charts, the album's second single, "We Are on the Race Track", however reached #11 there in early 1981.
In October 1981, she released a cover version of "I Need You
" which peaked at #6 in Switzerland where her popularity was strong. In Germany, it only mustered #39. In the summer of 1982, the electro-pop track "I Don't Know" was released, followed by her second album All Coloured in Love. The album was released with a different track selection in the UK
, Italy
and France
under the name Red Light followed by several different single releases in the various territories.
Hot on the heels of the current Aerobic
craze and Farian's success with Sydne Rome
's current album Aerobic Fitness Dancing, the theme song "Let's Move Aerobic (Move Your Body)" was rush-released with Wilson's vocals in March '83 but failed to chart. By then, Wilson's relationship to Hansa was cooling off considerably. Her third album Funky Fingers (December 1983), consisting of two side-long medley
s of soul standards, was released with minimal support from Hansa and sank like a stone. In 1985, she signed with Jive Records
and teamed up with multiple producer teams for the album Precious Wilson released the following year. Launching several singles, "I'll Be Your Friend" (a U.S. Top 40 R&B
hit
), the theme song from the movie
The Jewel of the Nile
, and "Nice Girls Don't Last" ("Love Can't Wait" in the U.S.), the album however didn't do as well as expected. A dance cover of Jerry Butler
's "Only the Strong Survive" in 1987, produced by Stock Aitken Waterman
, inexplicably failed to chart. After another single with "I May Be Right 4U" in 1990, she achieved two major hit singles in the early 1990s with a cover of Sheila and B. Devotion
's "Spacer" (a hit single in France, 1992) and a cover of Donna Summer
's "I Feel Love
" (a UK
#19 hit single with techno group Messiah, 1992). Since then, Wilson has been touring extensively internationally. She is the legal owner of the trademark Eruption, and also frequently tours as Eruption featuring Precious Wilson. Wilson lives in London.
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
singer.
Background
Wilson started out as a backing singerBacking vocalist
A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
for the all-male group Eruption
Eruption (band)
Eruption was a popular disco / R&B / Soul band in the 1970s and 1980s.-History:Silent Eruption was formed in 1974 in Britain. In 1975 they won the RCA Soul Search Contest, whilst their first single "Let Me Take You Back in Time" was released in 1976...
. The group enjoyed a minor hit when they won a talent competition in 1975 with the song "Let Me Take You Back in Time". Unable to sustain their momentum, the lead singer left the group, and Precious stepped forward to front the band.
While on the road in Germany, Eruption was discovered in 1977 by German producer Frank Farian
Frank Farian
Frank Farian , is a German record producer and songwriter. He started out as a trained cook before moving into the music industry...
who hired them to support Boney M. on their tour. Signing them to Boney M.'s label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
, Hansa Records
Hansa Records
Hansa Records was a record label founded in the 1960s based in Berlin, Germany....
, Farian released the single "Party Party" but it was their cover version of Ann Peebles
Ann Peebles
Ann Peebles is an African American singer-songwriter who gained celebrity for her Memphis soul albums of the 1970s on the Hi Records label...
' "I Can't Stand the Rain
I Can't Stand the Rain (song)
"I Can't Stand the Rain" is a song originally recorded by Ann Peebles, and written by Don Bryant, Bernard "Bernie" Miller & Ann Peebles. The song became Peebles' biggest hit when in 1973 it reached #38 on the US Pop Chart and #6 on the R&B/Black Chart. The single also reached #41 on the UK Pop...
" from their first album which broke big, giving them a UK #5 hit and a US #18 hit. After a second album and another hit single with "One Way Ticket" (UK #9), Wilson left the group to pursue a solo
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
career.
Solo career
Wilson's debut singleSingle (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
as a solo artist was a cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Sam & Dave
Sam & Dave
Sam & Dave were an American soul and rhythm and blues duo who performed together from 1961 through 1981. The tenor voice was Samuel David Moore , and the baritone/tenor voice was Dave Prater .Sam & Dave are members of...
's "Hold On I'm Coming
Hold On, I'm Comin' (song)
"Hold On, I'm Comin" is a 1966 single recorded by soul duo Sam & Dave, issued on the Atlantic-distributed Stax label in 1966.The song was written by the songwriting team of Isaac Hayes and David Porter, who came up with the title of the song...
", released in August 1979. Produced by Frank Farian
Frank Farian
Frank Farian , is a German record producer and songwriter. He started out as a trained cook before moving into the music industry...
and set to a funky disco-beat, the single disappointingly failed to chart in Germany and the UK, reaching only a modest #45 in the Dutch charts. The song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
was also included in Boney M.'s No. 1-album Oceans of Fantasy
Oceans of Fantasy
Oceans of Fantasy is the fourth studio album by Boney M. Released in September 1979, Oceans Of Fantasy became the second Boney M. album to top the UK charts and features hits "El Lute" based on Eleuterio Sánchez life, "I'm Born Again", "Bahama Mama" and "Gotta Go Home"...
which also yielded a guest performance by Wilson on the opening track "Let It All Be Music".
Her debut album On the Race Track, also produced by Farian, was completed during 1980 with high expectations from Hansa. It was released in October, heralded by the single "Cry to Me" which Wilson performed on TV
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, backed by the dancing troop Sky Train. The single reached #3 in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. While it failed to reach the German charts, the album's second single, "We Are on the Race Track", however reached #11 there in early 1981.
In October 1981, she released a cover version of "I Need You
Everybody Needs Somebody to Love
"Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" is a song written by Bert Berns, Solomon Burke and Jerry Wexler, and originally recorded by Solomon Burke under the production of Bert Berns at Atlantic Records in 1964...
" which peaked at #6 in Switzerland where her popularity was strong. In Germany, it only mustered #39. In the summer of 1982, the electro-pop track "I Don't Know" was released, followed by her second album All Coloured in Love. The album was released with a different track selection in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
under the name Red Light followed by several different single releases in the various territories.
Hot on the heels of the current Aerobic
Aerobic
Aerobic is a word that means "requiring air", where "air" usually means oxygen.Aerobic may also refer to:* Aerobic exercise, prolonged exercise of moderate intensity* Aerobics, a form of aerobic exercise...
craze and Farian's success with Sydne Rome
Sydne Rome
Sydne Rome is a United States-born, Italy-based film actress. Her first name is often misspelled Sydney or Sidney....
's current album Aerobic Fitness Dancing, the theme song "Let's Move Aerobic (Move Your Body)" was rush-released with Wilson's vocals in March '83 but failed to chart. By then, Wilson's relationship to Hansa was cooling off considerably. Her third album Funky Fingers (December 1983), consisting of two side-long medley
Medley (music)
In music, a medley is a piece composed from parts of existing pieces, usually three, played one after another, sometimes overlapping. They are common in popular music, and most medleys are songs rather than instrumental. A medley which is a remixed series is called a megamix, often done with tracks...
s of soul standards, was released with minimal support from Hansa and sank like a stone. In 1985, she signed with Jive Records
Jive Records
Jive Records was a record label based in New York City, operating under RCA Music Group. Jive was primarily known for a string of successes with hip hop artists in the 1980s, and in teen pop and boy bands in the late 1990s. The word "jive" was inspired by Township Jive, a form of South African...
and teamed up with multiple producer teams for the album Precious Wilson released the following year. Launching several singles, "I'll Be Your Friend" (a U.S. Top 40 R&B
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
hit
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
), the theme song from the movie
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...
The Jewel of the Nile
The Jewel of the Nile
The Jewel of the Nile is a 1985 romantic adventure film, and a sequel to the 1984 film Romancing the Stone, with Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, and Danny DeVito reprising their roles...
, and "Nice Girls Don't Last" ("Love Can't Wait" in the U.S.), the album however didn't do as well as expected. A dance cover of Jerry Butler
Jerry Butler (singer)
Jerry Butler is an American soul singer and songwriter. He is also noted as being the original lead singer of the R&B vocal group, The Impressions, as well as a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee.Butler is also an American politician...
's "Only the Strong Survive" in 1987, produced by Stock Aitken Waterman
Stock Aitken Waterman
Stock Aitken Waterman, sometimes known as SAW, were a UK songwriting and record producing trio consisting of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman. They had great success during the mid to late 1980s and early 1990s...
, inexplicably failed to chart. After another single with "I May Be Right 4U" in 1990, she achieved two major hit singles in the early 1990s with a cover of Sheila and B. Devotion
Sheila (singer)
Sheila is a French pop singer, who became successful as a solo artist in the 1960s and 1970s and later fronted a disco act called Sheila and B. Devotion. Sheila has sold over 24,000,000 copies of records in France and was the top selling artist in France in the 1960s and 1970s...
's "Spacer" (a hit single in France, 1992) and a cover of Donna Summer
Donna Summer
LaDonna Adrian Gaines , known by her stage name, Donna Summer, is an American singer/songwriter who gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s. She has a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Summer is a five-time Grammy winner and was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach...
's "I Feel Love
I Feel Love
"I Feel Love" is a song by Donna Summer, taken from her 1977 concept album I Remember Yesterday.The song constituted the "future" segment of the album, which represented a stylistic progress through time...
" (a UK
UK Singles Chart
The 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 ...
#19 hit single with techno group Messiah, 1992). Since then, Wilson has been touring extensively internationally. She is the legal owner of the trademark Eruption, and also frequently tours as Eruption featuring Precious Wilson. Wilson lives in London.
Albums
- On the Race Track (October 1980)
- All Coloured in Love (July 1982) - released as Red Light in France and UK.
- Funky Fingers (December 1983)
- Precious Wilson (1986)
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GER Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... |
SWI Switzerland Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition.... |
NL Netherlands The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders... |
UK United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... |
US R&B Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
||
| 1979 | - | - | 45 | - | - | |
| 1980 | - | 3 | 12 | - | - | |
| 1981 | 11 | - | - | - | - | |
| I Need You Everybody Needs Somebody to Love "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" is a song written by Bert Berns, Solomon Burke and Jerry Wexler, and originally recorded by Solomon Burke under the production of Bert Berns at Atlantic Records in 1964... " |
39 | 6 | - | - | - | |
| 1982 | 33 | - | - | - | - | |
| 61 | - | - | - | - | ||
| (FR) | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1983 | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1984 | "Funky Fingers" | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1985 | - | - | - | - | 40 | |
| 1986 | - | - | - | - | - | |
| - | - | - | - | - | ||
| (US) | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1987 | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1990 | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1992 | I Feel Love I Feel Love "I Feel Love" is a song by Donna Summer, taken from her 1977 concept album I Remember Yesterday.The song constituted the "future" segment of the album, which represented a stylistic progress through time... " (Messiah feat. Precious Wilson) |
- | - | - | 19 | - |
| "Spacer" (Funky French Guy & Precious Wilson) | - | - | - | - | - | |