Deborah Cooper is an American professional dancer, musician, singer,backup singer, award-winning composer and entertainer, with several number one and top charting

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...

and

house music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...

hits.

Biography

Early career

Cooper started as a female vocalist for the

Fatback Band The Fatback Band (later, simply Fatback) is an American funk and disco band that was popular in the 1970s and 1980s. The Fatback Band is most known for their R&B hits, "(Do the) Spanish Hustle", "I Like Girls", "Gotta Get My Hands on Some (Mone ...

. Her first song with them was ''Double Dutch'' and the last one was ''Wild Sugar'', After she left she was replaced by Linda Blakely. Cooper then became a member of the disco/R&B band

Change Change or Changing may refer to: Alteration * Impermanence, a difference in a state of affairs at different points in time * Menopause, also referred to as "the change", the permanent cessation of the menstrual period * Metamorphosis, or change, ...

(1981–1985) with whom she had several hits with. In 1991 Cooper featured as guest vocalist on

Clivillés and Cole Robert Clivillés (born July 30, 1964) and David Cole (1962–1995), known collectively as Clivillés and Cole, were American record producers, songwriters, and remixers active from the late 1980s who achieved success in the 1990s. Career Begin ...

's hit single

A Deeper Love "A Deeper Love" is a song written by American producers Robert Clivillés and David Cole, and performed by them as Clivillés & Cole featuring vocals by Deborah Cooper. Released by Columbia in 1991, the song was the duo's fifth number-one on t ...

. Subsequently, in the 1990s, she was part of the

C+C Music Factory C, or c, is the third letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''cee'' (pronounced ), plural ''cees''. History "C" ...

as both a lead and back up vocalist resulting in several # 1 hits, including "Deeper Love", "Pride" and "Keep It Comin" (Dance Till You Can't Dance) both rap and No. 1 charting dance versions of the theme from the cult film

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film of the same name, also written by W ...

. The film featured a version of "Keep It Comin" with Rapper Q-Unique, while the Dance club version was solely Deborah Cooper vocals. The music video had clips and actors from the film. Cooper continues to lend her vocals to

tracks by a number of record producers, while she has also continued to release her own solo tracks.

TV appearances

While appearing on TV's

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

with

, which was hosted by

Susan Dey Susan Hallock Dey (born December 10, 1952) is a retired American actress, known for her television roles as Laurie Partridge on the sitcom ''The Partridge Family'' from 1970 to 1974, and as Grace Van Owen on the drama series ''L.A. Law'' from ...

on February 8, 1992, Deborah Cooper was featured in a solo performance, singing "Deeper Love", known as "Pride" from the repeated lyric tag. This appearance boosted sales of the song. "Deeper love" was actually the "B" side, while the "A" side was a house version of U2's "Pride", known by the tag " In the Name of Love", which was another club hit for Cooper.

Backup, session, commercial work

As a backup and session singer she has worked with

Jessica Simpson Jessica Ann Simpson (born July 10, 1980) is an American singer, actress, entrepreneur and philanthropist. After performing in church choirs as a child, Simpson signed with Columbia Records in 1997, aged seventeen. Her debut studio album, '' Swe ...

Lisa Lisa Lisa Velez (born January 15, 1967), better known by her stage name Lisa Lisa, is an American singer. She rose to fame in the 1980s as one-third of the band Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam. Early life According to Spin Magazine, ''Spin'' magazine, Velez ...

(which was during her C&C Music Factory days), and

Natalie Cole Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of American singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to success in the mid-1970s as an R&B singer with the h ...

. She vocalized Budget Gourmet's "Things That Make You Go MMMM" Campaign, which was a take off of the C + C Music Factory song on which Cooper provided vocals. For several years Deborah was a featured singer for

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the whi ...

in both recording sessions, as well as during international live performances. Cooper can also be seen in Mariah Carey's "behind the scene" documentary feature for "Butterfly". In 2004, a commercial for

American Express American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation specialized in payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The company was found ...

features comedian

Ellen DeGeneres Ellen Lee DeGeneres ( ; born January 26, 1958) is an American comedian, television host, actress, writer, and producer. She starred in the sitcom ''Ellen'' from 1994 to 1998, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for " The Puppy Episode". Sh ...

dancing around, while Deborah Cooper belts out the famous

C + C Music Factory C+C Music Factory was an American musical group formed in 1989 by David Cole and Robert Clivillés. The group is best known for their five hit singles: "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)", "Here We Go (Let's Rock & Roll)", " Things Th ...

tag line "Everybody Dance Now" from the track "Gonna Make You Sweat". In 2008 Cooper started writing a book about her life in the music industry, while she also continued composing new dance music.

Writing and composition work

In 2003 Deborah collaborated with DJ Producer Tony Moran. She wrote "Real Love", which was released publicly by Emerge Records in 2003. In early 2007 Cooper began working on her memoirs, focusing on her history in music as an R & B diva, disco, and dance belter, while including stories about being on the road as a performer. An international tour was being planned for summer 2007 in support of her book.

Live performance

Cooper appears and performs live at clubs, casinos, circuit parties, as well as corporate and special events. Due to the popularity and longevity of the song "Deeper Love", known as "Pride", she frequently appears at LGBT events, Pride Events, and fundraisers. One of these events was Alegria Pride in

NYC New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Uni ...

. In the late 1990s Ms. Cooper's Personal Appearance Manager, Scott Sherman of the Atlantic Entertainment Group, specifically developed a new concept for Cooper for non-live music appearances, known as "track" shows, typically utilized in smaller venues and "one night" limited runs. With a team consisting of her Personal Appearance Manager, choreographer Luis Villabon, Sound engineer Henry "Butch" Jackson, and AMS Services for lighting and effects, the track show evolved into a portable production show, fitting both smaller and larger venues. Her costumes included those from designer Gianni Versace and Marc Baur. In collaboration with dancer and choreographer, Luis Villabon, Cooper and manager Scott Sherman, a retired professional dancer himself, purposely cast experienced, Broadway trained dancers, rather than the customary hip hop dancers. By combining classically trained Jazz, Ballet and "show" dancers, with "street" and hip hop movement, and adding professional staging and meticulous choreography, her new look and style was established. This started a trend among similar acts.

Collaborations

Robert Clivilles The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

of C+C Music Factory asked Deborah Cooper to vocalize the song "Reach" for his RobiRob's Clubworld CD. This was his first post C+C project since the passing of his business partner, David Cole. This project was unique as it included the late David Cole's final performance on keyboards. In 2001 for Producer DJ

Victor Calderone Victor Calderone (born March 20, 1967 in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York, United States) is an American electronic music producer, Disc jockey, DJ and remixer. Biography Raised in the Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, C ...

Deborah recorded " Are You Satisfied" which was a number 1 dance music hit. Prior to this collaboration, they both had worked with

Peter Rauhofer Peter Rauhofer (29 April 1965 – 7 May 2013) was an Austrian-American disc jockey (DJ), remixer and producer who formerly worked under the moniker Club 69 as well as Size Queen. A native of Vienna, Austria, he was famous for a variety of his re ...

, who was the world's first dance music category Grammy Award Winner to add her unique vocal stylings to "Do It Properly", a cover of the 1987 single by the group 2 Puerto Ricans, A Black Man And A Dominican. In 2002, she won an ASCAP award for her writing and composing the song "Are You Satisfied?" In 2004 Cooper introduced a popular remix of the "Real Love" collaboration by

Rosabel Rosabel is an American house music duo consisting of DJ/producers Ralphi Rosario from Chicago, Illinois and Abel Aguilera from Miami, Florida. Already successful club/dance artists individually, the duo has hit number one on the Hot Dance Mus ...

, a house music duo consisting of Producer / DJs

Ralphi Rosario Ralphi Rosario is an American house musician and founding member of the influential Chicago DJ group Hot Mix 5. Biography When Hot Mix 5 was formed in 1981 on radio station WBMX (now WVAZ), Rosario, the youngest member of the group, was still in ...

from Chicago, Illinois and

DJ Abel A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...

from Miami, Florida. The new version premiered live when she appeared at the sold-out 2004 Chicago annual Fireball event. In 2005 with DJ Producer

Tony Moran Anthony "Tony" Moran is a DJ, record producer, remixer, singer and songwriter known for remixing popular songs. In 2007, he hit number one on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Club Play chart twice with " Walk Away" featuring Kristine W and "Kee ...

she recorded "Live You All Over" which quickly rose up the charts to number 2. This track was released as a CD single and on Moran's "Tour De Beats" compilation. In January 2007, she began a world tour with longtime friend and personal appearance manager Scott Sherman, which included domestic and international dates. Cooper was also working on a book project. In 2009, Deborah's deep and rich vocals appear on "

Erick Morillo Erick Morillo (March 26, 1971 – September 1, 2020) was a Colombian-American disc jockey, music producer, and record label owner. Having produced under a number of pseudonyms, including Ministers de la Funk, The Dronez, RAW, Smooth Touch, RBM, D ...

feat Deborah Cooper – I Get Lifted". In 2013, Deborah Cooper reunited with

to do vocals for the song "Heartbeat" and it peaked at number 3 on the Billboard's Dance Club Songs chart.

Discography

Many of these releases are further remixed, modified and re-released by professional DJs and Producers at later dates. * "

"* (PRIDE)

Hot Dance Music/Club Play Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as th ...

* "Pride" (In the Name of Love)

* "Keep It Coming" – Rap Version * "Keep It Coming" – Dance Version No. 1 Billboard

Chart * " Things That Make You Go Hmmm..." * "Reach" * "Real Love" No. 4

* "Real Love (

Remix) * "Are You Satisfied" No. 1 Top Position

for 2 weeks * "Do It Properly" * "Live You All Over" No. 2

* "I Get Lifted" Erick Morillo feat Deborah Cooper – I Get Lifted * "Heartbeat" Deborah Cooper vs. Tony Moran

References

External links

Deborah Cooper
at Centaur Music
Deborah Cooper
at MySpace
Video: opening number: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: "Keep It Coming" rap version
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Deborah African-American women singer-songwriters American dance musicians American house musicians American record producers American rhythm and blues singers American session musicians Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American women record producers American women in electronic music 21st-century African-American women singers C+C Music Factory members Change (band) members