Bradley had lived with her parents in the Chicago suburb of Robbins since she was four . From 1959 she sang as a graduate of Chicago's Blue Island High School in the vocal group The Passions. In a talent competition in 1961, the music manager Don Talty noticed the young singer and offered her a record deal with the Chicago record company Formal Records. However, after parental intervention, the contract did not materialize until after Bradley graduated from high school. So Formal released the first single with Bradley in May 1962 , on which she was named as "Jan" Bradley as well as in the future. With this single began the collaboration with fellow singer and songwriter Curtis Mayfield , from whose pen Bradley's debut title We Girls comes. After she had taken singing and dance lessons at the suggestion of Talty, the desired success came with the Mayfield composition Mama Didn't Lie on her third single. In the Hot 100 of the music magazine Billbord it reached number 14 and was listed in the Hot 100 for 14 weeks. This record was the first production by the record company Chess Records , to which Bradley moved in late 1962. The record success brought her appearances in numerous clubs and also in the Dick Clark Show . The title was rated even better in the rhythm and blues charts , where Jan Bradley reached eighth place. The following records could not build on this success, only with the title I'm Over You reached number 93 in the Hot 100 and number 24 in the R&B charts. By 1968 Bradley released a total of nine singles on Chess, the title of which she had often written herself, often in collaboration with Don Talty. After Bradley's contract with Chess had expired, she released her last single in 1970 with the Doylen record company from Memphis (Tennessee) . After that, she ended her singing career and became a social worker.
US discography
Vinlyl singles
From page
Catalog no.
published
Formally
We Girls / Curfew Blues
1014
05/1962
Whole Lot of Soul / I Am Going to Change
1017
09/1962
Mama Didn't Lie / Lovers Like Me
1044
12/1962
Dear Sears and Roebuck /?
1048
001963
Night Owl
Behind the Curtains / Pack My Things
1055
001962
hootenanny
Christmas Time / Christmas Time (Instrumental)
1068
001962
Chess
Mama Didn't Lie / Lovers Like Me
1845
12/1962
Baby What Can I Do / These Tears
1851
04/1963
Curfew Blues / Pack My Things
1884
03/1964
Please, Mister DJ / Two of a Kind
1897
05/1964
I'm Over You / The Brush-Off
1919
12/1964
Just a Summer Memory / He'll Wait for Me
1975
09/1966
Trust Me / Things a Woman Needs
1996
001967
Your Kind of Love / It's Just Your Way
2023
001967
You Have Me, What's Missing / Nights in New York City
