Her albums include Let the Music Play, released in 1984, followed by Do You Wanna Get Away in 1985 and Love Goes All the Way in 1986. In 1999, Shannon appeared in a segment of VH1's One-Hit Wonders,[4] and returned to music with her fourth album, The Best is Yet to Come, which was released in 2000.[5] The album was followed by a compilation albumreleased in 2004, Let The Music Play: The Best of Shannon. Shannon's most recent album is A Beauty Returns, released in 2007.
In 1983, Shannon was enrolled at York College and toured with the New York Jazz Ensemble.[7] Quintin Hicks, an associate of the production team of Mark Liggett andChris Barbosa, later saw Shannon singing with a live band in her cousin's recording studio. Shannon auditioned for Liggett and Barbosa with the song "She Can't Love You Like I Do".[3] They introduced her to the selection "Fire and Ice," which would later evolve into Shannon's signature song, "Let The Music Play;" its unique sound, called "The Shannon Sound," would later come to be known as "freestyle." Let The Music Play would also be the title of Shannon's debut album, which she released in 1984.
In September 1983, "Let The Music Play" was released,[8][9] and Shannon was invited back to record more songs with Liggett and Barbosa.[1] The single reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the BillboardR&B and Hot Dance Club Playcharts.[3] It also was ranked at #49 of Billboard's Top 100 songs of 1984.[10] It was later ranked #23 among Billboard's best dance songs of all-time.[11]
Her debut album, Let The Music Play, was released on February 1, 1984.[12][13] "Give Me Tonight", the follow-up single,[14] reached the number-one spot on the R&B and Hot Dance Club Play charts.[15] It was one of Billboard's top 30 dance songs for the year of 1984.[16] In the United States, the third single was "My Heart's Divided."[17]The single, featuring Jimi Tunnell as one of the back up vocalists,[18] became a moderate hit on the Dance Chart.[19] "Sweet Somebody," a mid-tempo soul effort, made the Top 20 in a few European nations.
Shannon's album Let the Music Play went on to sell approximately 1.5 million worldwide,[13] with 500,000 of those sold in the United States, earning gold certification. Shannon was nominated for a Grammy Award and received numerous other awards, including the Dinah Washington (Jack the Rapper) Award, the Hall of Fame Award, the Gold Ampex Reel Award, a certified gold disc by the Recording Industry Association of America, and the Best Billboard Top 10 female R&B vocalist.
In 1985, Shannon released her second album, Do You Wanna Get Away. The title track was the first single and it became her third single to appear on the Hot 100, and it reached #1 on the Dance Chart. She scored three more dance hits, including "Stronger Together," a cover of "Urgent" by Foreigner, and "Stop the Noise," with a videosponsored by Pepsi and Black Angus. Love Goes All the Way, Shannon's third album, was released in 1986.
Shannon's fourth studio album, The Best Is Yet to Come, was released on March 28, 2000.[5] She is credited as 50% writer of the album. Chris Barbosa served as a producer, along with Andy "Panda" Tripoli and Tony Moran. Shannon later released a compilation album, Let The Music Play: The Best of Shannon, in 2004.
We started dancingAnd love put us into a grooveAs soon as we started to move The music played while our bodiesDisplayed through the danceThen love picked us out for romance I thought it was clearThe plan was we would share this feelingJust between ourselves But when the music changedThe plan was re-arrangedHe went to dance with someone else We started dancingAnd love put us into a grooveBut now he's with somebody newWhat does love want me to do Love saidLet the music playLet the music playHe won't get away He tried pretendingA dance is just a dance but I seeHe's dancing his way back to me Guess he's discoveredWe are truly loversMagic from the very start 'Cause love just kept me groovin'And he felt me movin'Even though we danced apart So we started dancingAnd love put us into the grooveAs soon as we started to moveAs soon as we started to move Love saidLet the music playHe won't get awayJust keep the grooveAnd then he'll come back to you again(Let it play) Let the music playHe won't get awayThis groove he can't ignoreHe won't leave you anymore(No, no, no) Let the musicJust keep the grooveLet the musicThis groove we can't ignore anymore, anymore Let the musicHe'll come back to youYeah, yeahNo, no, no
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