Carolyn Crawford - Carolyn Crawford - Hypnotised Soul (2006)

US-born soul singer Carolyn Crawford won a 1963 talent contest staged by radio station WCHB in Detroit, the prize being a contract with the city’s biggest label, Motown Records. Her debut single, ‘Forget About Me’, proved unsuccessful, but she had a minor US hit in 1964 with Smokey Robinson’s ‘My Smile Is Just A Frown (Turned Upside Down)’. Her third release, ‘When Someone’s Good To You’, flopped in the USA, but became a cult record among British soul fans. Crawford left Motown shortly afterwards, working as a backing vocalist and session singer until joining the Detroit soul group Chapter 8 in 1975. She left that group a year later, to be replaced by Anita Baker, and after a spell with the vocal trio Hodges, James & Smith, she relaunched her solo career in 1979, registering another minor hit with ‘Coming On Strong’ on Mercury. After several years with Chapter 8 she recorded for Ian Levine’s Motor City label, releasing Heartaches.