Thursday, July 28, 2011

Lil' Louis & The World - Saved My Life (maw dub)



Louis Sims, Chicago, Illinois, USA. A leading Chicago house producer during the late 80s, Lil Louis is the son of Bobby Sims, one of Chicago’s premier blues guitarists who has played with B.B. King and Bobby Bland. Louis began DJing in the mid-70s and was soon running his own club, the Future. By the mid-80s he had established himself as one of the leading attractions on Chicago’s dance music scene. His single releases during this period included ‘How I Feel’, but the breakthrough moment in his career came with 1987’s club classic ‘French Kiss’. The track, featuring vocals by Shawn Christopher, was later licensed from Diamond Records to CBS Records and ffrr Records, and peaked at number 2 in the UK charts in 1989. It was banned by the BBC because of its female ‘vocal’ (heavy breathing) being too near the knuckle. The censorship was not merely a British invention, however. New York DJ Frankie Bones was sacked for playing it at his club night in breach of prior warnings. Other hits in the piano-house mould followed, notably ‘I Called U’. Again this was no ephemeral dance tune, concerning instead a disastrous relationship with an ex-girlfriend which got so out of hand he was forced to take out a restraining order.

Lil’ Louis debut album was a surprisingly pleasing and varied selection, with tracks spanning soul and jazz (and including contributions from his father). Louis was responsible for singing, producing and much of the instrumentation. He returned after a long break in 1992 with ‘The Club Lonely’ and ‘Saved My Life’, having relocated from Chicago to New York, and taken time out to update his keyboard skills and reacquaint himself with the jazz records of his youth. He returned to the club scene in 1995 with ‘Freedom’, using the Black Magic moniker. The R&B-orientated ‘Clap Your Hands’ single was released two years later.

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Joi Cardwell Biography

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