Sarah Dash

Sarah Dash - Quick Facts

Profile Overview of Sarah Dash

Sarah Dash (August 18, 1945 – September 20, 2021) was an American singer. She first appeared on the music scene as a member of Patti LaBelle & The Bluebelles. Dash was later a member of Labelle, and worked as a singer, session musician, and sidewoman for The Rolling Stones, and Keith Richards.

This profile of Sarah Dash covers Early Career and Breakthrough, Labelle, Career and Rise to Fame and Reunited with the Rolling Stones.

Early Career and Breakthrough of Sarah Dash

The seventh of 13 children, Dash was born in Trenton, New Jersey. Her father was a pastor at the Trenton Church of Christ, while her mother was a nurse. Although she initially sang gospel music, Dash turned to secular music as a pre-teen when she formed a vocal duo, the Capris. When she moved to Philadelphia in the mid-1960s she got reacquainted with fellow adopted Philadelphian Nona Hendryx and Philadelphia natives Patricia "Patsy" Holte (AKA Patti LaBelle) and Sundray Tucker. In 1961, following the break-up of a rival girl group, Hendryx and Dash joined Holte and Tucker in "The Ordettes". In 1961, Tucker was replaced by Philadelphia-born Cindy Birdsong and the quartet became The Bluebelles in 1962. The group changed their name again to Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles after Holte was advised to adopt the stage name of Patti LaBelle. Among the Bluebelles hits were the doo-wop classic, "I Sold My Heart to the Junkman" and doo-wop-esque R&B ballads "You'll Never Walk Alone" and "Danny Boy", the top forty classic, "Down the Aisle", the soul standard "All or Nothing" and their now-legendary rendition of "Over the Rainbow", which LaBelle later transformed into a tour-de-force in her 1981 solo cover. Dash sang with a sharp soprano.

Labelle of Sarah Dash

In 1967, Birdsong left the group to join The Supremes and four years later, The Bluebelles changed their name to Labelle and began recording material that set them apart from other girl groups including songs of political, social and sexual matters, transforming them into a "hard-rocking, sexually and politically outspoken group". Much like The Supremes' Mary Wilson, Dash was often the "middle" of two of the group's extremes, Nona Hendryx and Patti LaBelle, who often had differed in the group's change of direction before LaBelle eventually agreed to "go along with it". After a tour of England where they changed managers, hiring Vicki Wickham, in 1971, the group ditched their bouffant wigs and dresses for Afros and jeans, releasing transitional records such as Labelle (which included the Hendryx-penned sexual "Morning Much Better") and Moon Shadow (which featured the group's gospel-fueled renditions of the Pete Townshend penned "Won't Get Fooled Again", and Cat Stevens' "Moon Shadow").

During this period, the group gained notice from the mainstream after opening for singer-songwriter Laura Nyro and recording an album, Gonna Take a Miracle, together. They also toured with British rock group The Who, leading up to the 1973 release of Pressure Cookin' This featured more songwriting from Hendryx and a more unified group effort in which Dash sang co-lead, including the ballad, "Can I Speak to You Before You Go to Hollywood?", where Dash sings most of the song. Dash's strong vocals in the group provided for balance and stability when LaBelle and Hendryx occasionally went off on vocal tangents or were pulling audience members up onto the stage to dance. Dash also wrote several songs.

Despite the group's cult raves for their early material, their critical success did not translate to commercial acclaim until the releases of 1974's Nightbirds (which featured the group's biggest smash single of their careers, "Lady Marmalade") and 1975's Phoenix. Following the release of 1976's Chameleon and a 1977 tour, the group agreed to split after the trio failed to come to terms with material (the group were working on an album titled Shaman when they split) and had finally "rocked and rolled themselves out".

Career and Rise to Fame

In 1978, Dash released her self-titled debut album, which included the top-ten disco hit, "Sinner Man". She also performed vocals on several ballads, notably "You," and "We're Lovers After All," and "I Can't Believe Someone Like You Could Really Love Me," (with a full gospel choir backing); she also had another minor disco hit with "(Come and Take) This Candy from Your Baby". Dash enjoyed much success and television and public appearances with "Sinner Man." At this time, she was asked to compose and sing "For The Love of You" (the theme song for the 1980s PBS show Watch Your Mouth) and "Bringing It All Home." She also guest-starred on an episode of Watch Your Mouth, playing a fictional character, a super diva with an attitude, "Tessie Bright".

But on her Don Kirshner albums, and especially Ooh La La, Sarah Dash, (1980) she was given substandard material to work with, although she wrote "I Feel Good Being Me" for this album. It featured one disco track, "Ooh La La, Too Soon," which was used in a Sassoon jeans commercial, and Phyllis Hyman provided backing vocals to the album. After releasing one more album Close Enough, for Kirshner, which features ballads such as "Somebody's Angel" and "God Bless You," and the rocker, "Paradise," Dash left Kirshner for other opportunities.

In 1983, Dash released two dance singles for Megatone Records in San Francisco, both produced by Patrick Cowley. The first, "Low Down Dirty Rhythm" was basically ignored, but the second single "Lucky Tonight" (featuring background vocals by Sylvester), was much more successful, even rising to the #5 spot on Billboard's Dance Chart, and was even a Billboard "Pick of the Week."

Dash's next endeavor was the recording she made on the rap record, Satisfaction, for High Fidelity Three in 1985. Also during this time, Dash did session work for The O'Jays, Nile Rodgers of Chic (duetting on a ballad with Rodgers, "My Love Song for You" from, The Adventures in the Land of the Good Groove), The Marshall Tucker Band, and David Johansen.

In the later 1980s, she teamed up with musician Dr. York for the duet "It's Too Late" (for which York took out advertisement space on the cover of Billboard magazine, to little success).

Then in 1988, she was signed to Manhattan Records, (via EMI) and released the album entitled You're All I Need. This set included a title track duet with Patti LaBelle; a further duet "Don't Make Me Wait" with Ray, Goodman & Brown; and "To Tell You The Truth". It was met with only moderate success, and Dash did not record another album thereafter. Subsequently, Dash released a little-noticed dance single in 1990, "When You Talk to Me/ Manhandled," with Disc jockey Jellybean Benitez.

A dance music single with gospel lyrics called "Hold On (He'll Be Right There)," produced by Jason King and Gavin Bradley, was released in 2012.

Source: adapted from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Dash), text available under CC BY-SA 4.0.