One Hit Wondering – Brenda K. Starr

One Hit Wondering is a series of columns where I listen to the album of a one hit wonder, and find three songs, other than the hit, that people should hear. 

If you’re having a conversation about the greatest pop ballads of the ‘80s – which is a conversation I will readily have at any point in time – one song that should always come up is the Brenda K. Starr classic “I Still Believe.”

Released in February of 1988, “I Still Believe” had a steady climb up the chart for Starr, who was predominantly known as a freestyle artist at the time.

While the song didn’t crack the Top 10, it made its way up to #13 on the Billboard Hot 100, and would go on to become a timeless classic.

With freestyle music having Latin roots, and Starr knowing that’s where a significant percentage of her audience knew her from, she also recorded a Spanish version of “I Still Believe” titled “Yo Creo En Ti,” which would reach the Top 20 of the Billboard Latin Tropical Airplay chart (yes, that’s what it was called back then). What might be the most amazing aspect of this achievement is that she didn’t actually speak Spanish at the time.

“I Still Believe” would prove to be Starr’s only hit, but in 1988 it also might have felt like her last chance to have one.

The second single off her eponymous sophomore album, the song followed “Breakfast In Bed,” which failed to make an impact (more on that song later), and with the album having languished for six long months since its release in July of 1987, “I Still Believe” saved Starr from certain shelving.

It you want to get overly poetic about it, you could imagine the song title being looked at as how her team, and Starr herself, felt about her career – everyone still believed … at least in that moment.

The follow up single, “What You See Is What You Get,” reached #24 on the Billboard Hot 100, and Starr had two of her songs placed on movie soundtracks – “Sweet Surrender” on the soundtrack to the 1988 film License to Drive, and “Sata” on the soundtrack for the 1990 film Lambada. The label she was on, however, began to focus on another artist, an artist that was one of her backup singers. Starr herself was actually the one who gave the singer’s demo to Tommy Mottola, hoping to help the teenager with her career.

Perhaps you’ve heard of her. Her name is Mariah Carey.

The connection between the two singers was incredibly strong, as they became the best of friends while Mariah was singing backup for Starr at shows.

Wikipedia claims Mariah is on the Brenda K. Starr album, but she isn’t listed in the album’s liner notes, so score one for owning physical media.

Mariah would cover “I Still Believe” for her #1’s album as a tribute to Starr, although during Mariah’s rise the two weren’t always on the best of terms.

For Starr, a Page Six article about her in the New York Post, a Wendy Williams interview, and a call-in altercation with fellow artist La India on a radio show, all made it look like the friendship between her and Mariah was totally over, and bad blood was in the air.

There was also the time Starr, while working as an on-air DJ at radio station in NYC, thought she’d booked Mariah for an interview, but Mariah never showed.

While beef, and the rumor mill, always make for titillating conversation, Starr has said in recent interviews that everything is currently good between her and Mariah, and that it was a call Starr made to Mariah’s mom that ultimately led to the reconciliation between the once best friends.

Going back to 1991, however, Starr was about to become an artist on the outside looking in.

With Mariah having become the focal point of the label, and Starr’s third album, 1991’s By Heart, not making any sort of impact, Starr was dropped, and found herself without a label home.

Thankfully for Starr, she was no label creation. She had a history of taking the reigns of her career that dated all the way back to when she was a young teen.

Before her mega-hit, and before any record label knew her name, Starr was a teenager who joined a breakdance team named Dynamic Dolls. The Dolls became known to the point where they danced at a Kennedy Center Honors.

While Starr enjoyed dancing, making it as a singer was still her dream, and at age 14 she auditioned for a singing role in the movie Beat Street, meeting Harry Belafonte in the process.

She landed a small role in the film, and this ultimately led to her being signed by a label. 

With that as her background, and having a hit under her belt, Starr wasn’t about to let her singing career fade away just because she was dropped by a label.

One major hurdle she had to get around was that at the time she felt blackballed by Tommy Mottola. This led her to go a radically different route to continue her career.

Rewinding back to “Yo Creo En Ti,” Starr decided it was time to learn Spanish.

That decision would rejuvenate her career in ways she couldn’t have possibly imagined.

Now a successful salsa, tropical, and Latin pop artist, Starr has been nominated for Latin Grammy awards, and Billboard Latin Music awards. 

In 2021 she released a Christmas album, and last year she returned to the English language dance world, releasing a single titled “Always Remember,” via her own label, Starr Records.

Starr is also no longer the only star in her family, as one of her children, Gianna Isabella, has followed her in her mother’s footsteps. Blazing her own path as a singer, Gianna finished in the Top 10 on Season 15 of American Idol.

Mama Starr still performs regularly, and “I Still Believe” will always be a fan favorite.

Recently, I picked up a copy of Brenda K. Starr’s self-titled sophomore album while digging through used vinyl. Dropping the needle on it, I found three songs, other than “I Still Believe,” that you should hear.

“Over and Over”

 

Not releasing “Over and Over” as a single seems like a case of record label malpractice. The song has all the makings of a freestyle classic, and in my opinion should’ve been the lead single off the album. It makes you want to move, has an addictive chorus, and we even get a little bit of a growl from Starr.

“Over and Over” should be in every ‘80s dance music, and party playlist you have!

“Giving You All My Love”

 

Another freestyle song, although with more pop leanings than “Over and Over,” “Giving You All My Love” would’ve been given heavy radio airplay if only it was given a chance.

I realize that in interviews Starr has stated she didn’t want to be viewed as just a freestyle artist, but she made some really amazing music in the genre, with “Giving You All My Love” being yet another example of this.

“Breakfast In Bed”

 

Who among us doesn’t love a good sexual innuendo in their music? I know I do, and that’s what’s being served up with “Breakfast In Bed.”

“Breakfast In Bed” is a really fun song, but it was totally misplaced as the lead single from the album. As a more subtle version of something we might have heard from Vanity 6, it should’ve been left as a great album cut for folks to discover … just like I did when I picked up the album, and just like you did right now!

Until next time, here’s to discovering more great music from one hit wonders!