Song:Lady Marmalade
Album:Something Silver
Patti LaBelle (born Patricia Holte May 24, 1944 in Philadelphia) is probably best known for her 80s solo hits. But she may have never gotten that opportunity without the 1975 smash hit Lady Marmalade. LaBelle had a much harder edge than any girl group from the 60s including Patti's own group Patti Labelle & The Bluebelles. In 1960 they were known as The Ordettes with Patti, Nona Hendryx (born Oct. 4,1944 in Trenton, NJ), Sarah Dash (Born Aug. 18, 1945 in Trenton, NJ) and Cindy Birdsong. In 1962 they had a top 20 pop hit with I Sold My Heart To The Junkman. But there were some legal problems with the song and the group was unable to build upon the song's success. Patti LaBelle & Her Bluebelles had a top 40 hit with You'll Never Walk Alone. They recorded an album for Atlantic in 1966. But when Cindy Birdsong left to replace Florence Ballard in The Supremes in 1967, The group realized that they needed to change their approach because they were just a standard girl group. So in 1970, they hired TV producer Vicki Wickham to redo their image and costumes. That's when they ditched the 60s look and started wearing crazy space age costumes. Nona Hendryx started writing songs with a harder edge. Though LaBelle started getting critical acclaim with albums on Warner Bros. and RCA, it wasn't until they signed with Epic and went to New Orleans to work with legendary producer Allen Toussaint that they hit the jackpot with Lady Marmalade. It topped the Billboard Hot 100. Of course that LaBelle were very flambuoyant on stage with their crazy costumes and that Lady Marmalade was about a street walker didn't hurt. Nona Hendryx wrote a lot of songs for LaBelle and Toussaint is a songwriting legend. But Lady Marmalade was written by veteran producer Bob Crewe along with singer songwriter Kenny Nolan. Crewe was best known for his work with The Four Seasons and the two wrote the Frankie Valli hit My Eyes Adored You. The success of LaBelle was shortlived because Patti LaBelle was never comfortable with the harder edged sound. Patti went solo in Dec. 1976 after Nona suffered a nervous breakdown. This Warner Archives comp is an excellent overview of all their recordings. Of course Patti LaBelle has had a lot of solo success as an R & B singer. Nona Hendryx recorded some solo albums with a harder edge but is still in demand as a session singer and songwriter. Sarah Dash has had limited success as a solo artist. LaBelle reunited on Verve Records in 2008 with the CD Back To Now. But there's no question that LaBelle and Lady Marmalade changed the perception of girl groups forever. Here's LaBelle performing Lady Marmalade on Soul Train 1975.
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