Suzee Ikeda is an American singer who was the first

Asian-American Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...

solo artist at

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

. However, she is best known for her work "behind the scenes" at Motown with such acts as

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

and

The Temptations The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top ...

Biography

Born Susan Wendy Ikeda on August 25, 1947, in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, the daughter of a Japanese father and an American mother. Initially assigned to Mowest, Motown's subsidiary label, her first single was a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" from the Disney film, ''Song of the South''. The single failed to chart. In April 1973, Suzee released her first single on the Motown label, a ballad written by Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel called, "Time For Me to Go." Unfortunately, the single and her solo career went nowhere. During her tenure at Motown she was described as a "creative confidant" of

. “Michael Jackson could make you forget he was so young,” writes Suzee Ikeda, in her introductory essay to ''Hello World: The Complete Motown Solo Collection''. Ikeda's rapport with artists soon led to a new role behind the scenes as a production executive for the company. One of her early projects was the ''

A Song for You "A Song for You" is a song written and originally recorded by rock singer and pianist Leon Russell for his first solo album '' Leon Russell'', which was released in 1970 on Shelter Records. A slow, pained plea for forgiveness and understandin ...

'' album by

, released in 1975. In 1983, Ikeda became one of the principal players in Super Three, a division of

responsible for developing new and existing acts. Other participants in the partnership were off again-on again Motown figure Ray Singleton and Guy Costa (nephew of musician and arranger Don Costa), the latter who served as the entity's creative director.

Selected credits

Singles

As a recording artist

Albums

Serving in various capacities

External links

All Music Guide AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

br>First Universal Network

References

1947 births Living people American women pop singers Motown artists Singers from Chicago American musicians of Japanese descent 21st-century American women {{US-pop-singer-stub