Via: Allmusic.com
One of the stars of Clarence Avant‘s Tabu label, as well as an early beneficiary of producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Cherrelle was born Cheryl Norton in 1958 in Los Angeles, California. After her family established a summertime residence in Detroit, Michigan, she met bassist/singer Michael Henderson, who had her appear on “One to One,” the closing song on his 1978 album In the Night-Time. Norton subsequently went on tour with Henderson and Luther Vandross. Early the following decade, Norton recorded a demo that came to the attention of Tabu Records owner Clarence Avant, who signed her through her father, an attorney. She took the stage name of Cherrelle, inspired by her boss at a bank where she had worked, who would yell, “Cher-relle, you’re late!” Teamed with producers/songwriters Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis — Time members who had hits with Tabu’s S.O.S. Band — Cherrelle started with a steady stream of charting singles and albums. Fragile, released in 1984, produced the singles “I Didn’t Mean to Turn You On” (a Top Ten R&B hit later covered by Robert Palmer) and “Fragile…Handle with Care” (which reached the Top 40 of the same chart). High Priority, released the following year with more guidance from Jam and Lewis, as well as some additional songwriting and production from Cherrelle‘s romantic partner Randy Ran, featured the number two R&B hit “Saturday Love,” a duet with labelmate Alexander O’Neal. Continue Reading..
