Madeline Bell
was from Newark NJ, but moved to UK in 1962 to perform in a gospel show.
She then joined pop group
Blue Mink
who had six UK top 20 pop hits between 1969-73, 4 of them top 10, another
just missed the top 20 at #26.
Bell's first and only solo hit was in 1968 with a cover of Dee Dee
Warwick's 'I'm Gonna Make You Love Me' which went higher in the Hot 100
(#26) than Warwick's 1966 original which only reached #88. However, if
you're like me, I always associate it with Diana Ross & The Supremes
who had a #2 hit with it later that year. Bell never had a solo hit in the
UK.
She had a few records played on the Northern Soul Scene, most of them are cover versions. Probably the best known is her version of Evie Sands'
'Picture Me Gone'
released in 1967 on Philips (which I haven't listened to for years and
forgot just how good it was until I watched the B&W video clip of her
singing it). An interesting piece of trivia, it was co-written by Al
Gorgoni and Chip Taylor who is the brother of actor Jon Voight and uncle
to Angelina Jolie.
She did a cover of Jean Wells' (ABC Paramount 1965)
'Don't Come Running To Me'
in 1966. Sissie (Cissy) Houston also did a version in 1967 on Kapp. The flip side was apparently a
biggie at the Twisted Wheel
'I Really Got Carried Away'.
How coincidental is this? I've literally just posted a feature on
Maxine Brown
who recorded the next tune 'One Step At A Time' in 1965 on Wand. Bell covered it in 1967.
Another was from 1968
'What'm I Supposed To Do'
which was the flip to her version of the Lennon & McCartney song 'Step
Inside Love' which was a top 10 hit for Cilla Black earlier that year
(which I have to admit I have a soft spot for - the song that is not
Cilla! ... probably as it was ingrained in me as a child as Cilla had a TV
show and sang it regularly).
Yet another cover, this time of a Van McCoy song originally recorded by
Barbara Mercer
on Golden World in 1965
'Doing Things Together With You'
which Bell recorded in 1968.
One that probably isn't that well know, although the song tune may be, is an obscure
1968 Dutch only release of
'Help Yourself (To All Of My Lovin)'
a hit for
James & Bobby Purify
in 1968 and also done by several others including
Jay & The Techniques
the same year.
Another one that seems only to have been released in the southern
hemisphere (i.e New Zealand and South Africa) was yet another cover with
her version of
Shirley Ellis' 1967 outing on Columbia, 'Soul Time' in 1968.
A few album only tracks worth a mention include:
From 'Bell's A Poppin' 1967 'I Didn't Wanna Have To Do It'
Written by John Sebastian of
The Lovin' Spoonful
who recorded it in 1966.
Ralfi Pagan
also did a really nice version in 1974.
Mama Cass Elliot
did an unreleased version with The Loving Spoonful in 1965 released on
'Here's A Song! (You Might Have Missed) Vol 13' in 2011. There are several other
versions.
From 'This Is One Girl' 1976 : You've Got What It Takes and Love Is All
I've found another dozen versions of 'I Can't Wait Until I See My
Baby's Face'.
1963 - Justine 'Baby' Washington [Sue]
1964 - Aretha Franklin [Columbia]
1964 - Pat Thomas [Verve]
1964 - Judi Johnson [HMV]
1967 - The Monticellos [Red Cap]
1967 - Spyder Turner [MGM] 'Stand By Me' album track
1967 - Dusty Springfield [Philips] 'Where Am I Going' album track
1969 - Sonji Clay [Songee] ... who was Mrs. Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) at the time
1975 - Dionne Warwick [Warner Bros.]
1990 - Carolyn Crawford [Motorcity] ... an Ian Levine production!
1996 - Dee Dee Warwick an unreleased 70s Atco recording
2019 - Aysha Loren [Peckings]
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