Carol Douglas ~ My Simple Heart 1981 Disco Purrfection Version

Carol Douglas was born in Brooklyn, NY on April 7, 1948. Her mother, Minnie Newsome was a jazz performer who was the inspiration for Cab Calloway’s “Minnie The Moocher“ and her father was a mortician. Sam Cooke was her cousin and those musical associations supported her foray into recording. Remember “Name That Tune“? Well, when she was 10 she appeared on the show and won! After that she attended schools that helped her prepare for her musical career and started a group of three girls, “April, May & June“ that were managed by Little Anthony & The Imperials. Her first single was for RCA in 1965, “I Don’t Mind (Being Your Fool)“ credited to Carolyn Cooke. Her pregnancy at age 15 ended her RCA career, so she turned to voice overs and jingles for radio and acting on TV. She appeared in an episode of “The Patty Duke Show“ and understudied in the off Broadway production of “The Life Of Mary McLeod Bethune“ then starred alongside James Earl Jones and Cicely Tyson in the play “Moon On A Rainbow Shawl“. Her recording career faded after she married her high school sweetheart and in the early 70’S became a touring member of the Chantels. That resulted in the single “Some Tears Fall Dry“ issued by Capitol Records. Her fortunes improved when Midland International signed her with the intention of recording a cover of UK artist Sunny’s version of “Doctor’s Orders“ for the US market. She won a five year contract and her “Doctor’s Orders“ became a defining hit for her, reaching #11 on the Hot100, #9 R&B and most importantly #2 disco. That led to other disco songs including the #1 disco hit “Midnight Love Affair“ in 1976, then “Dancing Queen“, “Nights On Broadway“, “Night Fever“, “Burnin’“ and then the #51 disco hit “I Got The Answer“ in 1979. A one off recording of “My Simple Heart“ written by Bugatti & Musker that was originally recorded by The Three Degrees for their 1979 Giorgio Moroder produced disco opus “Three D“. Carol’s cover helped her gain chart traction and she got a #42 disco hit out of it. It also became a favorite at the Studio 54. Bugatti and Musker recorded their version as The Dukes in 1981 She had fair to middling responses to her 80’s out put but by the mid 80’s she was again out of the studio until the Disco revival in the mid 90’s and hit the tour trail. If you had a sharp eye, you might have seen her on “The People’s Court“ with Judge Marilyn Millian presiding over her suit against fellow singer Jocelyn Brown that she won after both singers were allowed to sing snippets of their biggest hits.