Linda Carr

US soul singer, songwriter. Linda Carr was just 14 years of age at the time of her debut recording. Her powerful voice belied her tender years. In '61, talent scount, recording artists producer and writer, Bobby Sanders (real name: Jerome Lenoir) brought gifted singer, Linda Carr to producer Steve Venet. Happy Teenager happily launched her long and remarkable international singing career as one of the queens of the Northern Soul musical genre. The writer, Richard George, had written many songs while at UCLA and later while working in the Hollywood film industry. He wrote Happy Teenager as an answer song to Dion's Lonely Teenager. Steve Venet arranged to record her with Bobby Sanders, Ralph Chestnut and Clotelle King billed as the Impossibles. Steven Venet next recorded Linda's follow-up release, I'm in Love With the Garbage Man, a clever and fun record. In '64, Linda signed with Sam Cooke's Sar label with Steve Venet producing the release with Sanders and Cooke doing the backup work. Next she signed with Don Costa's DCP label and in '65 had a release that got some action. In '66, she had several releases on the Bell label and later with the Ranwood label. Came to attention in 1967 when she recorded the Northern soul classic "Everytime," backed by "Trying to Be Good for You," for the Stateside label. Neither this nor several other Fame Studio cuts made a mainstream impression, and Carr all but disappeared until her triumphant and spectacular return in 1975 amid the U.K.'s sudden rediscovery of its Northern soul heritage. Several early Carr recordings can be located on Northern soul CD collections. Now signed to Chelsea Records, Carr teamed with producer Kenny Nolan to record her debut album, 1975's "Cherry Pie Guy". With the singer and her group unveiled as Linda Carr & the Love Squad, July brought Carr's first real success, as the Nolan-penned "Highwire" tipped number 15 on the U.K. charts. A handful of further singles culled from the album, "Cherry Pie Guy," "Dial L for the Love Squad," and "Mama's Little Corner of the World," failed to spark, and it seemed that Carr was already headed for commercial relegation. However, she managed to rebound the following year as one further single, also written by Nolan, "Sold My Rock ‘n' Roll (Gave It for Funky Soul)," released under the name Linda & the Funky Boys, cracked the Top 40 -- unfortunately, the "Satisfied" album went nowhere.