Fern Kinney | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 11, 1949 Jackson, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Genres | R&B, disco |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
Fern Kinney (born Fern Kinney-Lewis, July 11, 1949) [1] is an American R&B and disco singer, who is best remembered for her releases, " Groove Me" and " Together We Are Beautiful".
Career
Born in Jackson, Mississippi, United States, [2] Kinney originally sang in The Poppies with Dorothy Moore. [3]
In the early 1970s, she began working as a session musician and backing vocalist. Among the songs she sang on were King Floyd's " Groove Me", and her former "Poppie" bandmate Dorothy Moore's 1976 Top 10 single, " Misty Blue".
By 1979, then having settled as a housewife, Kinney decided to attempt a comeback, and she recorded her own version of "Groove Me", but changed the rhythm on the song to turn it into a disco dance track. The song reached number 6 on the Billboard dance chart. Her next single " Together We Are Beautiful", released in 1980 was another disco song, but with a slower and more sultry beat. It had been recorded by the British vocalist, Steve Allan, eighteen months earlier. [4] Kinney's effort failed to chart in the United States, but reached number one in the UK Singles Chart. [5]
Kinney's subsequent releases attempted to continue in the disco style, however by this time the disco fad had passed its peak and Kinney was unable to repeat her success. [2] By 1983, she had returned to her earlier career as a backing vocalist. [2] In 1994, Music Club released an album (MCCD 167) of Kinney's records called Chemistry The Best Of under licence from Malaco Records, which contained 17 tracks. [6]
Discography
Albums
- Groove Me (1979) - AUS No. 86 [7]
- Fern (1981)
- Sweet Music (1982)
Compilation albums
- Fern Kinney (1988)
- Chemistry – The Best of Fern Kinney (1994)
Singles
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
US Pop [8] |
US R&B [8] |
US Dance [8] |
AUS [7] |
UK [5] | |||
| 1968 | "Your Love’s Not Reliable" | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1978 | "Sweet Life / Tonight's the Night" (with Frederick Knight) | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1979 | "Baby Let Me Kiss You" | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "I've Been Lonely for So Long" | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "I Want You Back" | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| " Groove Me" | 54 | 26 | 6 | 94 | — | ||
| " Together We Are Beautiful" | — | — | — | 20 | 1 | ||
| 1981 | "Let the Good Times Roll" | — | — | 30 | — | — | |
| 1982 | "I'm Ready for Your Love / Boogie Box" | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1983 | "Beautiful Love Song" | — | — | — | — | 141 | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | |||||||
See also
- List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart
- List of disco artists (F-K)
- List of number-one singles from the 1980s (UK)
- List of one-hit wonders on the UK Singles Chart
- List of performers on Top of the Pops
- List of people from Mississippi
References
- ^ "Fern Kinney". Secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
- ^ a b c Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 1383. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
- ^ Wynn, Ron. "Fern Kinney: Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
- ^ Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 202. ISBN 0-85112-250-7.
- ^ a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 304. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ Hung, Steffen. "Fern Kinney - Chemistry - The Best of Fern Kinney". Hitparade.ch. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
- ^ a b Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 168. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ a b c "Fern Kinney - Awards". AllMusic. Archived from the original on November 30, 2012. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
- ^ "Fern Kinney - Together We Are Beautiful". bpi.co.uk. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
External links
- Fern Kinney discography at Discogs
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