Behold the wonder of people dancing to Too Turned On by Alisha on Dance Party USA back in the day.
Alisha was a Brooklyn teenager when Vanguard Records released “All Night Passion” in 1984, one of the earliest records to carry the sound that would be named freestyle. She recorded “Baby Talk” the following year, and the single topped Billboard’s dance chart while she was still in high school. Read the full Alisha biography.
The original 12″ version of Exposed to Love by Expose About Exposé Before there was a formula for manufactured pop groups, there was Exposé—three voices from Miami who turned a producer’s vision into one of the most successful runs in late-80s dance-pop history. Read the full Exposé biography.
The official video for Take It While It’s Hot by Sweet Sensation About Sweet Sensation Sweet Sensation formed in the Bronx in the mid-1980s: Betty LeBron with sisters Margie and Mari Fernandez. Their debut album Take It While It’s Hot (1988) on Atco produced a run of freestyle radio and club hits, including the title…
The official video for Without You by George Lamond About George Lamond George Lamond was born George Garcia in Washington, D.C., and raised in New York. “Bad of the Heart” first appeared on the small New York independent Ligosa before Columbia signed him and took the single national in 1990, where it reached the Top…
The radio version of Wondering by Tonasia About Tonasia Tonasia recorded “Wondering” for Micmac Records in 1988, catalog number MIC-509, one of the earliest releases on the label that would become freestyle’s great New York independent. The 12″ carried five mixes, with additional production by Rick Bottari and Tommy Nappi, and the writing credited to…
The 12″ version of Love Letter by Giggles Maria “Giggles” Respeto Giggles, born Maria Respeto, was a freestyle singer from East Harlem, New York, who rose to fame in the late 1980s. She made her mark with tracks like “Love Letter,” “What Comes Around Goes Around” and the album “He Loves Me… He Loves Me…
TKA performing Tears May Fall on Dance USA About TKA TKA formed in the Puerto Rican neighborhoods of New York City in 1984, when Louis “Kayel” Sharpe, Ralph Cruz, and Angel Vasquez began singing together as teenagers. Tommy Boy Records signed the trio, and their run of singles helped define what freestyle sounded like from…