Geraldine Hunt
Encyclopedia
Geraldine Hunt is an [United States|American]] R&B
singer best known for the 1980 #1 Hot Dance Music/Club Play hit "Can't Fake the Feeling".
, and her grandmother, Louella Reed was a singer on the Chitlin Circuit. In 1947 her family relocated to Chicago. While growing up on Chicago's south side Hunt discovered her musical talent. Living in that part of Chicago was not easy; recalls Geraldine. "On the weekends, we had to sleep on the floor, gangs were shooting through the house; I had been beaten up at gunpoint once, It was rough. We were living below middle class."
Despite the bleak living conditions of her childhood, there were bright spots also. A notable time in her life was her years at Hyde Park High School
. Her classmate and best friend at school was the late American soul
singer-songwriter
Minnie Riperton
. Besides Hunt and Riperton, the school also produced a girl group called Coffee
who recorded the 1980 hit "Casanova".
Hunt began her recording career as a teenager with several singles released from 1962: she had her first glimmer of success in 1970 when "You & I" a duet with Charlie Hodges reached #45 on the R&B chart
in Billboard
and in 1972 Hunt's remake of "Baby I Need Your Loving
" reached #47 R&B.
In 1975 Hunt relocated to Montreal Quebec where she cut her first album in 1978: the disco
-oriented Sweet Honesty. In 1980 Hunt's second album No Way yielded the track "Can't Fake the Feeling" which reached #1 on the club chart in Billboard where it spent a total of seven weeks: with Top 40 radio then being disco-resistant "Can't Fake the Feeling" had little mainstream success reaching #58 R&B. However the track did afford Hunt a hit in France at #10 and charted in the UK at #44.
Hunt is the mother of three children; Rosalind Hunt of the musical group Chéri
, singer Freddie James and writer Jeanne Dupuis.
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
singer best known for the 1980 #1 Hot Dance Music/Club Play hit "Can't Fake the Feeling".
Life and career
Hunt's parents are Rosie Lee Vickers and Frank Milligan. Her father was a one-man bandOne-man band
A one-man band is a musician who plays a number of musical instruments simultaneously using their hands, feet, limbs, and various mechanical contraptions. The simplest type of "one-man band" — a singer accompanying themselves on acoustic guitar and harmonica mounted in a metal "harp rack" below the...
, and her grandmother, Louella Reed was a singer on the Chitlin Circuit. In 1947 her family relocated to Chicago. While growing up on Chicago's south side Hunt discovered her musical talent. Living in that part of Chicago was not easy; recalls Geraldine. "On the weekends, we had to sleep on the floor, gangs were shooting through the house; I had been beaten up at gunpoint once, It was rough. We were living below middle class."
Despite the bleak living conditions of her childhood, there were bright spots also. A notable time in her life was her years at Hyde Park High School
Hyde Park Career Academy
Hyde Park Career Academy is a public 4-year high school located in the Woodlawn neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It is a part of the Chicago Public Schools District 299.-Notable alumni:...
. Her classmate and best friend at school was the late American soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
Minnie Riperton
Minnie Riperton
Minnie Julia Riperton was an American singer-songwriter best known for her 1975 single "Lovin' You". She was married to songwriter and music producer Richard Rudolph from 1972 until her death in the summer of 1979. They had two children - music engineer Marc Rudolph and actress/comedienne Maya...
. Besides Hunt and Riperton, the school also produced a girl group called Coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
who recorded the 1980 hit "Casanova".
Hunt began her recording career as a teenager with several singles released from 1962: she had her first glimmer of success in 1970 when "You & I" a duet with Charlie Hodges reached #45 on the R&B chart
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
in Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
and in 1972 Hunt's remake of "Baby I Need Your Loving
Baby I Need Your Loving
"Baby I Need Your Loving" is a 1964 hit single recorded by the Four Tops for the Motown label. Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song was the group's first Motown single and their first pop Top 20 hit, making it to number eleven on the Billboard Hot...
" reached #47 R&B.
In 1975 Hunt relocated to Montreal Quebec where she cut her first album in 1978: the disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
-oriented Sweet Honesty. In 1980 Hunt's second album No Way yielded the track "Can't Fake the Feeling" which reached #1 on the club chart in Billboard where it spent a total of seven weeks: with Top 40 radio then being disco-resistant "Can't Fake the Feeling" had little mainstream success reaching #58 R&B. However the track did afford Hunt a hit in France at #10 and charted in the UK at #44.
Hunt is the mother of three children; Rosalind Hunt of the musical group Chéri
Chéri (band)
Chéri is a female dance music duo from Montreal, consisting of American Rosalind Hunt and Canadian the Lyn Cullerier. In 1982 they had their only Hot 100 entry, "Murphy's Law," which hit #39...
, singer Freddie James and writer Jeanne Dupuis.
See also
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
External links
- Geraldine Hunt Official Site (As of September 2008, the domain is expired)