Lonnie Gordon (born Philadelphia[1]) is a female Hi-NRG, house and soul singer-songwriter from New York's Bronx, who has scored many chart hits during the 1990s and 2000s.
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Born in Philadelphia, Gordon moved to the Bronx at an early age. In the early 80's, she started performing around the Harlem area in clubs as the lead singer of a band called Nythjar. After meeting her husband, she relocated to England in the late 80's, and retired from the music scene a few years to take care of her daughter, Ricki.
Gordon retook her singing career in 1988, singing lead vocals for club-oriented acts, among them Offshore, Deja Vu and most notably, House ensemble Quartzlock, releasing the singles "No Regrets", "Love Eviction" or "You Make Loving Fun". In 1989, she contributed lead vocals to Simon Harris' cover of the On the House song "(I've Got Your) Pleasure Control", which became her first charting single in the UK. The record brought her to the attention of Supreme Records, who offered her a deal in 1989.
The first single on the Supreme label, a cover of First Choice's "Let No Man Put Asunder" (re-titled "It's Not Over (Let No Man Put Asunder)"), was a club hit but did not translate into pop success. For her next single, "Happenin' All Over Again", Gordon collaborated with British hitmaking team Stock Aitken & Waterman. The song had originally been written for Donna Summer.,[2] but Gordon recorded it instead and released the single in January 1990. It became an instant smash, peaking at #4 in the UK and becoming a big hit around Europe.
The planned follow-up single, the uptempo "How Could He Do This To Me" , was scrapped (and was never released until years later), and the ballad "Beyond Your Wildest Dreams" was released instead in August 1990. The single peaked at a disappointing #48. In November 1990, Gordon released the single "If I Have To Stand Alone", which had a more similar sound to "Happenin' All Over Again". The single however charted even worse, peaking at #68. As a result of the singles' undereperfomance her debut album, If I Have To Stand Alone, was never officially released in the UK, and only received a limited release in Europe and Japan.
In 1991, Gordon flew to Italy and recorded the song "Gonna Catch You", written and produced by the Italo House group Black Box. It was released as a single in the UK where it became her second top 40 hit, peaking at #32. Due to its inclusion in the Vanilla Ice film Cool As Ice, the song became her debut release in the USA, where it peaked at #1 on the U.S. Dance charts and at #79 on the Billboard Hot 100. This was Gordon's last release with Supreme Records. Around this time, Gordon changed her image radically, shaving her head and dying her hair blond, a look she has sported ever since.
Signed to SBK Records, Gordon released her second album Bad Mood in 1993. The album included two further U.S. #1 Dance singles, "Bad Mood", and a re-recorded "Happenin' All Over Again", which also peaked at #98 in the Billboard Hot 100. A follow up single, "Do You Want It", also did well on the dance charts in 1994.
Gordon has hit the U.S. dance chart two more times in 1996, with the songs "Dirty Love" on Geffen Records, which peaked at #6, and "If You Really Love Me" released on Big Bang Records, which peaked at #42. In 2000, she released the compilation album No Regret, which included many of her singles and album highlights, as well as two new songs. A cover of "He Lives in You", was released as its lead single.
In 2002 Gordon starred as the lead vocalist and narrator for "Zumanity" another side of Cirque du Soleil, in Las Vegas. Working with Cirque du Soleil and moving to Las Vegas, was a bold career move that provided an opportunity for Gordon to showcase her strong vocals and incredible stage presence. After leaving Cirque du Soleil, Gordon made her way back to London, England and constantly toured.
In 2007, Gordon established her own label Gordon Records, from which she released four compilation albums including several new songs. These albums can be acquired through CDBaby or iTunes. She also exhibited her paintings around this time in Las Vegas.
A remastered Special Edition CD of her UK-unreleased 1990 album recorded at PWL, If I Have To Stand Alone, was released in April 2009 on the Cherry Pop record label with additional un-released mixes from PWL's vaults.[1]
In 2009, "Catch You Baby", a re-recording/reworking of the 1991 hit, "Gonna Catch You", was released by Positiva/EMI as a digital-only download in early August 2009, with a host of mixes, including by a PWL-retro-style mix by Pete Hammond.
| Year | Title | Chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [4] |
U.S | U.S. Dance | ||
| 1987 | "Cinco De Mayo" | - | - | - |
| 1988 | "All Work And No Play" 1 | - | - | - |
| "Love Eviction" 2 | - | - | - | |
| "Don't Turn Around" 2 | - | - | - | |
| 1989 | "(I've Got Your) Pleasure Control" 3 | 60 | - | 23 |
| "Beat The Street" 4 | - | - | - | |
| "It's Not Over (Let No Man Put Asunder)" | - | - | - | |
| 1990 | "Happenin' All Over Again" | 4 | - | - |
| "Beyond Your Wildest Dreams" | 48 | - | - | |
| "If I Have To Stand Alone" | 68 | - | - | |
| 1991 | "Gonna Catch You" | 32 | 79 | 1 |
| 1993 | "Bad Mood" | - | - | 1 |
| "Happenin' All over Again" (1993 version) | - | 98 | 1 | |
| 1994 | "Do You Want It" | - | - | 5 |
| 1995 | "Love Eviction" (1995 version)2 | 32 | - | - |
| 1996 | "Dirty Love" | - | - | 6 |
| "If You Really Love Me" | - | - | 42 | |
| 1997 | "No Regret" 2 | - | - | - |
| 1998 | "Beat The Street" (1998 version) | - | - | - |
| "A God That Can Dance" | - | - | - | |
| "Happenin' All Over Again" (1998 version) | - | - | - | |
| 1999 | "Everybody's Talking" | - | - | - |
| 2001 | "He Lives in You" | - | - | - |
1 Offshore featuring Lonnie Gordon. 2 Quartz Lock featuring Lonnie Gordon. 3 Simon Harris featuring Lonnie Gordon. 4 Love Inc. featuring Lonnie Gordon. 5 Touch of Soul featuring Lonnie Gordon.