JC still has Passion
IT’S been 12 years since singer JC Lodge released an album of new material. That drought ends in January when the London- based singer releases Passionfruit.
According to her husband and manager, Errol O’Meally, he produced some of the songs. British producer JA13 also worked on the set.
“There are 17 tracks, including two interludes. Right now we are talking to labels and distributors and putting everything in place for the release,” O’Meally told the Jamaica Observer.
Born in London to a Jamaican father and British mother, Lodge moved to Jamaica as a child. In 1981, her cover of American country singer Charley Pride’s Someone Loves You Honey took off locally.
Produced by Joe Gibbs, it was the best-selling single of 1982 in the Netherlands, where it earned platinum and gold certification.
Subsequent hits included Make It Up To You, Love Me Baby (featuring Tiger), Selfish Lover and a cover of Leo Sayer’s More Than I Can Say, which reached number 10 in Belgium and number six in the Netherlands.
In the late 1980s, Lodge broke into the Billboard Rhythm and Blues chart with the Gussie Clarkeproduced Telephone Love. That success resulted in her signing with Tommy Boy Records.
That association produced the album, Tropic of Love, which contained the Billboard R&B hit single, Home Is Where The Hurt Is. In early 2000, Lodge ventured into television with the children’s series, Sing ‘n’ Learn.
A year later, she relocated permanently to England. O’Meally explained Lodge’s reasons for returning to the country of her birth. “Three main things.
At the time, vocal reggae wasn’t happening in Jamaica and secondly, our children’s series couldn’t get enough sponsors for the second season, due to depressed economic activity in Jamaica.
Third, both of JC’s parents were residents in the UK and she had not seen them for a number of years, plus they were getting older.
We also thought that Europe would be better musically and that maybe the television series could be adapted to British television,” he said. Lodge tours occasionally and records for British producers.
