Carol Douglas
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Carol Douglas (b. April 7, 1948 in Brooklyn, New York) is an actress and singer who is best known for her Disco hits Doctor's Orders (1974) and Midnight Love Affair (1976). Carol comes from a musical family background, her mother being blues and jazz singer Minnie Newsome and her cousin, soul legend, Sam Cooke.
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[edit] Early Life and Acting Career
At the age of 10 Carol was a contestant and winner on the game show Name That Tune. She attended The Willard May School for professional children and afterwards the Quintanos High School for young professionals alongside Gregory Hines, Bernadette Peters, Carol Lynley and Patty Duke. She started her professional show business career as an actress in the 60's, doing TV commercials for Ideal Toys and General Mills and small film and TV roles, including an appearance on The Patty Duke Show, before venturing into theatre work. The first play Carol appeared in was One Tuesday Morning with actress Clarice Taylor. She then served as an understudy for actress Jonelle Allen in the off-Broadway production of The Life of Mary McCloud Bethune. She also co-starred with James Earl Jones and Cicely Tyson in the play Moon on a Rainbow Shawl.
[edit] Music Career
After a few years as an actress Carol decided to concentrate on her music career and in the early 1970's she landed the role of lead singer for the reformed soul group The Chantels. She toured the U.S. with the group for a while before receiving a record contract with Midland International Records in 1974 as a solo act. The first single released under the label, Doctor's Orders, became a huge hit, reaching #2 on Billboard's Disco chart, #9 R&B and #11 on the Pop charts. The follow up single A Hurricane Is Coming Tonite became a minor hit, reaching #81 on Billboard's Hot 100. In 1976 she hit #1 on the Disco chart with Midnight Love Affair / Crime Don't Pay, both from her 2nd album Midnight Love Affair. The single also reached the #96 spot on Cashbox's top 100 chart. The following year she recorded the track You Make Me Feel The Music for the soundtrack to the 1977 motion picture The Haunted. Although not internationally famous, in 1978 she release a cover version of the Bee Gees #1 hit, Night Fever, which became a minor hit for Carol in the UK, reaching #66 on the chart. Even though Carol would go on to chart over 1/2 dozen other hits on the Disco chart, none of them would reach the success on the mainstream pop charts like Doctor's Orders. By the early 80's the Disco backlash was in full bloom. So after releasing her 6th album, Love Zone in 1983, Carol decided to lay low for a while, only releasing sporadic 12" singles throughout the rest of the decade.
[edit] Career Resurgence
However, by the early-to-mid 90's anything and everything retro Disco was in high demand and Carol found herself back on the road touring and making personal appearances at a number of special events including the Martin Luther King Concert Series, Beatstock '97, Saturday Night Fever 20th Anniversary Reunion and the Dance Music Hall of Fame ceremony. In 2003 she returned to the recording studio when she was invited to sing backing vocals on Wanda Dee's Goddess Is Here! CD.
Douglas made an appearance on The People's Court (with Judge Marilyn Milian) in 2003 as the plaintiff in a case involving her and fellow disco diva Sharon Brown (I Specialize In Love). In addition to awarding Douglas some (not all) of the money she was requesting, Milian had Douglas sing a brief snippet of "Doctor's Orders".
Douglas is not to be confused with (and is no relation to) Carl Douglas, a fellow pop one-hit wonder whose famous single Kung Fu Fighting was in the Billboard Hot 100 at about the same time as Carol Douglas's "Doctor's Orders".
[edit] Singles/Chart Peak
- 1974: Doctor's Orders (#2 Disco, #9 R&B, #11 Pop)
- 1975: Headline News (#5 Club Play Singles, #15 Disco)
- 1975: A Hurricane Is Coming Tonite (#14 Disco, #81 Pop)
- 1976: Midnight Love Affair b/w Crime Don't Pay (#1 Club Play Singles, #15 Disco, #102 Pop)
- 1977: Dancing Queen (#35 Disco, #110 Pop)
- 1977: I Want To Stay With You b/w Light My Fire (#28 Club Play Singles)
- 1978: We Do It (#108 Pop)
- 1978: Burnin' (#11 Club Play Singles) - Considered Carol's best effort, nominated for a Grammy in 1978
- 1979: Night Fever (#15 Club Play Singles)
- 1979: I Got The Answer b/w Love Sick (#51 Club Play Singles)
- 1981: My Simple Heart (#45 Club Play Singles, #42 Disco)
- 1982: You're Not So Hot (#62 Club Play Singles)
[edit] Albums/Record Labels
- 1975: The Carol Douglas Album - Midland International Records
- 1976: Midnight Love Affair - Midland International Records
- 1977: Full Bloom - Midsong International
- 1978: Burnin' - Midsong International
- 1979: Come Into My Life - Midsong International
- 1983: Love Zone - Next Plateau Records
[edit] External links
- Carol Douglas vs. Sharon Brown on The People's Court (YouTube)
