One Hit Wondering – Johnny Kemp

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 were listening to R&B music in the ‘80s, there’s a 100% chance you loved New Jack Swing. The feel good, dance floor ready sound was something everybody could get down to, and Johnny Kemp inspired plenty of people to break out their best moves with his classic, “Just Got Paid.”

Off his sophomore album, Secrets of Flying, which was released in December of 1987, “Just Got Paid” rocketed to #1 on both the U.S. R&B, and Dance charts, and peaked at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The lineup for “Just Got Paid” consisted of just three people, but it’s quite the impressive trio – Kemp handled lead, and background vocals, Aaron Hall can be heard providing backing vocals, and the legendary Teddy Riley handled all the production, and instruments, while also providing additional backing vocals.

The song, however, was originally intended for someone else entirely.

After Teddy Riley created the instrumental, he pitched it to Keith Sweat. Sweat, who was working on his debut album, Make It Last Forever, passed on it. Kemp then recorded a demo of the song for the purposes of pitching it to other singers, but his version was so good it became his song, and was released with his original demo vocals.

For Kemp, the moment in the spotlight was a long time coming.

Born in The Bahamas, Kemp began his career singing in nightclubs at the ripe old age of 13. During this time he connected with other musicians, and became a member of the band Kinky Foxx. As a group, they made the move to Harlem, NY in 1979 to make it in the States.

Fame eluded Kinky Foxx, but they did give listeners the very funky “So Different.”

The members of Kinky Foxx would eventually go their separate ways, but they didn’t stray far from each other, connecting in other projects.

For Kemp, he found himself in the role of session musician, and songwriter. This included singing backup for Change, and the B. B. & Q. Band, both of which featured former members of Kinky Foxx.

Change was an Italian-American post-disco group formed in Bologna, Italy, in 1979 by businessman and music mogul Jacques Fred Petrus, and Mauro Malavasi. With a revolving cast of musicians, Change’s 1980 debut album, Glow of Love featured a young singer who would go on to do a few things in music, a guy by the name of Luther Vandross.

Kemp’s work with Change would come shortly after that, co-writing the song “Take You To Heaven” for the band’s 1982 album, Sharing Your Love.

Buoyed by the success of Change, Petrus and Malavasi formed another post-disco band in 1981, this one named B. B. & Q. Band (which stood for the Brooklyn, Bronx, and Queens Band, an homage to where the core members were from).

Once again, the band involved members of Kinky Foxx, including Kemp, and it would be a funky good time.

You might be beginning to wonder – who is this Jacques Fred Petrus guy behind these bands?

Petrus, a West Indian-born businessman, loved creating post-disco acts.

It all began for him in 1978, when he formed formed Goody Music Production with Mauro Malavasi. At that time the duo also established a recording studio in Bologna, and created the Goody Music Records label. The following year, they put all of their music activities under the umbrella of their new company name, Little Macho Music, and opened an office in New York.

With Change, and B. B. & Q. Band, Petrus saw early success, but in 1986 he caught the eye, and ire, of the IRS, who accused him of tax evasion. Petrus fled the country, going to Italy, and then Guadalupe, putting an end to his time in the music industry.

His life then ended shortly thereafter.

Petrus was murdered in the spring of ’87 in Guadalupe at the age of 39.

According to the French police, he was shot in his home by a Swiss gunman who had an altercation with him earlier in the evening at Petrus’ nightclub, L’Elysée Matignon club in Le Gosier.

So apparently the Swiss have weapons other than tiny knives. Noted!

Back when Petrus was just a tax evader on the lamb, Kemp was busy signing a recording contract with Columbia Records, and in 1986 his self-titled debut album was released.

A few songs from the album made their way onto the U.S. R&B chart, but it wasn’t until the release of his sophomore LP, Secrets of Flying, that Kemp would truly fly high.

With Secrets of Flying, and the mega-hit “Just Got Paid,” Kemp became a household name, but his time in the limelight didn’t last long.

The album would be his final one as a solo artist, and his only other song to chart on the Hot 100 would be “Birthday Suit,” which peaked at #36, and was from the soundtrack to the 1989 movie Sing.

In a very “circle of life” twist, Kemp, who came up as a young artist, would find himself as a mentor to young artists thanks to a project he, and Sherry Goffin Kondor, the daughter of Carole King, were the lead singers of named Sugar Beats.

Sugar Beats was a children’s cover band that was essentially the Kidz Bop of their time, but with adults helping to lead the way. At one point their cast of child singers included future pop star Jesse McCartney.

The adults in the band included Kemp, Kondor, Kondor’s husband, Robbie Kondor, and her longtime friend Lisa Maxwell, whose musical experience included playing the sax for Guns N’ Roses, and Spinal Tap. I guess you could say these kids go to 11 … and then get too old for the band (OK, it wasn’t a Menudo situation, but I couldn’t resist the reference).

In addition to the kids albums, Kemp was also reaching the youth another way – singing the theme for Reading Rainbow, as well as other songs for the program. This was for a few years in the late ‘90s, in-between the Tina Fabrique, and Chaka Khan versions of the theme song.

While Kemp’s voice was inspiring kids to read, his New Jack Swing classic was inspiring a whole new generation of teens to dance. This was thanks to NSYNC covering “Just Got Paid” for their 2000 album No Strings Attached. The famed boy band, which was on top of the world at that point, even had the song’s original producer, Teddy Riley, produce their version of it.

For those with good memories, Reggie Calloway, of Calloway fame, also had a co-writing credit on this album, so NYSNC was absolutely mining ‘80s R&B for the project. With 2.4 million in first week sales, I’d say the plan worked pretty well.

For Kemp, however, work began to slow down. Sugar Beats broke up in 2009, and while Kemp continued to perform, he also had a wife, and two sons to focus on (one of whom is actor Jared Kemp).

Sadly, Kemp died in a tragic accident in April of 2015, with his body being found off the coast of Montego Bay. He had been a passenger on a cruise ship that docked there, and he was scheduled to perform on the Tom Joyner Foundation Fantastic Voyage Cruise.

According to the St. James Police, it’s believed Kemp lost his balance while walking on some rocks, fell, hit his head, and ultimately drowned.

Thinking back to the great times his music inspired, I gave Secrets of Flying a spin, and found three songs, other than “Just Got Paid,” that you should hear.

“Urban Times Medley”

 

Clocking in at nearly nine minutes, “Urban Times Medley” didn’t have much of a chance of being released as a single, but the wonderful modernized versions of two Marvin Gaye classics – “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler),” and “Mercy Mercy Me (Ecology)” – mixed together masterfully, is an absolute must-hear.

It’s classic, it’s cool, and as soon as the beat starts you’ll go “Oh yeah!” A few second later, when the keys come in, you’re gonna be all in for the ride, and what an awesome ride it is!

“Dancin’ with Myself”

 

Sometimes – OK, oftentimes – I question the decisions record labels make when it comes to singles, specifically the singles that follow huge hits, but this is not one of those times.

“Dancin’ with Myself” was the follow up to “Just Got Paid,” and it was the perfect choice as the second single from the album. I have no idea why I didn’t chart on the Billboard Hot 100, but it reached the Top 5 of the R&B chart, and filled numerous dance floors.

FYI – The song has nothing to do with the Billy Idol song with essentially the same name, but it would’ve been cool to see them get together on some sort of crossover mix.

“One Thing Led to Another”

 

It’s time for some romance! The third single from Secrets of Flying, “One Thing Led to Another” is a fantastic slow jam that’s about friends turning into lovers.

The song reached the Top 40 of the R&B chart, but I have to think where it found the most success was on mixtapes guys made for girls they were friends with in hopes of turning that friendship into something more.

FYI – The song has nothing to do with The Fixx’s “One Thing Leads to Another,” but seeing another case of a song with similar name does lead me to wonder if song title choice might have caused issues for both this, and “Dancin’ with Myself.”

We’ll probably never know, but they’re damned good regardless.

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