Amii Stewart

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Amii Stewart (2013)

Amii Stewart (* 29. January 1956 as Amy Paulette Stewart in Washington, DC ) is an American pop - singer , dancer and actress . At the height of the disco wave of the 1970s, Amii Stewart achieved a world hit with Knock on Wood .

Career

Amii Stewart's father enrolled her for singing and dancing lessons at the age of four, which ultimately led to a very successful career. Before signing a record deal with Hansa International , Amii Stewart appeared in the musical Bubbling Brown Sugar on Broadway .

Their first single , a disco cover version of Eddie Floyd's 1966 hit Knock on Wood , reached number 1 in April 1979 in the United States. The single then went platinum for one million units sold, followed by a Grammy nomination for "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance". Amii Stewart's debut album , simply titled Knock on Wood and recorded in London, received a gold award in 1979. In the US, the song Knock on Wood was her only top 40 success, so she is considered a one-hit wonder there, while she was able to celebrate a few more successes in Europe, especially in Italy. The follow-up single Light My Fire / 137 Disco Heaven climbed to number 5 in the UK.

Amii Stewart's second LP, Paradise Bird , followed on from the disco sound of Knock on Wood , while the single Jealousy , which was released , made it into the charts across Europe. In Italy, Sweden and Switzerland the piece even reached the top 10. With her 1981 LP Images , Amii Stewart gradually turned away from the disco sound. The released single Where Did Our Love Go was produced by Narada Michael Walden . In 1984 Amii Stewart achieved number one in Italy , the single Friends also made it to number 12 in Great Britain. In the same year, Amii Stewart had another great success with an Italian cover of Bob Seger's We've Got Tonight , Grazie perché was recorded as a duet with Gianni Morandi . Further duets were created with Johnny Bristol , Deon Estus , Mike Francis and Randy Crawford , among others . In addition, Amii Stewart worked with Giorgio Moroder (1986) and published a collection of Ennio Morricone pieces under the title Pearls .

In 1994 Amii Stewart received a gold award in Italy for the album Lady to Ladies . Unstoppable , released in 1999, included both new songs and re-recorded versions of some of their old hits. Five years later, Amii Stewart appeared as Billie Holiday in Lady Day , and a CD with recordings for the musical was also released.

Contrary to various sources, Amii Stewart is not a sister of Miquel Brown and therefore not Sinitta's aunt either . In an interview, Miquel Brown confirmed that she and Amii Stewart are just best friends.

Discography

Studio albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
US US R&B R&B
1979 Knock on Wood /
Amii Stewart (UK)
US19th
gold
gold

(23 weeks)US
R&B9 (21 weeks)
R&B
First published: February 1979
Producer: Barry Leng

More studio albums

  • 1979: Paradise Bird (release: September)
  • 1981: Images / I'm Gonna Get Your Love (US) (Release: April)
  • 1983: Amii Stewart
  • 1984: Try Love
  • 1986: Amii
  • 1988: Time for Fantasy / It's Fantasy
  • 1990: Pearls - Amii Stewart Sings Ennio Morricone / Desire (UK)
  • 1992: Magic
  • 1994: Lady to Ladies
  • 1995: The Men I Love
  • 1996: Love Affair
  • 2004: Lady Day
  • 2010: Caracciolo Street (double album, Italian / English, 24 AAC files, release: November 15th)
  • 2012: Intense (release: May 15th)

Compilations

  • 1981: Three of a Kind (with Viola Wills and Precious Wilson )
  • 1985: The Hits (released December)
  • 1993: Sometimes a Stranger
  • 1995: All of Me
  • 1996: Knock on Wood: The Best of Amii Stewart
  • 1997: The Hits & the Remixes (2 CDs; release: July 7th)
  • 1999: Unstoppable (with 2 new tracks; release: October 25th)
  • 2005: The Greatest Hits
  • 2016: The Hits: Remixed

Singles

year Title
album
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US R&B R&B Dance Dance
1979 Knock on Wood
Knock on Wood
DE13 (27 weeks)
DE
AT6 (24 weeks)
AT
CH2 (9 weeks)
CH
UK6th
silver
silver

(12 weeks)UK
US1
platinum
platinum

(20 weeks)US
R&B6 (16 weeks)
R&B
Dance5 (19 weeks)
Dance
First published: November 10, 1978
Authors: Eddie Floyd , Steve Cropper
Original: Eddie Floyd, 1966
Light My Fire / 137 Disco Heaven
(Medley)
Knock on Wood
DE26 (14 weeks)
DE
- - UK5 (11 weeks)
UK
US69 (6 weeks)
US
R&B36 (11 weeks)
R&B
-
First published: April 1979
Authors: The Doors / Barry Leng, Simon May
Original (Light My Fire) : The Doors, 1967
Jealousy
Paradise Bird
DE31 (16 weeks)
DE
- CH5 (8 weeks)
CH
UK58 (3 weeks)
UK
- - -
First published: September 1979
Authors: Barry Leng, Gerry Morris, Simon May
1980 The Letter / Paradise Bird
Paradise Bird
DE54 (5 weeks)
DE
- - UK39 (4 weeks)
UK
- - -
First published: January 7, 1980
Authors: Wayne Carson / Barry Leng, Garry Morris, Simon May
Original (The Letter) : The Box Tops , 1967
My Guy, My Girl
Images
- - - UK39 (5 weeks)
UK
US63 (8 weeks)
US
R&B76 (6 weeks)
R&B
-
First published: July 7, 1980
Authors: Ronald White, William Robinson
Original: The Temptations - My Girl , 1964
with Johnny Bristol
1984 Friends
Try Love
- - - UK12 (11 weeks)
UK
- R&B46 (13 weeks)
R&B
-
First published: December 17, 1984
Author: Mike Francis
1985 That Loving Feeling
Try Love
- - - UK95 (1 week)
UK
- - -
First published: March 11, 1985
Author and original: Tony Joe White , 1976
Knock on Wood / Light My Fire
(New Remix)
The Hits
- - - UK7 (12 weeks)
UK
- - -
First published: August 2nd, 1985
Authors: Alan Coulthard, Barry Leng
Remix: Barry Leng
You Really Touch My Heart
(Remix)
The Hits
- - - UK89 (4 weeks)
UK
- - -
First published: October 14, 1985
Authors: Barry Leng, Simon May
Remix: Barry Leng
My Guy, My Girl (Remix)
The Hits
- - - UK63 (7 weeks)
UK
- - -
First published: December 9, 1985
Remix: Barry Leng
with Deon Estus
1986 Love Ain't No Toy
Amii
- - - UK99 (1 week)
UK
- - -
First published: February 23, 1986
Producer: Bolland & Bolland
Writer: Norman Whitfield ; Original: Yvonne Fair, 1975

More singles

  • 1978: You Really Touched My Heart (release: August 4th)
  • 1981: Where Did Our Love Go (released April)
  • 1981: Why'd You Have to Be so Sexy
  • 1981: Rocky Woman (release: August)
  • 1981: I'm Gonna Get Your Love (released October)
  • 1982: Great Balls of Fire (released May)
  • 1982: Digital Love
  • 1982: Lay Back in the Groove
  • 1983: Grazie perchè (We've Got Tonight)
  • 1983: Working Late Tonight
  • 1984: I Gotta Have You Back
  • 1984: Try Love
  • 1985: Megamix
  • 1985: Together (with Mike Francis )
  • 1985: Fever Line
  • 1986: Time Is Tight
  • 1986: Break These Chains
  • 1987: It's Fantasy
  • 1988: I Still Believe
  • 1989: Lost It (Four to the Floor feat. Amii Stewart)
  • 1991: Extralarge ( theme music from the television series of the same name )
  • 1992: Don't Be so Shy
  • 1993: Don't Stop (Pushin ')
  • 1993: Desire
  • 1995: September Morn (with Randy Crawford )
  • 1998: Knock on Wood '98
  • 1999: Knock on Wood 99
  • 2006: Love Song (with Ennio Morricone )
  • 2010: Con te
  • 2011: Walking Africa (with The Walking Band)
  • 2012: Ordinary People
  • 2013: Sunshine Girl ( feat.Gabry Ponte )

swell

  1. ^ The Awards Insider, Los Angeles Times
  2. Light My Fire / 137 Disco Heaven in the Official UK Charts (English)
  3. Chart information, hitparade.ch
  4. a b M&D chart archive. Musica e dischi , accessed on October 21, 2015 (Italian, paid subscription access).
  5. Where did your Love go on Discogs.com
  6. Overview of Amii Stewart's Singles at RateYourMusic.com
  7. Gold Award Reference, Billboard, July 1994
  8. Lady Day - il musical di Amii Stewart e Massimo Romeo Piparo - Planet Musical ( Memento of July 2, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), official website for the musical
  9. James Arena: First Ladies of Disco: 21 Stars Discuss the Era and Their Singing Careers , 2013, page 71, ISBN 978-0-7864-7581-0
  10. a b Chart sources: Singles DE UK US1 US2
  11. ^ The Billboard Albums by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .
  12. a b Gold / Platinum databases: UK US
  13. ^ Joel Whitburn : Top R&B Albums 1965–1998, ISBN 0-89820-134-9 .
  14. ^ Joel Whitburn : Hot R&B Songs 1942–2010: 6th Edition, ISBN 978-0898201864 .
  15. ^ Joel Whitburn : Hot Dance / Disco 1974-2003, ISBN 978-0-89820-156-7 .

Web links