"If I Were Your Woman" (Pre-American Idol)

A SWITCH MOMENT

Switch's 2nd Album

 After the success of SWITCH'S first album, as we were working on our 2nd album, we would have various meetings at the Motown building and from time to time we would have meetings at Berry Gordy's home.

On one of our meetings at the Motown building the whole band was together. So imagine 6 young guys who just had success with a hit album and we're all together having fun. I actually don't remember what the meeting we attended was about but I do remember what happened when we got downstairs in the lobby.

SWITCH playing on the iPhone

There was this girl that ran up to us as we got off of the elevator saying, "Switch, hey you guys are Switch...I love your music". We thanked her for supporting our music. Remember we had just finished a meeting and we were either on our way home or to get something to eat or on our way to band rehearsal. She met the whole band and at this point we were being very nice to her. But then....

She begins to tell us that she could sing, but before we could say anything she started singing, and it was like American Idol because SHE COULDN'T SING! - She started singing, "If I Were Your Woman, and you were my man"...by Gladys Knight. Here comes the sad part, Tommy DeBarge fell out in laughter because he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Tommy's laughter triggered the whole band's laughter and it was hard to control. Tommy was laughing at her, the rest of the band was laughing at Tommy's laughter.

The girl obviously got her feelings hurt, and just like American Idol, when a person is rejected then they tend to attack. This girl got mad at us and said, "well you guys don't look like your album cover" and this made me say..."Well how did you know who we were?" which caused more laughter from the band.

The sad thing is meeting her started nice, she was a nice girl, she let's us know that she can sing, we didn't ask her to show us, she choose to show us on her own, she couldn't sing and thus this little moment which could've ended well ended up in disaster, or laughter depending on how you want to look at it.

Thus a little SWITCH moment in history of many, many more to come.

Until next time - Phillip

SWITCH today, sharing some of the moments from the past with some of our newest band members. 

 

COMMERCIAL BREAK - Mountain Dew

In 2006 / 2007 I was in Japan performing with Sheena Easton. As I spoke to my wife Rebecca on one of our daily talks, she let me know that I had been called to do a commercial with 'Groove Addicts' a company that I have worked quite a bit with over the years. This company does 'radio station id's', commercials, TV Shows and Filma.

The commercial was scheduled on the day that I would be arriving back in the United States, which meant I was going to be pretty tired, jet-lagged, but I agreed to do it.

This was the commercial with Chuck Norris which you may have seen. This is where a couple of guys are on a website with Chuck Norris face on an ostrich. One of the guys says "we're up to a million hits, sweet"...Then the doorbell rings they ask who is it and the answer is "Chuck Norris", then the guys say "yeah right". They look over the balcony and find out that it is Chuck Norris and then they begin to run.

The rest of the commercial is the 2 guys running away from Chuck in various scenarios but holding on to their Mountain Dew. The commercial ends with Chuck catching them, snapping their picture and taking away their Mountain Dew. Then he sets up a website where he's now kicking their butts. The website is called "Payback".

The music playing in the background was similar to the Shaft theme from old and the singers were singing "Chuck". That was Alex Brown, Carmen Carter and myself. As tired as I was I was happy that the music wasn't something that was really involved. Sometimes you're so tired you're punch drunk, and I think that's how I was feeling that day just arriving from overseas.

I have to admit though that it was nice to come back from Japan and to do a commercial because at the time I hadn't sang on a commercial in quite some time, but at least I got to 'do the dew' for that particular commercial.

Until Next Time - Phillip

'Opening Act' Back In The Day

When I was in my local band, Raw Soul, back in the early 70's we played all around Ohio. We even won a trophy for the #1 band in Akron.

One of the highlights 'back in the day' was being the opening act for some pretty big concerts that came to Akron. There's a theater in Akron, called the Akron Civic Center and we played at that theater and we were able to open up for Rufus featuring Chaka Khan and the Hues Corporation. At that time the Hues Corporation were the headliners because they had the big hit 'Rock The Boat'. 

We were excited to be around people of that caliber backstage that had hit records and were living the dream that we wanted for ourselves.

We met the band members of both groups, Rufus and the Hues Corporation. It was pretty exciting. Of course we were doing cover tunes and they were performing their own songs. I remember especially enjoying Rufus,because Chaka was sanging that day. So it was a special time for our local group.

Hues Corporation

We were also excited to listen to the Hues Corporation as well because the song Rock The Boat was a huge hit.

Rufus

Another highlight for our local band, Raw Soul, was to be able to play at the Blossom Music Center opening up for Three Dog Night. This was a unique concert. When we opened up for the Hues Corporation and Rufus, Raw Soul was an R&B cover band and it worked playing for predominantly a black audience. When we opened up at Blossom Music Center for Three Dog Night we were playing for a predominantly white pop audience. But the crowd seemed to enjoy it.

Three Dog Night

We opened up for Three Dog Night on a school night and I was still in High School. What was funny one of my class mates, Mary Payorle, was at the Three Dog Night concert and was very surprised that our local band was opening up for such a huge group. We talked about that concert the next day in school.

For a local band it was pretty exciting meeting these bands that were already doing what we wanted to do. I look back on all of this as part of the journey that has brought me to where I am today.

I have to admit that it was great being an 'opening act' for these three hit artists 'back in the day'.

Until next time - Phillip

Remembering 'The Queen Of Disco' Donna Summer

Donna Summer

Donna Summer was known as the 'Queen of Disco' in the 1970's. In her career Donna recorded a total of 17 albums. She had a string of hits.

In 1982 Donna recorded her 10th studio album which was released on July 19, 1982. This album was simply named 'Donna Summer'. During this time period I got to work with Donna Summer. Quincy Jones was producing this particular project and one of the songs that was recorded was 'Love Is In Control (Finger on the Trigger)'. To date this song is one of the highest backgrounds that I've ever sung on. It was my brother James, Howard Hewitt and myself.

When Donna worked on this project with Quincy Jones, this was the first time Donna had worked with a producer other than Moroder and Bellotte since 1974, so this was a different route for her.

The Album - Donna Summer

The song 'Love In In Control (Finger on the Trigger)' peaked at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 1982 and the album, Donna Summer, reached #20 on the Billboard hot 100s.

Ultimately the Donna Summer album fell short of it's goal to restore Donna to the level of stardom she'd enjoyed in the 1970s. 'Love Is In Control' had the lowest Hot 100 peak of a lead single from an album of new material by Donna Summer since 1978. This song did represent a considerable comeback for Summer on the R&B charts with a #4 peak. This afforded Donna her fifth Top 5 R&B hit. Summer also reached the UK Top 20 with both 'Love Is In Control... and another single from the album "State of Independence". Both of these tracks reached the Top Ten in the Netherlands. 

Donna Summer - "On The Radio"

The only time I worked with Donna Summer was on the project that Quincy Jones produced. The last time I saw Donna was a few years later, I ran into her coming out of a store on Melrose Ave and we chatted for a few minutes. She was telling me about her new project and I shared what I was doing.

It was very sad to hear that Donna was battling caner and lost her fight on May 17, 2012 at the age of 63. Since I hadn't seen or been in Donna's presence for a while I had no idea she was going through this battle.

But again I do appreciate that to a small degree I was able to be a part of Donna's career.

Until Next Time - Phillip

Working with the Commodores

Commodores - Nightshift Album

Right after Lionel Richie left the Commodores, the Commodores picked up a new lead singer by the name of JD Nicholas.

JD is a great singer and JD and I had sung on quite a few records singing background together for other artists prior to him joining the Commodores. JD had also worked a while with the group Heatwave. Since the Commodores and SWITCH was on Motown we had met quite a few times.

Well in 1985 I had been working with Dennis Lambert, great songwriter /  producer on various projects and he was called in to work with the Commodores to produce this upcoming album. Dennis Lambert called me in to do some backgrounds on a song he had written called "Nightshift". The song 'Nighshift' not only became the hit song from this album, but it was also the title track. The song was a tribute to Jackie Wilson and Marvyn Gaye.

The Commodores Performing

This song was the first hit attained by the Commodores following Lionel Richie's departure from the group. It was also their biggest hit after Richie's departure, peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and rising to number one on the Hot Black Singles chart, as well as number three in the UK Singles Chart.

Although the band was against the label's decision to release it as a single, it won a Grammy Award in 1985 for Best Vocal R&B Performance by a Duo/Group. The song features the lead vocal from Walter Orange, whose lead appeared years before on "Brick House". The 2nd vocalist on the song is JD Nicholas.

The Commodores today

I got to sing background on quite a few different songs for this particular album, but the song Nightshift was such a huge hit that it overpowered the rest of the project.

Since then JD and I have stayed in touch and I've got to see the Commodores perform a few times.  As always it was fun, but it's been a while since I've worked with the Commodores. 

Until Next Time - Phillip

Remembering Edwin Starr

Edwin Starr was a soul singer who had a string of hits back in the 60s, and 70s and a few more into the 80s.

I remember back in 1969, I was 11 and hearing the song "25 Miles". I used to sing that song with a pencil in my hand using it as a microphone. The biggest hit of Edwin's career which cemented his reputation was the Vietnam War protest song "War" which was released in 1970. This song spent three weeks in the top position on the US Billboard charts, it was an anthem for the antiwar movement and a cultural milestone that continues to resound in movie soundtracks and hip hop music samples. This song alone sold over 3 million copies.

Back in 1977 SWITCH had been signed to Motown records which was the same label that Edwin Starr was on previously. As I was leaving a meeting, for some reason, which I can't remember at this time, but I had my congas with me. Even though I'm known for my singing I started out in my local bands being a percussionist and singing. Kevin Dorsey was with me and while we were in the lobby of the Motown building we ran into Edwin Starr. Edwin asked if I played the congas and I said yes. He asked if I would be interested in playing on a 'demo' that he was doing. I told him that I would and then he found out that both Kevin and I sing so we were asked to sing backgrounds on this 'demo' of his for 2 songs. Of course we were getting paid.

The 'demo' we recorded was called "Contact". I'm playing the congas on that song and I'm singing backgrounds with Kevin Dorsey. What we thought was going to be a 'demo' only, turned out to be one of Edwin Starr's biggest hits. This song was released in 1979, hit #65 in the US pop charts, #13 on the R&B charts, #6 in the UK and #1 on the dance charts. This song along with "I'm So Into You" were the 2 songs that I sang backgrounds on. At this point Edwin was no longer with Motown records, these songs were released on 20th Century Records.

We recorded these 2 songs at a small studio here in LA. At the time Edwin Starr's fame had dwindled but this song was somewhat of a resurgence of Edwin's career.

This was the only time I met and worked with Edwin Starr. We happen to be at the Motown building at the same time, he asked if I played and I told him yes. We recorded 2 songs that evening, got paid and that was it. So my time with Edwin Starr was literally a "Brief Encounter"all in ONE DAY. We basically spent a few hours together. But the song "Contact" of course lives on.

You can listen to the song here on this YouTube upload. When you hear the congas, yeah that's me.

On April 2, 2003, at the age of 61, Edwin Starr suffered a heart attack and died while taking a bath at this home.

Here again, even though it was a brief encounter, I was able to contribute my talent, in some small degree, to Edwin's career.

Until next time - Phillip

Singing for a Hallmark Card?

In my career I've sung on quite a few records,commercials, and movies. I've worked with various artists, performed all over the world, but this particular session was probably to date my most interesting.

I got called to sing "How Sweet It Is", the old Marvin Gaye song, for Hallmark. I wasn't quite sure what the song was going to be used for, but the song was used for a Hallmark card. The card was one of those cards that you purchase for an anniversary or some other occasion and when you open up the card, there was my voice singing "How Sweet It Is".

 I sang the whole song but only a portion of the song was used for the card. Growing up in Akron, Ohio you would only see the artists performing on records and touring like I did with SWITCH, becoming a recording artist, etc, the people that are out front. But living in Los Angeles, CA there are so many different projects you can be a part of. Out here in California you see what's behind the scenes in addition to what's out front.

For example, I've sang on quite a few Disney projects over the years, one of the most unusual was singing as 'Goofy' for one of their floats that was used for a Disney Parade at their theme parks. I'll tell you about it sometime. 

That was different, but I still think that singing for a Hallmark card tops them all.

I've never received a copy of the card, but I think that would've been pretty cool to have a copy of that card.

So if I'm ever asked, you mean to tell me you were singing for a Hallmark Card? I'll have to answer YES - (Smile)

Until next time - Phillip

COMMERCIAL BREAK - "Coast Soap"

In the mid 80s I started singing on TV commercials. I've talked about a few of them on my BLOG, like the Peter Pan Peanut Butter commercial, the California Raisin's Commercial and others.

My first National Commercial was actually for Coast Soap. A lot of you might remember that soap. Edie Leighman, who I had toured with for Quincy Jones in 1982 and had worked together on a lot of projects called me for this session. I was singing background with a group of others.

It was a 30 second spot and it was about soap. But what I had come to realize was that the commercials were paying the biggest residuals and to sing on a commercial that was nationwide was a big deal. So I was happy to be a part.

 It was great, you go down to the studio to sing for about an hour for a  30-second commercial and the commercial runs for about a 1/2 year or so and you continue to get paid. We all enjoyed the commercials back in the 80s and 90s before the SCREEN ACTORS GUILD STRIKE of 2000 also known as S.A.G. That strike changed the industry and commercials were never the same.

Even still it was great to be part of one of the major brands back in the day. I'm not sure if anyone even uses this soap anymore. It used to be my favorite, but we've  since SWITCHED - No pun intended!

The campaign was "Feel Alive with Coast"

Take a peak, you just might remember this one:

Until next time - Phillip

"Hearts On Fire" - Richard Elliot

Richard Elliot - 'Rock Steady'

By the late 80s I had already done quite a few what they call 'guest vocals' singing and working with various artists. What is a guest vocal? A guest vocal is when you are not the artist but you're invited to sing a song or songs on another artist project.

Well one day, in 1988, I got a call from a saxophonist by the name of Richard Elliot. At the time I wasn't familiar with Richards work but come to find out that Richard was a member of one of my favorite bands of all time, Tower of Power.  Richard had played tenor sax with Tower of Power for 5 years during the 1980s.

Richard had started his solo career with an album called Trolltown in 1986, and his solo career took off when he remade the Percy Sledge classic "When A Man Loves A Woman".

Richard Elliot - Power Of Suggestion

Richard had heard of my work and called me up and sent me a copy of a great song call "Hearts On Fire". When I heard the song I thought it was a very pretty song. This was one of the songs that he was recording for his upcoming Power of Suggestion album.  We went into the studio, I sang the song and it came out great. As Richard was promoting this particular album he called me up to come sing this song on one of his sets at a local club in LA. After the performance the crowd was very pleased and I remember Richard saying to the audience, "now will you buy the album?". Everyone clapped and I'm sure some CD's  were purchased that night.

There's a funny story attached to this song, one of my good friends had a copy of this song on a cassette tape. Someone had made her a copy of various songs and only put the artist name's down, not the one singing the song. One day my friend and I were talking and at the time she had never heard me sing, so I made her a compilation of some of my work and included this song. When she heard "Hearts on Fire", she told me that I sounded like Richard Elliot, and I told her that Richard plays saxophone he doesn't sing. She then told me the story of her cassette tape and how this song was her favorite song for years and Richard Elliot was her favorite singer. She didn't realize that one of her best friends was the singer and not Richard. "We set the record straight"

Richard and his Zebra-Stripped Tenor Sax

On Facebook I always receive various comments about different performances and songs that I've sung over the years. This is one of the comments that I received on Facebook about "Hearts On Fire" from a true fan. "Mr. Ingram...For the past 20 plus years, I have listened to 'Hearts On Fire' at least once a week. Your voice is incredible and I want to thank you for bringing so much enjoyment/pleasure into my life. I've shared this song with countless individuals and all have been moved by the incredible power of voice. Again, thank you very much"  - Jack Parr.

Great song, great guy, Richard Elliot and again I'm happy that our careers crossed in history to create some beautiful music together - "Hearts On Fire" 

Until Next Time - Phillip 

The Return of Bruno (Bruce Willis)

The Return of Bruno

Many people know Bruce Willis as the great actor that he's become. He's known for many films like the Die Hard series, Armageddon, Unbreakable, and Red just to name a few.

I first remember Bruce Willis  in 1985 with a hit television show called Moonlighting where he co-starred with Cybill Shepherd. I loved this show and used to watch it all the time This series helped to establish Bruce Willis as a comedic actor.

What a lot of people don't know is while Bruce was working on the Moonlighting series Bruce recorded an album in 1986-1987 as a singer. The album is the debut album for this actor and it was produced by Robert Kraft. Robert and I had been working on other projects together so I got to sing background on quite a few of the songs on the project.

Bruce Willis

"The Return of Bruno" was released by Motown in 1987. The album is an eclectic gathering of R&B music. With the exception of the song "Jackpot", the rest of the songs are covers or remakes.

This album did see some success, it peaked at #14 on the Billboard 200 album chart. The single "Respect Yourself" received considerable airplay, peaking at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and number 7 in the UK.

Follow-up singles "Young Blood" and "Under the Boardwalk" did not fare nearly as well, they peaked at #68 and #59 respectively. What was interesting though is "Under The Boardwalk" saw massive success in Britain, it reached #2 in the charts and has become the UK's 12th best-selling single of 1987.

Bruce Willis today

Bruce Willis has had a phenomenal career that has already crossed a couple of decades. If you didn't know that Bruce is a singer as well as a great actor, well now you do.

I'm again thankful to have played a very small part in this man's career with the project "The Return Of Bruno". 

Until next time - Phillip 

"Where It All Began"

Dean, Ricky, Phillip, John, Thaddeus at East High School. 

As many of you may know I come from a musical family of 6 siblings. Most of us played instruments but all of us could sing. James and I were the only two that decided to make a career out of music.

Around the house I would sing to records, and play on pots & pans. I received my first toy drum set when I was 5 years old. I used to play on that set just about everyday. It had a big tiger on the front and one cymbal,and I loved my drum set.

When I was 7 years old I received a pair of bongos from my parents and I played on them all of the time also. I think my parents got tired of me playing on the pots and pans, so they got me a pair of bongos. I wanted to join a band and become the percussionist. Even though I sang I was more interested in playing the percussion for the group.

My 1st Band Raw Soul

2 Brothers lived across the street from us, Rex Richardson and his younger brother David. Rex played Bass and David played the guitar. They were already in a band and I wanted to join their band. Well when I was 13 years old I got the opportunity to join their band. That was a very happy day. The name of the group was Raw Soul. I became their percussionist, but the keyboard player at the time heard me singing at rehearsal and said, 'you can sing, you need to come out front and sing some songs'.


Of course I had NO EXPERIENCE, except for singing with the records and using a pencil for a microphone. Well I was put out front and for the next 5 years, that's where I got my experience of becoming a lead singer. I still played percussion, but I was out front as the main guy.

Back in those days we had songs that were instrumentals with the horns and that's when I would play the congas and timbales, but when we went into the slow jams, or some other uptempo vocal songs, I had to come from behind those instruments and sing to the audience.

I learned what worked and what didn't work, how to get an audience up on their feet and things like this. Those 5 years of being with Raw Soul, I will always cherish because it was part of my learning experience.

My 2nd Band - 'Eastern Parkway'

After Raw Soul, broke up, the drummer from Raw Soul, Ike Allen, asked if I wanted to come and work with the band that he was with. The band was called Eastern Parkway. I definitely wanted to because I enjoyed performing. This was in the summer of 1976 right after I graduated from High School.

I ended up only working with Eastern Parkway for just about 6 months or so. Greg Williams had already spoken with me in October / 1976 about putting together this group that ended up becoming Switch. 


I still remember when I spoke with David Rookard, who was the keyboard player for Eastern Parkway and telling them about my opportunity. They were so gracious and definitely didn't want to stand in my way.

My 3rd band - 'SWITCH'

From 1972 - 1976 I will always cherish those years because that's where I got my experience. In December of 1976 SWITCH was formed and in May / 1977 we signed our record deal with Motown records when I was at the age of 18 turning 19 in July of that year.

Of course with Switch, I learned a lot more because I was now on a different level. Switch, went on to record 5 albums for the Motown label, the first album was Platinum and the 2nd album was Gold. We had 5 top ten R&B hits and a few other singles.

Even though I've learned a lot being with Switch and performing with quite a few people over the years, I'm very grateful for where it all began. 


Until Next Time - Phillip

COMMERCIAL BREAK - "California Raisins"

If you were around in the mid-80s, I'm sure you remember 'The California Raisins'. The California Raisins experienced high popularity in the mid-to-late 1980s principally through claymation TV commercials and animated specials, winning an Emmy Award and one nomination.

The concept was originally created for a 1986 commercial on behalf of the California Raisin Advisory Board. Well I had the privilege to be a California Raisin for one of their campaigns. It was pretty interesting.

A commercial firm that I had worked with up in the Bay Area called me to do a California Raisin commercial but this was the scenario. The firm had recorded a demo commercial of the California Raisin song, Heard It Through The Grapevine, with another singer up in the San Francisco area. I never got to know who the other singer was. The advertising agency loved the song at first and then they shot the claymation around the commercial demo. But here was the problem, after they finished shooting the claymation, they weren't happy with the singer's voice. They felt that it was a little too harsh once they saw it up against the film.

When I got the call the firm felt that I would be the perfect replacement, but I needed to sing the song pretty much like the other singer because it had to match the movement of the claymation. I was up for the challenge, even though I like to have my own originality on a song whenever  I sing.

I was sent the original demo to listen to and then I was flown up to San Francisco. The Firm that was doing the commercial as well as the advertising agency was there. I matched the rhythm and the melody exactly like the other singer, the agency and the firm was pleased and was about to call it a wrap, but I wasn't. I like to have my own originality I asked that since they have that particular recording could I do another take since I now know the exact rhythm that's needed, etc and put a different spin on it. I told them that it wouldn't hurt anything especially since they were already satisfied with what they had. The producer and I had worked together so he knew what I was capable of and so I was allowed to do another take.

I did my take, matched the rhythm exactly but changed the melody to make it more exciting and to put my signature on this commercial as it were. The firm, and the Ad Agency were very pleased. They said, 'this turned out a lot better than what they expected', especially since they were pleased with the other take. Why did I choose to do that?

Sometimes singers have stories and I didn't want the singer who sang the original demo commercial to be going around telling others that I sang this song the same way that he did, etc, etc. I knew that I needed to change it up enough so that story wouldn't even exist. Everyone was pleased and that particular commercial ran for quite some time.

A friend of mine found the commercial on YouTube, after I published this BLOG, so I was grateful and decided to add it as an update. Enjoy!

For a moment in time I had the privilege to be the lead singer as one of "The California Raisins"


Until Next Time - Phillip

Remembering George Howard

George Howard

I first met George Howard with a great keyboardist by the name of Denzil "Broadway" Miller. Denzil and I co-wrote "Just call my Name" with Ken Curry for Allison Williams which I wrote about in a previous BLOG. George already had a few albums out on the Palo Alto Jazz label. I had heard of George but had never worked with him up to this point.

George and I became friends and I ended up singing on a few of his albums. George's albums were well received and ranked high on the Billboard magazine jazz album charts. George's third album, Dancin in the Sun, scaled the Billboard Jazz Album chart to number 1. Each of his next three albums also reached this height in the Jazz Album charts.

Dancing In the Sun

George was a great player. To me he was one of the best soprano saxophonist that ever lived. He got his start touring with the great Grover Washington Jr, back in the late 70s. Every time we were in the studio with George we had fun. He was a laid back, crazy personality type of guy, and of course this all came out in his music.

I remember once we recorded one of his albums out in Malibu at the beach, I don't remember exactly which album it was, but I remember he had this groove that was pretty funky and we started this chant on the record, "sounds like George, sounds like Howard to me", it fit the record well and that became our little saying every time we would see George.

There's A Riot Goin' On

After working on about 3 or 4 of George's albums I didn't see or hear from George for a few years. Then one day, back in 1998, I received a call from George asking me to come work on this album he was doing for the Blue Note label. George was re-doing instrumentally Sly & The Family Stone's There's A Riot Goin' On album which was released back in 1974. This was one of my favorite albums by Sly & The Family Stone so I was looking forward to working on this project. Alexandra Brown, Mortonette Jenkins and myself went down to record the backgrounds.

I still have Sly album on vinyl, but George had the CD. I asked where did he get the CD because I hadn't seen it on CD yet. George said, here you can have this copy I'm done with it. I still have that CD and every time I play that CD I think of George.

About 3 weeks after we recorded the backgrounds on this project Alexandra Brown called me to say that George was in the hospital with stomach cancer. Before I had a chance to see George at the hospital he died on March 20, 1998 at the age of 41.

He was a great player, a good friend and even though his music will live on, he is dearly missed. I'm happy that our lives crossed and that I was able to contribute, even to a small degree, some of my talent to help with his career.

Until Next Time - Phillip Ingram

Working With "Lionel Richie"

Lionel Richie

I first met Lionel Richie when SWITCH was signed to the Motown label back in 1977. At that time the Commodores had just finished their 5th album for Motown, which included "Brick House" & "Easy" and they were enjoying some huge success. The Commodores success became the type of success that SWITCH wanted to reach so we were honored to meet.

Since we were on the same label we would run into the Commodores from time to time at the studio and in the Motown building.  Because SWITCH was an up and coming group at Motown, SWITCH and the Commodores got to know each other.

After Lionel decided to leave the Commodores and pursue a solo career, in 1982, he produced his self-titled debut album. One of the songs that hit #1 was "Truly". As Lionel was performing some of the late night shows, I was asked to sing backgrounds with him on the "Tonight Show".

Lionel had just left the Commodores and at the time I had just recently left SWITCH. We could both relate to being with a group and now being on our own. After Lionel's debut album he had a string of hits and a lot of success with the albums he produced in the 80s.

"Louder Than Words" CD

Lionel continued to produce albums in the 90s, but they didn't match the success of his earlier work. In 1992 Lionel Richie, along with James Carmicheal, who worked as a producer with Lionel with the Commodores, produced an album called "Louder Than Words".  I was asked to come in and sing backgrounds and this was the 2nd time since the "Tonight Show" that I worked with Lionel. Marva King, Lionel Richie and myself sang backgrounds on quite a few songs on the album, but as mentioned before, it didn't reach the same success he had reached prior.

The next time I ended up working with Lionel Richie was in France. I had a duet out with a Soap Opera star named Brenda Epperson. Brenda had enjoyed quite a bit of success on The Young And Restless.  Brenda had left the show but her character was still on the show over in Europe. Because of this Brenda was asked to go to France and perform some shows opening up for Lionel Richie in 5 different cities. Since our duet was gaining popularity I was asked to do this tour with her.

Our last night in France

When we got to France I ran into Sheila E. Sheila was playing percussion for Lionel's tour. We were at the Venue the night of our first show and Sheila asked me if Lionel knew that I was there, and I said no. She took me into Lionel's dressing room, and there was a reunion. The hugs, the surprise! He asked what was I doing there and I told him that we would hanging for a little bit over the next few days because of the duet I had out with Brenda Epperson. Lionel was pleased and introduced me to some people as one of the greatest singers that he knew, which I appreciated.

Our last night was in Paris, France and Lionel's band was performing "All Night Long",  and my wife Rebecca and Yvonne Williams, the other singer that did the tour with me were watching offstage. Sheila E, called me up to perform with them, but not as a singer, I played percussion along side Sheila. Sheila knew that I had played percussion and sang with SWITCH. Since they were doing the song a little different then the record she would grab my arm every time they had a break in the song. It was fun.

As you can see from the picture above, it was my last night and we all took a picture, since Rebecca, Yvonne, Brenda and myself were leaving Lionel's tour. We were only committed to 5 dates. That was the last time that I crossed paths with Lionel, but I have to say that every time, from when we first met back in 1977 all through the late 90s, which covers a span of about 20 years. Lionel was the same, despite his enormous success.

As always, it was great working with Lionel Richie. 


Until Next Time - Phillip

"Because You Loved Me"

Up Close & Personal is an American romantic drama film, that stars Robert Redford as a news director and Michelle Pfeiffer as his protegee. This film was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Original Song "Because You Loved Me" which was written by Diane Warren, produced by David Foster and performed by Celine Dion.

Back in 1996 this session was actually my first recording for that year, I was called to sing backgrounds on "Because You Loved Me" with a host of great LA Singers. I remember this session as if it were yesterday. There were 8 singers, including myself, and we went to the studio and rehearsed before David Foster got there. Once he got there we recorded the backgrounds over Celine Dion's gorgeous vocals. I will tell you about more Celine Dion's recordings that I've worked on in a future BLOG. 


"Because You Loved Me" is a song from Celine Dion's album Falling into You, released as the first single in February / 1996. This song, as I mentioned, was written by Diane Warren as a tribute to her father for his encouragement.

"Because You Loved Me" is one of Celine Dion's biggest hits and signature songs. It reached #1 in the United States, Australia and Canada.

The single of this song has sold 1,345,000 copies in the U.S. and was certified platinum. In addition to being nominated for an Academy Award, this song was also nominated for A Golden Globe Award, as well as four Grammy Awards. It won a Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. The song was also nominated for 'Record of the Year', 'Song of the Year' and 'Best Female Pop Vocal Performance'.

You can tell that this is a great song not only because of everything that the song accomplished but also because the song has been re-recorded by many different artists including Johnny Mathis and Clay Aiken.

I originally met Diane Warren, the songwriter, when I used to sing song demo's. I sang some song demos while her career was taking off as a songwriter. It's really nice to be a part of such a huge hit. Every once in a while a song comes along that you wish you had written, the song 'Because You Loved Me' definitely falls into that category.

Until Next Time - Phillip

CHRONICLES OF THE PAST - "King of Wishful Thinking"

Back in the late 1980's early 1990's I had become the vocal contractor for Peter Wolf. Peter and I had met on the Dennis Edwards project where he wrote a song and played keyboards. As Peter's productions were gaining notoriety, I sang background on a lot of the songs he produced, such as "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" which I spoke about on this BLOG on February 20, 2011.

Go West was an up and coming group from England who formed back in 1982. They had many successful singles in the UK but at this time they were not that well known in the United States. Go West was a duo made up of Peter Cox and Richard Drummie. Together with Martin Page they wrote a song called  "King Of Wishful Thinking", which Peter Wolf produced and I, with some serious singers, sang background on.

The song was released in 1990 and it ended up being used in the film Pretty Woman. The song scored Go West a Top-10 US hit, and in 1991 this song also received an ASCAP award for being one of the most played songs in America the previous year.

In 1992 the band released the Indian Summer album which included "King of Wishful Thinking" as well as the song "Faithful" which became another hit in the US, peaking at #14, and also a UK hit, peaking at #13. The song "Faithful" later received airplay recognition awards in the US in both 1992 and in 1993. I also had the privilege of singing backgrounds on this song as well. Since Go West was gaining recognition in the US they were doing quite a bit of the Late Night Shows such as The Tonight Show, which I got to perform on the show with them and sing backgrounds.

Since that time I haven't seen Richard or Peter. I do know that Peter went on to record some solo albums from 1997 up through the 2000s. As usual we all had fun in the studio and it was great listening to their English accents. I did do a lot more work with Peter Wolf, the producer, which you will hear from time to time.

Pretty Woman came on TV the other day and in the beginning of the film you'll hear the song "King of Wishful Thinking", it took me back hearing this song again, so I thought I'd share a piece of nostalgia with you. Enjoy the video above :-)

Until Next Time - Phillip

COMMERCIAL BREAK: "Sizzler"...Sounds Good

As I mentioned from time to time I'm going to take a commercial break. Over the years I've sung on quite a few commercials and had some great sessions and so I'll share some of the stories from time to time.

Back in the early 90s Jim Gilstrap, Mark Campbell, Phil Perry, and myself sang on a series of Sizzler commercials. The idea musically was to have some guys do a 'do wop' street vibe. The campaign was a huge success. The commercials would show a steak sizzling and then you would hear, "I like the sound of a sweet juicy steak, Sizzler...sounds good". There were other commercials showing different food items as well. This was all sung a capella. Mark Viegha of LANY music put together the music for this brilliant campaign. Mark Viegha was also the one responsible for the 'Peter Pan Peanut Butter' campaign that I spoke of  in this BLOG on April 17, 2011.

Since Sizzler was a franchise they would have their corporate events in various places around the United States. Well once Mark, Jim, Phil and I were invited to one of the corporate meetings in Boston. The idea was to re-create the commercial right on the spot by pulling some people out of the audience to come up and sing the commercial. The franchise owners didn't know we were there at the time. I was dressed as a waiter and Phil Perry had a 10-gallon western hat posing as a franchise owner. We were all scattered within the audience.

Cliff Eidelman from the advertising agency, who was responsible for putting this campaign together, was speaking at this corporate event. He called up Mark Veigha to talk about how this campaign had come together, with his phone call to Mark, the music, everything since it was so successful. As they were talking they asked if there were any in the audience who could sing, I raised my hand, remember I was dressed as a waiter going around pouring water into people's glasses. I got called up. Then one by one Mark Campbell, Jim Gilstrap, Phil Perry and myself were onstage at this corporate event singing one of the Sizzler commercials that we had recorded. That was pretty cool. The audience LOVED IT, and we had a great time. The flight from LA to Boston took longer than our singing. Still we got to spend about 3-days in Boston enjoying some of it's sights.

You really don't see too many Sizzlers in the US anymore, it seems that the whole Sizzler Corporation was purchased by an Australian company and now Sizzlers are going strong in that part of the world. It was great to have been a part of a huge advertising campaign for Sizzler....sounds good. 


Until next time - Phillip

'Fine Fine Fella' (Patti Austin)

Patti Austin

Patti Austin's career in the music industry has crossed decades. Patti charted twenty R&B songs between 1969 and 1991.

Patti's biggest mainstream hit was "Baby, Come To Me" which was a duet with my brother James Ingram. This song initially peaked at #73 on the Hot 100 in early 1982 and then fell off the charts. After this song was featured as the love theme in a prominent story line on the soap opera General Hospital, this song re-entered the pop charts in October and went to number one in Feburary 1983. The single was certified Gold by the RIAA. She later teamed up with Jams for the duet "How Do You Keep The Music Playing"

Patti singing

In 1984 Patti recorded an album that had the hit single "It's Gonna Be Special". As part of my songwriting career I co-wrote a song on that album called "Fine Fine Fella".  I shared the co-writing with Attala Zane Giles and Ollie E. Brown. Ollie produced this particular song and Attala and I did the background arrangements and also sang on the record as well.

The single "It's Gonna Be Special"  from this album, peaked at #5 on the Dance charts, #15 on the R&B charts, and charted on the Hot 100 in 1984.  Patti continues to perform all around the world with her amazing voice and she still amazes audiences.

Patti & Phillip 

Patti and I got to re-connect when I sang backgrounds on the 60 Years of Quincy Jones at the Hollywood Bowl. She's just as silly as ever and as always, we had a great time at rehearsal and performing on the show.

Being a co-writer on "Fine Fine Fella" is yet another aspect of the  career that I've enjoyed over the years.

Until next time - Phillip