by Ed Hogan

Singer Evelyn Champagne King first came to fame with the million-selling 70s disco smashes Shame and I Dont Know if Its Right. Born July 1, 1960, in the Bronx, NY, she had a showbiz lineage. Her uncle was actor/singer/dancer Avon Long, who first played Sportin Life in the play Porgy and Bess and later starred in the 70s play Bubblin Brown Sugar. Her father, Erik King, was a singer and often augmented groups that appeared at New Yorks Apollo Theater. By her teens, King had relocated to Philadelphia with her mother, and began singing in several groups. To make ends meet, King and her mother became cleaning women. For a teenager, Kings voice was quite mature; many at first thought she was a grown woman.

While working one night at Philadelphia International Records recording base, producer T. Life overheard some tantalizing vocals coming from a washroom. There he discovered 16-year-old Evelyn King and her mother. Signing the singer to a production deal and a contract with RCA, Lifes first single with Evelyn Champagne King was DancinDancin Dancin. Her debut LP Smooth Talk was released August 1977. But it was a song written by John Fitch and Reuben Cross, called Shame, that gave her career-launching success. The extended mix began gaining radio play and eventually the Top Ten on the R&B and pop charts by spring 1978. The follow-up, I Dont Know if Its Right, also went gold, peaking at number seven R&B, number 23 pop in fall 1978. Smooth Talk went gold, and she made two more LPs with T. Life: Music Box and Call on Me.

After teaming with a new producer, Kashif, King recorded two number one R&B hits during the early 80s, Im in Love and Love Come Down. Several of her LPs also placed high on the charts, including 1980s Call on Me, the following years Im in Love, and 1982s Get Loose. She signed to EMI-Manhattan in 1988, and was teamed with Leon F. Sylvers III for Flirt, which included the tender ballad Kisses Dont Lie. On The Girl Next Door, the singer worked with house producer Marshall Jefferson.

In 1990, King recorded the album Ill Keep a Light On for the British label Expansion, whose featured musicians were Larry Graham, Jeff Lorber, and Paul Jackson, Jr. She didnt return until 2007, when she released Open Book for RNB Entertainment. Many of the singers classic sides are on Love Come Down: The Best of Evelyn Champagne King.