Any info on artist Zulema ?

[Dayna]

I am intrested in knowing more about the artist "Zulema"
I heard some of her material recently and quite liked it..
so any info from my fellow discomusic.commers would be apreciated...Like did she have a disco hit? etc..
Thanks
Dayna

[SandraDee]

One (I think) interesting fact about Zulema is that she was one of the three artists mentioned in 'Dancer From The Dance' (my favourite fictional book ever) along with Patti Jo & the Temptations.

[markydefad]

Zulema was an early member of Faith, Hope & Charity...left in the early Seventies before "To Each His Own" and their other dance hits.

Early club hit: "Giving Up"--available on Disco Spectrum CD
minor disco chart hit in early 1975: " Wanna Be Where You Are" [ I presume this is the same tune Michael Jackson also recorded]

Credited for vocals on Van McCoy's "Soul Cha Cha" ..[ I presume it's the Spanish part...but can't confirm.]

[markydefad]

from AMG:

Zulema was a pioneer of sorts in that she was a '70s black R&B singer who wrote much of her own material, and was able to assume some of her own production chores. The records themselves were average forerunners of urban contemporary music, occasionally reaching the lower parts of the R&B charts, Zulema's vocals betraying a strong Aretha Franklin influence.

Born Zulema Cusseaux in Tampa, FL, she was a member of the Lovelles in the late '60s and early '70s. A Van McCoy-produced Lovelles single ("So Much Love") became a Top 20 R&B hit in 1971, but Zulema went solo shortly afterwards, recording a couple of albums for Sussex. She assumed her highest profile with a series of LPs for RCA in the mid-'70s, reaching the middle of the R&B charts in 1975 with "Wanna Be Where You Are." Her recording career ended after an album for LeJoint in the late '70s.


AMG review of "Z-Licious"

Producer Van McCoy never was able to get Zulema past first base. On this, her last known LP, the former original member of Faith, Hope & Charity shares production credits with McCoy on nine jams, 11 if you include the "Prologue" and "Epilogue." This has plenty of disco, but the ballads "I'm Not Dreaming" and "What Do I Do Now" are the most arresting. None of the singles, including "Change," a mild disco offering, did anything. Other pleasant but non-essential items include "Higher Plane," "See," and "You've Got Something for Me."

[Dayna]

Thank you.........
Very Informative as always..

[shives]

Actually wasn't Deodato mentioned in "Dancer from the dance" also?

[SandraDee]

Actually wasn't Deodato mentioned in "Dancer from the dance" also?

I don't remember that; I'm gonna have to read it again now!

[markydefad]

In Jon Savage's liner notes for the cd issue of "Disco Gold"--Tom Moulton's 1975 remix project...this passage refers to the music mentioned in Dancer From The Dance":

"There was a moment when their faces blossomed into the sweetest happiness, however--when everything came together in a single lovely communion that was the reason that they all did what they did: and that occurred around six-thirty in the morning, when they took off their sweat-soaked T-shirts and screamed because Patti Jo had begun to sing:

'make me believe in you. show me that love can be true.'

"By then, the air was half-nauseating with the stale stench of poppers, broken and dropped on the floor after their fumes had been sucked into the heart, and the odour of sweat, and ethyl chloride from the rags they clamped between their teeth, holding their friends arms to keep from falling. The people on downs were hardly able to move, and others rising from the couches where they had been sprawled like martyrs who had given up their souls to Christ pushed onto the floor and united in cries of animal joy because Patti Jo had begun to sing in her metallic, unreal voice those signal words: "Make me believe in you. Show me that love can be true."

Andrew Halloran (Holleran) Dancer From The Dance

"Although not published until 1978--another example of publishing's time lag--Andrew Holleran's [misspelled as "Halloran" ] famous gay novel Dancer From The Dance captures the scene in its underground days [1972-74], with its ecstatic description of David Mancuso's The Loft. (Other records cited by "Halloran" include Barrabas' "Woman"; The Temptations' "The Law Of The Land" and Zulema's "Giving Up"). In this pre-Moroder age, Disco was a fluid mixture of contemporary Motown ("Papa Was A Rolling Stone"), Philadelphia International ("The Love I Lost"), funk ("Doing It To Death") and a whole new mood--light, spacey, tribal trance.


"Vince Aletti noted in his ground-breaking piece on 'Discotheque Rock '72' (Rolling Stone, Sept. 13, 1973).....Afro-Latin, in sound or instrumentation, heavy on the drums, with minimal lyrics, sometimes in a foreign language, and a repetitive, chant-like chorus. The most popular cuts were the longest and the most instrumental, performed by black groups, who are, frequently, not American. His review cites groups like Barrabas, Mandrill, Osibisa, Cymande and future classics like Manu Dibango's 'Soul Makossa' and Everyday People's 'I Like What I Like.' "

[Simon White]

Zulema's 'Change' is a fabulous Disco stormer on Le Joint 12" which sounds better to me now than it did back then. I've played on The metropolitan Soul Show...I'll put the show in question up as a podcast later for you Dayna.

She also had a nice version of Brenda Holloway's 'Just Look What You've Done' on RCA which is early 70's Disco.

[Simon White]

Funny how these things happen...I was looking through some records last night and came across Zulema's name as arranger for a track on a Brunswick records 12" from 1981 called 'Another Time, Another Place' by The Persuaders featuring Doug Scott. It's a nice ballad and the flip side is a dancer called 'I'm So Glad I Got You' which has Gilbert, Felder & Conway on the writer/producer credits (no Zulema) and would have been VERY dated in 1981 which makes me think the tracks are earlier recordings?

[Dayna]

Zulema's 'Change' is a fabulous Disco stormer on Le Joint 12" which sounds better to me now than it did back then. I've played on The metropolitan Soul Show...I'll put the show in question up as a podcast later for you Dayna.

She also had a nice version of Brenda Holloway's 'Just Look What You've Done' on RCA which is early 70's Disco.

Thank you Simon..Muahzzzz

[QUINNY]

AMG review of "Z-Licious"
None of the singles, including "Change," a mild disco offering, did anything.

Mild???? My Ass. Like Simon said, it's a real Disco stormer!!

[Mixmachine]

Zulema was an early member of Faith, Hope & Charity...left in the early Seventies before "To Each His Own" and their other dance hits.

Early club hit: "Giving Up"--available on Disco Spectrum CD
minor disco chart hit in early 1975: " Wanna Be Where You Are" [ I presume this is the same tune Michael Jackson also recorded] ```

As I remember, by the mid-70’s --when I first started collecting early Disco’s club records I was missing --- Zulema was always included and mentioned at the top of the list by first generation Disco clubs veterans and Djs.

Her hits songs “Giving up” (1973) (also available on Siano’s Record Gallery CD) and “Wanna be where you are” (1974) must have been really popular in early underground Discos, as Zulema ----- even if she was not very well known by the general public at large --- was by then already a Disco cult favorite.

“Wanna be where you are” (co-written by Leon Ware) is the same version that Michael Jackson did, but Zulema’s soulful version is much better, without any of MJ bubblegum pop sound, and especially without his childlike vocals.

(Jose Feliciano also did a wonderful version of this song,--- although his version is more on the ballad side ----- worth checking out).

Zulemas’ great “Z-licious” Lp , besides “Change” also contains a great version of McCoy’s song “Praying for a miracle” --also performed by “Soul Generation”—Zulema’s vocals here are something to add to any Diva’s book.:icon_mrgreen:

RCA also released a single in 1975 with “Just look what you’ve done” off Zulema’s R.S.V.P.” Lp, this is a cover of Brenda Holloway’s ’67 hit. ( my Memory is not this good, I had to check) I Don’t own this LP so I don’t know what else is notable here.

There is also the 1976 RCA LP “Suddenly there was you” , here the best Disco-ish cut is “All I need is you” very nice soulful vocals here, this LP is also great for Zulema’s fans..

Credited for vocals on Van McCoy's "Soul Cha Cha" ..[ I presume it's the Spanish part...but can't confirm.]

This is definitely Zulema, off the “Z-licious” Lp on the cut “You’ve got something for me” she sings both in English and Spanish, and here She repeats during the break most if not all of the same Spanish chants she uses on “Soul Cha Cha”, this is a nice song too…..

[Simon White]

I have two different 45's of "Just Look What You Have Done'...different lengths. I also have another RCA 45 .... I'll dig it out.

Dayna..the show with 'Change ' is here - The Metropolitan Soul Show 2007 Disco half hour/ Northern Soul half hour


Quinny...dunno when that AMG review was written but I've had the 12" pretty much since it came out..at the time I thought it lacked punch...now it sounds fantastic to me !


I'm not thinking straight here and it's never occurred to me before....having never heard her 'Giving Up', I wonder if it's the same Van McKoy song Gladys Knight and The Ad Libs did ?

As I remember, by the mid-70’s --when I first started collecting early Disco’s club records I was missing --- Zulema was always included and mentioned by first generation Disco clubs veterans and Djs at the top of the list.

Her hits songs “Giving up” (1973) (also available on Siano’s Record Gallery CD) and “Wanna be where you are” (1974) must have been really popular in early underground Discos, as Zulema ----- even if she was not very well known by the general public at large --- was by then already a Disco cult favorite.

“Wanna be where you are” (co-written by Leon Ware) is the same version that Michael Jackson did, but Zulema’s soulful version is much better, without any of MJ bubblegum pop sound, and especially without his childlike vocals.

(Jose Feliciano also did a wonderful version of this song,--- although his version is more on the ballad side ----- worth checking out).

Zulemas’ great “Z-licious” Lp , besides “Change” also contains a great version of McCoy’s song “Praying for a miracle” --also performed by “Soul Generation”—Zulema’s vocals here are something to add to any Diva’s book.:icon_mrgreen:

RCA also released a single in 1975 with “Just look what you’ve done” off Zulema’s R.S.V.P.” Lp, this is a cover of Brenda Holloway’s ’67 hit. ( my Memory is not this good, I had to check) I Don’t own this LP so I don’t know what else is notable here.

There is also the 1976 RCA LP “Suddenly there was you” , here the best Disco-ish cut is “All I need is you” very nice soulful vocals here, this LP is also great for Zulema’s fans..

This is definitely Zulema, off the “Z-licious” Lp on the cut “You’ve got something for me” she sings both in English and Spanish, and here She repeats during the break most if not all of the same Spanish chants she uses on “Soul Cha Cha”, this is a nice song too…..

[markydefad]

Choice: A Collection of Classics
François K


"Giving Up" (6:31) by Zulema ["giving up is sooo hard for me to do...no matter how I try, I can't cut you loose"...something like that???] is on this LP--I had thought it was that first Disco Spectrum--but I just checked and it was this one..and it's on this cd as well


Soul Jazz Records Presents Nicky Siano's the Gallery6:11Soul Jazz


According to AMG, D. Wolfe is the composer of Zulema's "Giving Up"--although there is a "Giving Up" listed by Van McCoy also....I can't find the credits on my stuff--no songwriting credits on "The Gallery" cd and I can't find the Francois K LP!!!!...although I recently played the Denise LaSalle "I'm So Hot" LP and the same Zulema song is given a ballad treatment on side 2--but again I have a test pressing--so no credits!!! :icon_rolleyes::icon_cry:

OK...finally found the Francois K Choice LP...

"Giving Up" -Zulema
written by D.Wolfe
Produced by Bobby Taylor
Arranged by Bobby Taylor & Gene Page
1973 Sussex Records