Freda Payne
By All Music Guide
By All Music Guide
During the early to mid-60s, Payne established herself as a fine jazz vocalist, touring the country with both Quincy Jones and Bill Cosby, and issuing a jazz/ig band-based album in 1963, After the Lights Go Down Low and Much More!. In addition to a sophomore effort surfacing three years later, How Do You Say I Dont Love You Anymore, Payne enjoyed further exposure via appearances on such TV shows as Johnny Carson, David Frost, and Merv Griffin. But it wasnt until Payne signed on to the Invictus label in 1969 (headed by longtime friends/former Motown songwriters/producers Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Brian Holland) and issued the fine album Band of Gold that she scored her breakthrough hit single, the albums title track, which peaked at number three in the U.S. and topped the chart in the U.K. in 1970.
Although Payne never enjoyed another hit as substantial as Band of Gold, several other successful singles followed in the early 70s: Deeper and Deeper, Cherish Whats Dear to You, You Brought the Joy, and the Vietnam protest song Bring the Boys Home. Further albums followed throughout the 70s, including such titles as Contact, Reaching Out, Payne & Pleasure, Out of Payne Comes Love, Stares & Whispers, Supernatural High, and Hot, which all failed to make an impression on the charts. Payne then switched her attention from music to TV, as she hosted her very own (yet short-lived) talk show in 1981, Todays Black Woman. The 90s saw Payne return back to music, as such albums as An Evening With Freda Payne and Christmas With Freda and Friends were issued, while Payne also landed roles in such movies as Private Obsession, Sprung, and Ragdoll. Payne continued to balance an acting and music career during the early 21st century, as she appeared in the 2000 Eddie Murphy comedy Nutty Professor II: The Klumps and the made-for-TV movie Fire & Ice, plus issuing an all-new album in 2001, Come See About Me. Around the same time, several hits compilations were issued, including such titles as Band of Gold: The Best of Freda Payne, Unhooked Generation: The Complete Invictus Recordings, and The Best of Freda Payne: Ten Best Series. Impulse re-released After the Lights Go Down Low in 2005, but failed to add any bonus material.
