Freestyle Wednesday #4: Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam

Depending on who you ask, Lisa Lisa was anywhere from 16 to 20 years-old when she met New York producers Full Force at the Fun House (the same club where DJ/producer Jellybean Benitez discovered Madonna). Despite having had no previous musical experience, Lisa had the type of singing voice that teenage girls could easily sing along with and imitate. That was enough to land her a place at the helm of Full Force's new musical conceit: a freestyle group called Cult Jam consisting of guitarist/bassist Alex Mosely and drummer/keyboardist Mike Hughes. After enjoying considerable success with hip hop act UTFO, Full Force were golden (platinum, actually) after the 1985 release of Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam's eponymous debut.

MP3: Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam - "I Wonder If I Take You Home"

As was the case with most early freestyle singles, the dancefloor popularity of "I Wonder If I Take You Home" lead to the track's popularity on the airwaves. Columbia Records took note and signed the group, re-releasing the single to worldwide acclaim. It reached #1 on the Billboard dance charts and was quickly certified gold.

MP3: Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam - "Can You Feel the Beat"

Follow-up single "Can You Feel the Beat" climbed the dance charts and spilled over into the R&B charts, and their third single, "All Cried Out," scored them another gold record. All three singles are still old-school radio staples, as are tracks from their following albums. As a matter of fact, we bet if you go to your radio right now and switch it to R&B/Top 40, somewhere, at some point in the immediate future, you'll find yourself dancing to Lisa Lisa's sing-along vocals.