Patrice Holloway
Encyclopedia
Patrice Holloway was an African-American soul
and pop
singer.
, the youngest of three children born to Wade Holloway, Sr. (August 13, 1920–June 24, 2001) and his wife, the former Johnnie Mae Fossett. Patrice is the younger sister of Motown artist Brenda Holloway
. Holloway also had a contract with Motown, recording songs such as "The Touch of Venus" and "For the Love of Mike", none of which were released. She recorded a few minor singles for the Capitol Records
label during the mid-1960s, notably "Love And Desire", "Ecstasy" and "Stolen Hours", which became popular on the Northern Soul
scene in the 1970s. She sang background vocals with her sister on many records for other artists, including Joe Cocker
and the Grease Band
's 1968 cover version
of The Beatles
' "With a Little Help from My Friends
", later the theme song to the 1980s television
series The Wonder Years
.
Holloway is most noted for her work as the singing voice of Valerie in Hanna-Barbera
's 1970 Josie and the Pussycats
television
series and on the concurrent Josie and the Pussycats album. Valerie was the first female African-American cartoon
character to star as a television series regular, and was nearly cut from the show by Hanna-Barbera. Record producer
Danny Janssen demanded that Holloway—and therefore Valerie—remain in the show, as he felt her voice was necessary to produce the Jackson 5-esque bubblegum pop
that H-B had requested he produce.
After the first season of Josie, Holloway recorded a few solo singles, produced by Janssen, for Capitol Records. Neither she, nor Pussycats bandmates Cheryl Ladd
and Cathy Dougher, performed the songs for the second season episodes, which were titled Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space.
Holloway died of a heart attack
at the age of 55 on October 3, 2006.
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...
and pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
singer.
Career
Patrice Yvonne Holloway was born on March 23, 1951 in Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, the youngest of three children born to Wade Holloway, Sr. (August 13, 1920–June 24, 2001) and his wife, the former Johnnie Mae Fossett. Patrice is the younger sister of Motown artist Brenda Holloway
Brenda Holloway
Brenda Holloway is an American singer and songwriter, a recording artist for the Motown label during the 1960s...
. Holloway also had a contract with Motown, recording songs such as "The Touch of Venus" and "For the Love of Mike", none of which were released. She recorded a few minor singles for the Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
label during the mid-1960s, notably "Love And Desire", "Ecstasy" and "Stolen Hours", which became popular on the Northern Soul
Northern soul
Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged from the British mod scene, initially in northern England in the late 1960s. Northern soul mainly consists of a particular style of black American soul music based on the heavy beat and fast tempo of the mid-1960s Tamla Motown sound...
scene in the 1970s. She sang background vocals with her sister on many records for other artists, including Joe Cocker
Joe Cocker
John Robert "Joe" Cocker, OBE is an English rock and blues musician, composer and actor, who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty voice, his idiosyncratic arm movements while performing, and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles...
and the Grease Band
The Grease Band
The Grease Band was a rock band that started out as Joe Cocker's backing band. They recorded two albums in the 1970s. They are probably most widely known for their performance of The Beatles song, "With a Little Help from My Friends", with Joe Cocker at the Woodstock Festival in 1969...
's 1968 cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' "With a Little Help from My Friends
With a Little Help from My Friends
-Joe Cocker version:Joe Cocker's version was a radical re-arrangement of the original, in a slower, 6/8 meter, using different chords in the middle eight, and a lengthy instrumental introduction...
", later the theme song to the 1980s television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
series The Wonder Years
The Wonder Years
The Wonder Years is an American television comedy-drama created by Carol Black and Neal Marlens. It ran for six seasons on ABC from 1988 through 1993. The pilot aired on January 31, 1988 after ABC's coverage of Super Bowl XXII....
.
Holloway is most noted for her work as the singing voice of Valerie in Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
's 1970 Josie and the Pussycats
Josie and the Pussycats (TV series)
Josie and the Pussycats is an American animated television series, based upon the Archie Comics comic book series of the same name created by Dan DeCarlo....
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
series and on the concurrent Josie and the Pussycats album. Valerie was the first female African-American cartoon
Cartoon
A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...
character to star as a television series regular, and was nearly cut from the show by Hanna-Barbera. Record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Danny Janssen demanded that Holloway—and therefore Valerie—remain in the show, as he felt her voice was necessary to produce the Jackson 5-esque bubblegum pop
Bubblegum pop
Bubblegum pop is a genre of pop music with an upbeat sound contrived and marketed to appeal to pre-teens and teenagers, produced in an assembly-line process, driven by producers, often using unknown singers.Bubblegum's classic period ran from 1967 to 1972...
that H-B had requested he produce.
After the first season of Josie, Holloway recorded a few solo singles, produced by Janssen, for Capitol Records. Neither she, nor Pussycats bandmates Cheryl Ladd
Cheryl Ladd
Cheryl Ladd is an American actress, singer and author. Ladd is best known for her role as Kris Munroe in the television series Charlie's Angels, hired amid a swirl of publicity prior to its second season in 1977 to replace the departing Farrah Fawcett-Majors...
and Cathy Dougher, performed the songs for the second season episodes, which were titled Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space.
Holloway died of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
at the age of 55 on October 3, 2006.
Singles
- 1963: "Stevie" b/w "(He Is) The Boy of My Dreams" (V.I.P. 25001)
- 1966: "Stolen Hours" b/w "Lucky, My Boy" (Capitol)
- 1967: "Love and Desire" (Capitol)
- 1967: "Stay with Your Own Kind" (Capitol)
- 1971: "Evidence" (Capitol)
- 1972: "Black Mother Goose" (Capitol)
Backing Vocals
- 1968: "With a Little Help from My FriendsWith a Little Help from My Friends-Joe Cocker version:Joe Cocker's version was a radical re-arrangement of the original, in a slower, 6/8 meter, using different chords in the middle eight, and a lengthy instrumental introduction...
" (single) - Joe CockerJoe CockerJohn Robert "Joe" Cocker, OBE is an English rock and blues musician, composer and actor, who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty voice, his idiosyncratic arm movements while performing, and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles... - 1971: Gandharva (album) - Beaver & KrauseBeaver & KrauseBeaver & Krause were a musical duo made up of Paul Beaver and Bernie Krause. Their 1966 album The Nonesuch Guide to Electronic Music was a pioneering work in the electronic music genre....
- 1972: Moonshot (album) - Buffy Sainte-MarieBuffy Sainte-MarieBuffy Sainte-Marie, OC is a Canadian Cree singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. Throughout her career in all of these areas, her work has focused on issues of Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Her singing and writing repertoire includes...