AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Stephanie Mills

Artist:Stephanie Mills

Song:Never Knew Love Like This Before

Album:The Best of Stephanie Mills

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Stephanie Mills first had success as Dorothy in the Broadway musical The Wiz. Then she had a great run as a recording artist. The 1980 single Never Knew Love Like This Before was her biggest hit. She was born Mar. 22, 1957 in Brooklyn, NY. As a child she sang in the choir at Cornerstone Baptist Church. At age nine she appeared in the Broadway musical Maggie Flynn. At age 11 she won Amateur Night at The Apollo six straight weeks. She went on the road with The Isley Brothers and became good friends with Ronald Isley. Stephanie recorded albums for ABC and Motown but neither worked out. The Motown album was written and produced by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Then she played Dorothy in the hit Broadway musical The Wiz. Diana Ross played Dorothy in the film version. Stephanie signed with 20th Century Records and began her long association with the production team of James Mtume and Reggie Lucas. Of course Mtume is best known for the hit single Juicy Fruit. But he and Lucas had a lot of success as producers. All three of Stephanie's 20th Century albums were certified Gold. Never Knew Love Like This Before is from the 1980 album Sweet Sensation. It reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100. It turned out to be Stephanie's biggest chart hit and the record has stood the test of time. After 20th Century Records closed, Stephanie signed with Casablanca and then MCA. She continued to have success on the R&B chart in the 80s. She recorded her final album for MCA in 1992. You can get all her hits on this budget comp. She recorded a 1995 gospel album produced by Donald Lawrence. And she appeared in the 1997 Broadway musical Children  of Eden. Since then Stephanie has recorded occasionally and she played Auntie Em in the 2015 NBC TV production of The Wiz. Here's Stephanie Mills performing Never Knew Love Like This Before. There's no date on it but it looks recent. Normally I would want a vintage clip but Stephanie is performing live and the audience is great.