Carol Douglas - Music Career

Music Career

In 1974, Douglas was recruited by Midland International Records via an ad in Showbiz magazine: label vice president/record producer Eddie O'Loughlin had heard the UK hit single "Doctor's Orders" by Sunny and was seeking a female vocalist to cut the track for the U.S. market.

Douglas' audition led to a five-year contract and her version of "Doctor's Orders", became a hit reaching #2 on Billboard magazine's Disco chart, #9 R&B and #11 on the Billboard Hot 100: the single also reached #4 in France.

Although O'Loughlin was credited as "Doctor's Orders" producer the production had in fact been by Meco Monardo who was also responsible for Gloria Gaynor's "Never Can Say Goodbye" which had ascended the Pop charts at around the same time as "Doctor's Orders": claims have been made for each single to be the hit that broke disco into the Top 40.

Douglas made her album debut in 1975 with The Carol Douglas Album followed in 1976 by Midnight Love Affair and in 1977 by Full Bloom. Monardo's especial expertise was missing in the production of Douglas' post-"Doctor's Orders" tracks which maintained her as a popular club presence with negligible mainstream popularity: the follow-up single to "Doctor's Orders": "A Hurricane is Coming Tonite", became Douglas' only other Hot 100 entry peaking at #81 in April 1975.

Douglas hit #1 on the Disco charts with her "Midnight Love Affair" single: the song did appear on the Top 100 chart in Cash Box magazine but only via a cover by Tony Orlando and Dawn which reached #94. (In France, Douglas' version reached #82).

Douglas' other recordings included "Headline News" - a minor Edwin Starr hit from 1966 written by "Doctor's Orders" co-writer Roger Greenaway remade by the latter track's originator Sunny -, and in the tradition of "Doctor's Orders" Douglas cut discofied covers of several songs which were current or recent hits in the UK including ABBA's "Dancing Queen", "I Wanna Stay With You" by Gallagher and Lyle and "So You Win Again" by Hot Chocolate. In 1977 she recorded the single "You Make Me Feel The Music" for the soundtrack to the film "Haunted".

Douglas would recall: "I always wanted to do a funky black album, but the label wouldn’t allow it. This is how I lost out on R&B/Disco hits like: “Shame" (Evelyn King hit song), “I'm Caught Up (In A One Night Love Affair)” (Jocelyn Brown, of Inner City) and “I Specialize in Love” (Sharon Brown disco and pop hit, US and UK).

"So You Win Again" was arranged by Michael Zager whose presence on Douglas' 1978 album release Burnin' resulted in a critical (if not commercial) upswing. Burnin' also featured Douglas' version of the Bee Gees' "Night Fever" - not a Zager arrangement - which became Douglas' only entry in the UK Singles Chart at #66.

Douglas' 1979 album Come Into My Life was an obvious bid to re-charge her club popularity: only six tracks long with production by Greg Carmichael who had enjoyed several disco hits with studio groups, but the single "I Got The Answer" was only a mild club success.

In 1981, Douglas' cover of the Three Degrees' "My Simple Heart" was released on 20th Century Records as by then the Midland International (aka Midsong) was defunct. "My Simple Heart" was also Douglas' debut on Carrere Records based in Paris where Douglas lived for a time: in the early 1980s Carrère handled Douglas' European releases while in the US Douglas was signed to O'Loughlin's Next Plateau label. Her last album to date 'I Got Your Body', renamed 'Love Zone' in the US and Canada, was released in 1983 including her latest four 12" singles from 1981 to 1983: "My Simple Heart", "You're Not So Hot", "I Got Your Body" and "Got Ya Where I Want Ya". The cut "You're Not So Hot" reached #71 in France (1982).