Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam
American urban contemporary band
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam were a United States urban contemporary band and one of the first freestyle music groups to emerge from New York City in the 1980s. Cult Jam consisted of vocalist Lisa Lisa, born Lisa Velez, guitarist/bassist Alex "Spanador" Moseley, and drummer/keyboardist Mike Hughes. They were assembled and initially produced by Full Force.[1]
History
Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam formed after Lisa Velez auditioned for the production team Full Force at age 14.[2] The group signed with Columbia Records, which released their debut single, "I Wonder If I Take You Home," to CBS Records' European division in 1983 for the compilation album Breakdancing. The track gained traction in American clubs in 1984 as an import, prompting Columbia to release it domestically. It topped Billboard's Dance/Disco chart, reached No. 6 on the R&B chart, and peaked at No. 34 on the pop chart in the summer of 1985. The single eventually went gold in the United States.[3]
That same year, the group released their debut album, Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force.[3]
"I Wonder If I Take You Home" was followed by another club hit, "Can You Feel the Beat", which went to No. 40 on the R&B chart in late 1985. A sampling of the lyrics of this song was later used by Nina Sky for their 2004 hit single "Move Ya Body". Their third single, the ballad "All Cried Out", went gold, going to number No. 3 R&B and No. 8 pop in summer 1986. In 1997, "All Cried Out" was recorded by Allure, and was a hit in 1998. Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force went platinum.[4]
Their second album, Spanish Fly, was a success in 1987.[3] It spawned two No. 1 pop hits, "Head to Toe" and "Lost in Emotion",[3] both of which went gold. "Head to Toe" peaked at No. 1 R&B for two weeks and stayed in the pop top 5 nearly three months. "Lost in Emotion's" video became the fourth most played of 1987 on MTV. Spanish Fly went platinum, peaking at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 chart.[3] Other singles from the album were the ballad "Someone to Love Me for Me", No. 7 R&B, and "Everything Will B-Fine", No. 9 R&B.[4]
In between albums they recorded "Go for Yours", which was featured in the movie Caddyshack II.
Their third album was titled Straight to the Sky and was released in 1989.[3] It featured the single "Little Jackie Wants to Be a Star". Their fourth and final album, Straight Outta Hell's Kitchen, was less of a success, though it did include a hit with "Let the Beat Hit 'Em", which was a No. 1 hit on both the R&B and club charts. The group disbanded in 1991.
On February 1, 2025, Lifetime debuted a movie based on the band titled Can You Feel the Beat: The Lisa Lisa Story.[5][6]
Discography
Studio albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [7] |
US R&B [7] |
AUS [8] |
CAN [9] |
UK [10] | ||||||||||
| 1985 | Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force
|
52 | 16 | — | — | 96 | ||||||||
| 1987 | Spanish Fly
|
7 | 7 | — | 18 | — | ||||||||
| 1989 | Straight to the Sky
|
77 | 18 | — | 63 | — | ||||||||
| 1991 | Straight Outta Hell's Kitchen
|
133 | 29 | 125 | — | — | ||||||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||||
Compilation albums
- Head to Toe (1995, Sony Music)
- Lisa Lisa and Friends (1995, Sony Music)
- Past, Present & Future (1996, Thump)
- Super Hits (1997, Sony Music)
- Playlist: The Very Best of Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force (2010, Columbia/Legacy)
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [7] |
US R&B [7] |
US Dance [7] |
AUS [13][8] |
BEL [14] |
CAN [9] |
IRE [15] |
NL [16] |
NZ [17] |
UK [10] | |||||
| "I Wonder If I Take You Home" | 1985 | 34 | 6 | 1 | — | — | — | 24 | 41 | — | 12 |
|
Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force | |
| "Can You Feel the Beat" | 69 | 40 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 97 | ||||
| "All Cried Out" | 1986 | 8 | 3 | — | — | — | 96 | — | — | — | — |
| ||
| "Head to Toe" | 1987 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 52 | 15 | 1 | — | 16 | 9 | 82 | Spanish Fly | ||
| "Lost in Emotion" | 1 | 1 | 8 | 83 | — | 7 | — | — | 15 | 58 |
| |||
| "Someone to Love Me for Me" | 78 | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Everything Will B-Fine" | 1988 | — | 9 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Go for Yours" | — | 19 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Caddyshack II | |||
| "Little Jackie Wants to Be a Star" | 1989 | 29 | 3 | — | 153 | 16 | 98 | — | 6 | 10 | 90 | Straight to the Sky | ||
| "Just Git It Together" | — | 16 | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Kiss Your Tears Away" | — | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Let the Beat Hit 'Em" | 1991 | 37 | 1 | 1 | 72 | 27 | — | 27 | 30 | — | 17 |
|
Straight Outta Hell's Kitchen | |
| "Where Were You When I Needed You" | — | 65 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Forever" | 95 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Let the Beat Hit 'Em Part 2" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 49 | Non-album single | |||
| "Something 'bout Love" | 1992 | — | — | — | 194 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | ||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||||