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Amii Stewart

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Amii Stewart
Amii Stewart at the Capri Film Festival, December 2013
Amii Stewart at the Capri Film Festival, December 2013
Background information
Birth nameAmy Paulette Stewart
Born(1956-01-29)January 29, 1956(age 68)
OriginWashington, D.C.,USA
GenresSoul,disco,dance-pop[1]
Occupation(s)Singer
Years active1977 – present
LabelsAriola,RCA
WebsiteAmii Stewart

Amy Paulette"Amii"Stewart(born January 29, 1956) is an Americandiscoandsoulsinger who found prominence with her 1979U.S. Billboard number 1 hitcover ofEddie Floyd's song "Knock on Wood",often considered a classic of the disco genre.[2][3]Stewart scored further international hits including "Light My Fire"(1979) and"Friends"(1985). Stewart is the stepsister of actress-singerMiquel Brownand aunt to Brown's daughter, singerSinitta.

Career[edit]

Amy Stewart, the fifth of six children, was born into "a big, [strictly Catholic, but] fun loving, country style family... as my mum was one of thirteen children".[4][5]Her father, Joseph Stewart II, signed her up for singing and dancing lessons in 1960, when she was four years old. An Amy Stewart was already registered with theActors' Equity Association,so she changed the spelling of her first name to Amii. She briefly enrolled in theHoward Universityin Washington but soon left for the Classical Repertory Dance Ensemble (CRDE) to study ballet and modern dance.[5][4]

In 1975, before signing a contract atAriola Records,Stewart worked at the touring company for the stage production of the musicalrevueBubbling Brown Sugar,relocating to places of production, such asMiami,then New York city'sBroadwayand eventually London'sWest End,where she met Barry Leng, songwriter and record producer forHansa Records.

The song "You Really Touched My Heart", a Leng/Simon Maycomposition and produced by Leng, was Stewart's first recording, published by the end of 1977. An album followed, released in February 1979, which contained five Leng/May songs, one Leng/Morris song and three cover versions. The album yielded the single releases "Knock on Wood" and "Light My Fire/137 Disco Heaven".

Stewart's first single release, a discocover versionof the 1966Eddie Floydcomposition "Knock on Wood",reachednumber oneof the U.S. Billboard single charts in April 1979 and earned her aplatinum recordand aGrammy Awardnomination. It also ranked high in thesingle chartsthroughout Europe and reachedNo.6 in the UK and No. 2 in Australia.[6]Another single, a medley cover song of theDoorsclassic "Light My Fire" and "137 Disco Heaven", entitled "Light My Fire/137 Disco Heaven" was released in the same year, entering the charts and reached No. 5 in the UK, No. 14 in Australia[6]and No. 69 in the US.

New trends[edit]

See also:Disco § 1979–1980s: "Disco sucks" and decline in popularity

By the end of the decade, disco music had, to a great extent, reached its technical limits, and growing anti-disco sentiment eventually affected the USmusic community.A new generation of musicians and fans, tending to idealise authenticity and purity, rejected disco as artificial, mindless and consumerist.[7]The media, industry and markets, always intent on re-invention, wereabandoning discoand feverishly scouting for new trends.[4]

Generally moderate US interest in Stewart'sParadise Birdalbum, released in September 1979, came as no surprise. However, success and media feedback in Europe was unchanged. Europe's music industry and scene was the sum of many small and diverse parts. New ideas would certainly be adopted but old ones preserved. Not declaring disco dead, the UK, for example, was left with a somewhat controverse[definition needed]culture, that fed cynicism. "The rest was a mess", wherepunk rockandDiana Rossco-existed.Paradise Birdyielded two European single releases, "Jealousy" (No. 58 UK, No. 4 Italy, No. 5 Switzerland) and the double A-side "The Letter/Paradise Bird" (No. 39 UK 1980).[8]Stewart, however, remained confident about her career. She told her production team and record label to be "changing styles slowly, so as not get caught in the shuffle". The source of inspiration would be her artistic background in theater, modern dance and melodic music.[4]

Following her success in Europe, Stewart relocated to Italy in the mid-1980s.[9]and released the recordings "Friends"and"Together",produced in collaboration with Italian composer/musicianMike Francis."Friends" was a big hit in the UK, Italy and the Philippines.

Later career[edit]

In the 1998 movie54,actress/singer Mary Griffin portrayed Stewart, performing the song "Knock on Wood", at the fameddiscothèqueStudio 54in New York City. While performing, Griffin wore an apparently very similar extravagant outfit (and particularly the headgear) to that which Stewart wore in theofficialvideo to "Knock on Wood" in 1979. Although it was obvious that Griffin was portraying Stewart, the credits at the end of the movie have Griffin's character listed asDisco Star.

In 2000, Stewart toured Italy, playing the part ofMary Magdalene,in a revival of the rock operaJesus Christ Superstar.The play also starredCarl Anderson,who revived his role ofJudas Iscariotfrom the 1973 movie.

In 2004, Stewart published the studio albumLady Day,containing sixteen cast recordings of the 2003 musicalLady Day,based on the life of American jazz and blues singerBillie Holidayand produced and co-written by Stewart and theater director Massimo Romeo Piparo.[10]Stewart, starring as Holiday, states: "The idea for the musical was born from my passion for the wonderful voice of the 'Queen of Swing', but also for the music of the 1930s and 1940s and for the black renaissance of the time, of which she was the protagonist." and further: "In that period of racism the foundations were laid for the rebirth not only of Blacks, but also of world music."[11]

Since 2001, Stewart has been working as agoodwill ambassadorforUnicefItalia and has been involved in numerous projects such as "Uniti per i bambini, Uniti contro l'AIDS" ( "United for the children, united against AIDS" ). In 2006, she recorded the charity single "Love Song" for UNICEF in four different languages, once again returning to work withEnnio Morricone.The following year saw her return to duet with Mike Francis on the track "Nothing Can Come Between Us". In 2006, Stewart and long-time friend and collaboratorEnnio Morriconereleased the 5 track single "Love Song", sung in English, Italian, French, Spanish as well as a multilingual version. All proceeds from the single went to Unicef's campaign "Check Out For Children".

In May 2007, Stewart again participated in theSanremo Music Festival,performing theduet"Schiavo D'Amore" with Piero Mazzocchetti.

In 2014, she took part in the prime-timeRaiTV showLa Pistaas teamleader of the "Virality" dance troupe. Stewart and the dance team became the overall competition winners. Other well known singer-contestants includedTony HadleyandSabrina Salerno.

Stewart has been greatly affected by Italy, and living in Rome since the mid-1980s, has become fluent in Italian.[4]UNICEF Italia introduces her in a mutually cordial tone, pointing out: "The one between Amii Stewart and Italy is a beautiful love story" and that she "has been 'adopted' by our country and has certainly returned the affection received".[12]

Discography[edit]

Main article:Amii Stewart discography

References[edit]

  1. ^Sfetcu, Nicolae (May 9, 2014).Dance Music.Nicolae Sfetcu. pp. 117–. GGKEY:N0SQHH2X92N.
  2. ^Moroder, Giorgio (July 20, 2016)."The 35 Best Disco Songs Ever".Billboard.RetrievedNovember 11,2020.
  3. ^"Eddie Floyd, KNOCK ON WOOD, LocoBop L2I-004"(PDF).LOCOBOP. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on January 26, 2022.RetrievedNovember 7,2020.
  4. ^abcdeArena, James (July 7, 2017).Europe's Stars of '80s Dance Pop: 32 International Music Legends Discuss Their Careers.McFarland. pp. 200–.ISBN978-1-4766-7142-0.
  5. ^ab"Disco Profiles - Amii Stewart".Comicgenius.com. January 27, 1979. Archived fromthe originalon February 11, 2012.RetrievedApril 26,2012.
  6. ^abKent, David(1993).Australian Chart Book 1970–1992(illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 294.ISBN0-646-11917-6.
  7. ^Flynn, Daniel J. (February 18, 2010)."How the Knack Conquered Disco".Rock Online Italia. Archived fromthe originalon November 25, 2011.RetrievedNovember 10,2020.
  8. ^Savage, Jon (February 17, 2011).England's Dreaming.Faber & Faber.ISBN978-0-571-26119-2.
  9. ^"Amii Stewart:" Sarò per sempre grata a 'Knock on wood' e alla disco "- Intervista".www.panorama.it(in Italian). October 17, 2017.RetrievedOctober 18,2019.
  10. ^Amii Stewart (January 9, 2011)."Lady Day (Cast Album Interpretations, Digital Version)".Napster.RetrievedNovember 7,2020.
  11. ^"Amii Stewart racconta Billie Holiday: 'Lady Day' a Milano dal 20 novembre"(in Italian). Rock Online Italia. November 12, 2003.RetrievedNovember 7,2020.
  12. ^"Amii Stewart - Quella tra Amii Stewart e l'Italia è una bella storia d'amore"(in Italian). Unicef. Archived fromthe originalon April 14, 2008.RetrievedNovember 7,2020.
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Sources and external links[edit]

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