Terri Gonzalez - Is There Rockin' In This House (1987)

Sorry I've been lax in posting this month, but here we go again! This artist is one that I randomly happened across while perusing some funk blogs. I downloaded an earlier funk single by Terri and thought I'd look into who this woman was. Little did I know that she had a fairly large body of work in the 80s, including this album, which I managed to find a random link to after much web surfing. Once I listened to it I knew it would be perfect for the Isle. I was also sad that I hadn't discovered it earlier, as I would have been all over it back in 1987! Terri grew up in New York and eventually landed an administrative job there at Chappell Music, a well-known music publishing company. Thanks to her connections there, she got to explore her musical aspirations. First she hooked up with the well-established soul group The Tymes in the mid 1970s, but they split up soon after. Then she busied herself with session singing for soul acts like The Kay-Gees, Grace Jones, and Chaka Khan. She also proved herself as a song-writer, co-writing the disco classic "Caught Up" by Inner Life. In 1980 she finally signed on as a solo artist with small disco label Eastbourne Records. She released a couple of singles, "Hunger For Your Love" and "How Good Is It" (which had her version of "Caught Up" as a B-side). An album, Good To The Last Drop, was planned but apparently never released. She bounced back the next year on Becket Records with two singles that became minor club hits, "Treat Yourself To My Love" and "Born A Winner". But no other releases materialized for the next few years, though she continued to write songs and do session singing. Then, in 1987, she reemerged on a major label, Atlantic, with a major supporter behind her - Nile Rodgers. No doubt her connection with the disco and R&B maestro helped her secure the deal, and she released the single "Is There Rockin' In This House" and an album of the same name. Rodgers had a heavy involvement in the production of the album, and you can tell from it's funky dance pop, similar to his work with Madonna, among others. However, neither the single, album or other single, "Love Promises", appear to have made much impact, because no other recorded solo material on a major label has appeared since. Terri did remain in the music scene, however, continuing with her songwriting and session singing, and she also toured with Lionel Hampton and His Orchestra. She also occasionally still records and does commercial work. For more, visit her Myspace page. I am very pleased that I happened upon her only album, as it is right up my and the Isle's alley. So I give thanks to Terri for making a 'lost' 80s pop gem that is new to me. Better late than never! (And I apologize, but the file I came across did not include the album track "Let Me Be (A Part Of Your Life)", unfortunately.)

Video for Is There Rockin' In This House

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1		Love Promises
2		In A Big Way
3		When All The Kids Start Dancing
4		Is There Rockin' In This House
5		A Boy Like You
6		Dynamic Attraction
7		I Don't Have Time
8		Cover To Cover