Claudine Clark (born April 26, 1941) is an American R&B musician, best known as the singer and composer of the 1962 hit, " Party Lights", which reached No. 5 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Career

Clark was born in Macon, Georgia, United States, but grew up in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, and she began recording in 1958 for the Herald

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

, with her debut single, "Angel of Happiness". She was backed on that recording by the Spinners. Clark then moved to New York, but she also found no commercial return from her recording on

Gotham Records Gotham Records was an American record label formed by Sam Goode (Goody) and Ivin Ballen in New York City in 1946. In January 1948 Ballen acquired the interest of Goode and became the sole owner. He then moved the company to Philadelphia, Pennsylvani ...

, before moving to

Chancellor Records Chancellor Records was a record label associated with ABC-Paramount Records, which initially distributed the smaller label. Based in Philadelphia, it was an integral part of the dominance of popular Philadelphia artists and music in the late 1950s ...

. Clark then had a hit with her second single for Chancellor, with her self-penned "Party Lights". Originally the B-side of the label's preference for the

A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

, "Disappointed", "Party Lights" peaked at No.5 on the Billboard Hot 100. Clark's follow-ups, "Walk Me Home from the Party" and "Walkin' Through a Cemetery", were commercial failures. She continued to record and compose, including under the alias Joy Dawn for the

Swan Records Swan Records was a mid-20th century United States-based record label, founded in 1957 and based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It had a subsidiary label called Lawn Records. History Swan Records had enjoyed chart success with several U.S. arti ...

label, but saw no further tangible success.

References

External links

VH1.com
1941 births Living people Musicians from Macon, Georgia Jamie Records artists Musicians from Philadelphia African-American women singer-songwriters American soul singers Writers from Macon, Georgia Singer-songwriters from Pennsylvania Chancellor Records artists 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women Singer-songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state) {{US-singer-songwriter-stub