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Friday, September 25, 2009

Starleana - Starleana (1991)

Starleana Young is an artist who had her greatest success before she decided to go solo. She was born in West Virginia in 1961, and indulged her love for singing in church choirs until her family moved to New Jersey, where she joined the band Symphonic Express. While touring with the group, Starleana and band member Curt Jones were asked by producer Steve Washington to join his funk collective Slave in 1977. Starleana's first appearance was on their third album The Concept. Since Slave was such a large group, Washington decided to create an off-shoot group named Aurra in 1980, and asked Starleana and Jones to be in it. Though initially a multi-member group, by the time the second album was released, Aurra ended up being focused around Starleana and Jones as a duo. They released four albums for Salsoul Records, but then had a falling out with Washington. During this break Starleana released her first solo single in 1983, "Heartbreaker", using her full name Starleana Young. The duo then moved to Next Plateau/Ten Records and released their last and most successful album as Aurra in 1985. Then, due to legal battles with Washington over the group name, they renamed themselves Déjà and had success under that name in 1987. But Starleana left after just one album to pursue a solo career, as she felt that she and Jones had grown apart, and she had problems with their management. She was replaced by Mysti Day and Déjà released only one more album before they broke up. Starleana signed with Virgin Records, which released her self-titled debut. She released the single "I'll Take You There", a remake of the Staples Singers' classic. It was produced by her husband J.T. Taylor, the lead singer of Kool & The Gang, and was a modest R&B hit. She followed it up with the unsuccessful ballad "Stronger And Better". The album itself was also not a hit. I think this is, in part, due to the fact that the two singles weren't a good representation of the album. The majority of the album was produced by Ian Prince, who was more of a pop producer, so while most songs have a trace of funk, they have more of a pop feel. The two singles were more soulful. It's a shame the album wasn't successful, as Starleana has a great voice and should have had the success of her contemporaries like Karyn White and Pebbles, but instead she disappeared from the music world altogether. Thankfully she had past success to comfort her.

BONUS: Here is a link to Starleana's 1983 single Heartbreaker

Video for I'll Take You There

Download Starleana

1
I'll Take You There
2
Supernatural
3
Stronger And Better
4
Work Me Over
5
Life After Love
6
Let's Face It
7
Welcome To My House
8
Unchain Your Heart
9
Guilty
10
Crazy For Loving You

18 comments:

  1. I once owned this CD, my favorite songs on it were "I'll Take You There" and "Guilty." I do still own the 1987 Déjà CD "Serious." Starleana definitely deserved better material and could have had the career her contemporaries enjoyed.

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  2. Well, I have just discovered the groups Aurra and Slave, and I love love their music. So nice.

    May favorites are:

    AURRA - Send Your Love

    Aurra - Thinking Of You

    Slave - Because Of You

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  3. This lady went to my Old High In Orange NJ.

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    1. I know her when when was a freshman in Orange High School in Orange New Jersey back in 1975 Joe Cotton the class 79 still one of a kind

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    2. Hi, I'm hoping you can answer a question I've wondered about for nearly 40 years! Is Starleana the sister (or cousin?) of Billy, Mike & Kenny Young who went on to form the group Young & Co? Their biggest hit of course was "I Like What You're Doing To Me". For whatever reason I could never find any info on their connection.

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  4. Boy time sure does pass us, I had many memories growing up with this music. I attended my first teenage club in 1981 called Circle City in the City of Orange, CA. and Infinity in the City of Long Beach, CA. Those were good times growing up meeting good folks and attending school I miss those times.

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  5. The song "Stronger & Better" is the most memorable.

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  6. For a real treat check out the youtube video from Soul Train where they are singing "Like I Like It". We all know the singing and music is fabulous. However watching Star turn around on stage is what dreams are made of! :)

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    1. Just took your advice! Dreams indeed! :)

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  7. All time favorite: Deja (Star) singing "That's Where You'll Find Me"!! 1Luv

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  8. Well, I remember Deja from this song. Starleana brought so much energy to her stuff..perhaps Beyonce apportioned some of Starleana's energy. She was a great singer and easy on the eyes. I hope she found happiness in her marriage. Would be nice to now how she is living now. Lovely girl, great voice and unstoppable energy.

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  9. Discovered Starleana via the song Starting Over from Stone Jam. Thought she had a great voice with emotion. Will have to check out Aurra.

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  10. Hello, it would be possible to replace the link, Thank's

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  11. Thank´s for Re-up. I cannot get enough of visiting this site.

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