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| Peter Brown |
| Peter Brown first came to fame with the first ever million-selling 12" dance single, "Do You Wanna Get Funky With Me." Peter was a pioneer in home recording, having recorded his seminal hit in his bedroom. His 1970's era home recording studio is pictured on the cover of Westside/DNA's "Get Funky With Me: The Best of the TK Years."
Born July 11,1953 in Blue Island, Illinois (a south suburb of Chicago), Peter taught himself to play the drums when he was 13. While in his teens he also learned to play other instruments with a certain amount of proficiency and added a four track reel-to-reel recorder to his growing list of equipment. After high school he attended the prestigious Art Institute Of Chicago and experimented with his instruments, constantly recording and re-recording things over and over. In 1977 he was in the midst of selling one of his paintings when he found out that the buyer was also a record producer, he presented a demo of his home recordings to the art buyer Cory Wade. Wade secured Brown a recording contract with the small Drive label, distributed by Hialeah, Florida's TK Records, a small upstart independent label geared towards R&B and disco. His first album for the label, "A Fantasy Love Affair," was produced by Cory Wade. The first 12" single was "Do Ya Wanna Get Funky With Me," it went to number three R&B, and number 18 pop on Billboard's charts in the summer of 1977. The second single (promotional-only 12") "Dance With Me" featured fellow labelmate Betty Wright on vocals and became a Top Ten hit in the spring of 1978. Sales for the album helped it reach number eleven on Billboard's Top Forty Lp's. "A Fantasy Love Affair" was issued on CD by Collectables in 1998. His second album was released in 1979. By this time he had traded in his bedroom for a state of the art studio. "Stargazer" had only one 12" release. "Crank It Up (Funk Town)" was a club smash but wasn't quite the radio smash as his previous releases. As the decade came to an end so did his relationship with Drive and T.K. He made one final 12" single for the label. "Can't Be Love (But Do It To Me Anyway)" was as powerful and as successful as any of his previous releases. Unfortunately no album exists nor has this track surfaced on any compilation compact disc. Taking a three year sabatical from the changing music industry, Brown bounced back with a new album for his new label, RCA in 1983. "Back To The Front" included the charting 12" singles, "Baby Gets High" and "Overnight Sensation." It introduced him to a whole new group of clubgoers and placed him on the charts once again. 1984 saw yet another label change, this time to Columbia Records, and another round of club successes. The 12" singles of "They Only Come Out At Night" and "Zie, Zie Won't Dance" were different from his prior releases and yet just as popular. The album "Snap" also had reggae flavored songs as well as harder edged rock material. His sole contribution for 1985 was the co-writing of Madonna's mega-hit "Material Girl." By this time Peter had tired of writing and producing himself. So he focused on his artwork and working behind the scenes with such artists as: Basia, Judy Collins, Donell Jones, Dimitri From Paris, Roy Ayers, and Cloud One. By the end of the century Peter was back in the game. In September 1999, Brown's "Chasing Fireflies" was released by Orchard Records and in November 1999, the UK label Resurgence issued Brown's "Party In The Rain." I'm sure that as the new millenium evolves Peter will continue, even if sporadically, to release popular dance music to his legion of loyal fans. Thanks Peter for all the great tunes! |
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