Jocelyn Brown is one of the last disco divas. Alongside contemporaries such as Beverley Knight, Ultra Nate and Barbara Tucker, the sound and spirit of 1970s and 80s disco-soul has survived into the new millennium, thanks to dance-music sampling and a love of kitschy house anthems.
During the past three decades Brown has lent her powerful voice to music icons such as Roy Ayers, Jimi Hendrix, Michael Jackson, John Lennon, Diana Ross, Culture Club and Bruce Springsteen, but her most recent recordings have been with the electronica greats of clubland. Remix collaborations with the likes of Mad Professor, Masters At Work, Erick Morillo, Roni Size and Todd Terry have moved Brown on from her disco roots to become a muse of house music. Hong Kong clubbers can finally see her in person at Dragon-i tomorrow night.
Thanks to remixing, Brown's hits have transcended generations. When fronting the group Inner Life, her chart-topping version of Ain't No Mountain High Enough (1981), remixed by DJ Larry Levan of the Paradise Garage club, became a disco classic. An updated version by David Morales helped win him a 1999 Grammy for remixer of the year.
This singer has also been widely sampled. Her unmistakable vocals in Love's Gonna Get You (1985) made a comeback in Snap's The Power dance-pop hit of 1990, as well as Bizarre Inc's 1992 club track I'm Gonna Get You.
A quick look at her discography, or even the 1999 anthology album Hits, confirms her status as a disco diva, but it wasn't until 1984 that she finally broke through as a solo artist, with Somebody Else's Guy. Reaching No2 on Billboard's black singles chart and No13 in Britain, the track became her most popular recording and the first under her own name.
Born in North Carolina on November 25, 1950, into a musical family, Brown was destined to become a singer. Her grand-mother, mother, a cousin and two aunts - one being Barbara Roy Gaskins of disco group Ecstasy, Passion & Pain - were all able to carry a tune, and Brown honed her voice as a gospel singer in her local church.