Remembering Geraldine Hunt (10 Feb 1945 - 27 Oct 2022)

Geraldine Hunt died last year on 27 Oct 2022 but would have been celebrating her 78th birthday today.

Born Geraldine Milligan in St. Louis, MS, on 10 Feb 1945 she moved to southside Chicago when she was two years old. She attended Hyde Park High School where she was classmates and best friends with Minnie Riperton. Other school attendees included the three members of the group Coffee (Dee Dee Bryant, Elaine Sims, Gwen Hester) who had a hit with a disco cover of Ruby Andrews' Casanova in 1980. 

Her first recording was made in 1962 when she was advised to shorten her name and changed it to Hunt. She recorded eleven singles, seven on different labels and four on Roulette between 1962-1973 before her 1980 club hit which she is probably best known for "Can't Fake The Feeling" which was reworked only last year by Carl Cox (available on Bandcamp). 

One of her favourites on the UK rare soul scene is the mid paced "Never, Never Leave Me" on Roulette which was originally recorded in 1965 by Mary Wells on 20th Century Fox. The flip "Push, Sweep" sounds dated even for 1970 and is a Northern soul R&B/popcorn style tune. Another Roulette recording worth highlighting is the Ashford & Simpson penned "Now That There Is You" recorded earlier in 1970 as an album track by Diana Ross on her anonymous debut solo album.

She achieved R&B chart status five times with "You And I" with Charles Hodges (#45 1970), "Baby, I Need Your Loving" (a different take on the Holland Dozier Holland song) (#47 1972), "You Brought Joy" (#78 1973), "Can't Fake The Feeling" (#58 1980) and "Heart Heart" with Charles Marotta (#67 1981) but unfortunately none crossed over to the Hot 100. 

In 1975 she relocated to Montreal and recorded her first album "Sweet Honesty" in 1978 for Canadian producer Tony Green's TGO label (Green also produced France Joli). She followed it in 1980 with "No Way" which contained "Can't Fake The Feeling". A 1993 reissue of the album included several tracks from her 1978 album and a couple that were 12" releases only i.e. "Undercover Lover". 

A third album "Soultry, Jazzy And Sexy" was recorded in 1999 with two of her three children, son Freddie James and daughter Rosalind Hunt who was a member of duo Cheri (of "Murphy's Law" fame).

As a tribute a rather grainy, overdubbed, video of her performing "Can't Fake The Feeling" in 1983 on Solid Gold (hosted by Dionne Warwick) along with a playlist of all her chart hits along with some others that didn't fare so well commercially.

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