Stacy Lattisaw was just twelve years old when she made her major label debut on Atlantic Records' Cotillion imprint with Young and in Love.  The Washington, DC native with the pure, effervescent voice stayed at Cotillion for seven albums, maturing with each successive set.  Now, her discography for the label has been collected on Cherry Red/Robinsongs' new 7-CD box set The Cotillion Years 1979-1985 featuring all seven albums plus selected bonus tracks.

One of the final projects produced by Van McCoy before his untimely death, Young and in Love featured revivals of pop classics ("Downtown," "Our Day Will Come," "Dedicated to the One I Love") as well as McCoy's own compositions ("Rock with Me," "Three Wishes," "When You're Young and in Love").  Despite the strength of Stacy's precocious voice and the varied production - McCoy even presented "When You're Young and in Love" in two different versions, one a ballad and one a disco floor-filler - the album failed to catch on.   But it had impressed Narada Michael Walden.  The up-and-coming hitmaker had already established himself behind the drum kit for artists including Mahavishnu Orchestra, Chick Corea, Jaco Pastorius, and Weather Report.  He also was signed as a solo artist to Atlantic when he requested that Cotillion give him a chance to produce Lattisaw.  The result was 1980's Let Me Be Your Angel.

Walden surrounded the young singer with musicians including T.M. Stevens on bass, Frank Martin on piano, Corrado Rustici on guitar, and George Hearst on drums, bringing in Jerry Hey and the Seawind Horns to add an extra punch to the tracks.  The tight group's versatile musicianship lent an organic feel to the tracks recorded in a more contemporary dance vein.  Tailoring the songs to Lattisaw's maturing talents and taking a cue from the young Michael Jackson in not giving Lattisaw child-oriented material, Walden wrote or co-wrote every one of the eight cuts on Let Me Be Your Angel.   Adding to the rich textures on the LP, CHIC's Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards contributed guitar and bass, respectively, to the pretty, mid-tempo "Dreaming."  Future American Idol judge Randy Jackson handled bass on "You Know I Like It" and the piano-driven, Laura Nyro-inspired "My Love," and orchestrator Michael Gibbs was brought in to gild the ballad "Let Me Be Your Angel" with strings recalling the lush grandeur of Teddy Randazzo or Burt Bacharach's arrangements from a decade earlier.  Let Me Be Your Angel was rewarded with a Top 10 placement on the Billboard R&B chart.  The single "Dynamite!" topped the Disco countdown and went Top 10 R&B. with "Let Me Be Your Angel" also going Top 10 R&B as well as impressively reaching No. 21 Pop/No. 34 AC.  In the U.K., the infectious "Jump to the Beat" made it all the way to No. 3 Pop.  Walden and Lattisaw went on to collaborate on another four albums together, all of which feature on this collection.

With You (1981) convincingly demonstrated Walden's grip on where R&B was headed in the new decade.  The album emphasized propulsive dance rhythms and even anticipated hip-hop with Lattisaw's rap on "Feel My Love Tonight."  Unfortunately, the musicians' credits have been omitted in the booklet, but in addition to the returning Stevens Martin, Rustici, and Jackson, Sheila E impressed with her percussion throughout.  Walden didn't entirely abandon balladry, though, and Lattisaw's smooth yet moving revival of The Moments' chart-topping 1970 hit "Love on a Two-Way Street" earned her a No. 2 R&B hit that crossed over to the top 30 of the Hot 100 and top 20 of the AC chart.  Sneakin' Out (1982) continued with the same sound and style as its predecessor, once again blending youthful dancers with romantic ballads.  In the latter vein came a strong follow-up to "Love on a Two-Way Street."  Leon Carr and Earl Shuman's "Hey There, Lonely Boy" was a top 30 hit for Ruby and the Romantics in 1963 but went all the way to No. 2 six years later in Eddie Holman's falsetto rendition.  Shaun Cassidy and Robert John later recorded their own takes on the ballad; Stacy's take was expectedly shimmering.  It didn't fare as well as hoped, though, and stalled at No. 71 R&B.  The wistful "Don't Throw It All Away" and goofy rap novelty "Attack of the Name Game" (later famously sampled by Mariah Carey in "Heartbreaker") both fared better, reaching No. 9 and No. 14 on that chart, respectively.  Sneakin' Out made it to No. 11 on the R&B Albums Chart.

1983's Sixteen, marking that milestone in Lattisaw's life, found Walden collaborating with Preston Glass, a keyboardist and onetime staff writer for Philly soul maestro Thom Bell.  Glass and Walden co-authored three tracks including the top 40 Pop single "Miracles," while Glass and Carla Vaughn penned the second single, the minor R&B chart entry "Million Dollar Babe."  With nods to reggae, Motown, pop, and soul, Sixteen was another varied effort from the versatile singer and producer, but barely cracked the R&B Albums top 30 at No. 27.

Stacy's next album was a pairing with Cotillion labelmate and fellow Washington, DC native Johnny Gill.  Perfect Combination (1984) featured no fewer than six new Walden/Glass co-writes (including tracks penned with Randy Jackson and Jeffrey Cohen) and another soul classic.  The lushly melodic title track, a No. 10 R&B hit, showcased the contrast between Lattisaw's burnished yet still bright tone with Gill's deep, rich vocal instrument.  They brought a relaxed, playful spirit to Burt Bacharach, Mack David, and Luther Dixon's swooning "Baby It's You," a 1961 hit from The Shirelles later revived by The Beatles and the band Smith.  It brought the duo another top 40 R&B success.  The two teenagers' offstage romance translated to chemistry on the duets album and a No. 27 placement on the R&B Albums chart.

Stacy's next and final Cotillion LP was her first without Narada Michael Walden since Young and in Love.  1986's I'm Not the Same Girl was helmed by songwriter-producer Michael Masser ("Touch Me in the Morning," "The Greatest Love of All").  He co-wrote seven of the album's eight songs, providing fresh material as well as drawing on his back catalogue.  The title track seemed to augur for a new, older-and-wiser Stacy, and the change was reflected in the more pop-oriented direction of the LP.  Masser pilfered his songbooks for Diana Ross ("Together" and "I Thought It Took a Little Time") and Dionne Warwick ("Now We're Starting Over Again").  Thom Bell's frequent lyrical partner Linda Creed co-wrote the sweet "Can't Stop Thinking About You" and Gerry Goffin provided lyrics for the sleek "Coming Alive."  Randy Goodrum authored "He's Just Not You" with Masser and supplied his own "Toughen Up."  But despite these pedigrees, I'm Not the Same Girl didn't chart on the Pop or R&B surveys.

The experience of working with Masser was not a pleasant one for Lattisaw.  Ironically, she next moved - as did Johnny Gill - to the home of many Masser triumphs, Motown.  The Cotillion Years is one-stop shopping for this period of the singer's career; she would record three more LPs at Motown through 1989 before largely retreating from the spotlight to concentrate on her family and faith.  Each album here is presented in a paper sleeve replicating the original front and back cover artwork; CD labels are all uniform.  Seven bonus singles have been added (one on Young and in Love, two on Let Me Be Your Angel, one on Sneakin' Out, and three on Sixteen), and Oli Hemingway has remastered.  A 16-page booklet has Charles Waring's liner notes but only one additional photo.

The Cotillion Years 1979-1985, a testament to Stacy Lattisaw's enduring pop, dance, and R&B grooves, is available now at the links below.

Stacy Lattisaw, The Cotillion Years 1979-1985 (Cherry Red/Robinsongs QROBINBX53, 2021) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1: Young and in Love (Cotillion SD 5214, 1979)

1. When You're Young and in Love
2. Love Is Here Beside Us
3. Rock with Me
4. Three Wishes
5. Spinning Top
6. Dedicated to the One I Love
7. Downtown
8. When You're Young and in Love (Disco Version)
9. When You're Young and in Love (12" Disco Version) (Cotillion 12-inch single DSKO 168, 1979)

CD 2: Let Me Be Your Angel (Cotillion SD 5219, 1980)

1. Jump to the Beat
2. Dynamite!
3. You Don't Love Me Anymore
4. Dreaming
5. Let Me Be Your Angel
6. Don't You Want to Feel It (For Yourself)
7. You Know I Like It
8. My Love
9. Jump to the Beat (Single Version) (Atlantic (U.K.) single K 11496, 1980)
10. Dynamite! (Single Version) (Cotillion single 45015, 1980)

CD 3: With You (Cotillion SD 16049, 1981)

1. Feel My Love Tonight
2. Screamin' Off the Top
3. It Was So Easy
4. Baby I Love You
5. Love on a Two-Way Street
6. With You
7. Young Girl
8. Spotlight
9. You Take Me to Heaven

CD 4: Sneakin' Out (Cotillion 90002-1, 1982)

1. Sneakin' Out
2. Guys Like You (Give Love a Bad Name)
3. Memories
4. Tonight I'm Gonna Make You Mine
5. Hey There Lonely Boy
6. Don't Throw It All Away
7. Attack of the Name Game
8. I'm Down for You
9. I Could Love You So Divine
10. Attack of the Name Game (Single Version) (Cotillion single 7-99968, 1982)

CD 5: Sixteen (Cotillion 90106-1, 1983)

1. Sixteen
2. Black Pumps and Pink Lipstick
3. I've Loved You Somewhere Before
4. Million Dollar Babe
5. What's So Hot 'Bout Bad Boys
6. Johey!
7. The Ways of Love
8. Miracles
9. Sixteen (Single Version) (Cotillion (Netherlands) single 79-9818-7, 1983)
10. Million Dollar Babe (Single Version) (Atlantic (U.K.) single B 9819, 1983)
11. The Ways of Love (Single Version) (Atlantic (U.K.) single B 9819, 1983)

CD 6: Perfect Combination (with Johnny Gill) (Cotillion 90136-1, 1984)

1. Block Party
2. Fun 'n' Games
3. Falling in Love Again
4. 50/50 Love
5. Perfect Combination
6. Heartbreak Look
7. Baby It's You
8. Come Out of the Shadows

CD 7: I'm Not the Same Girl (Cotillion 90280-1, 1986)

1. Can't Stop Thinking About You
2. Coming Alive
3. Now We're Starting Over Again
4. He's Just Not You
5. I'm Not the Same Girl
6. Toughen Up
7. Together
8. I Thought It Took a Little Time