Unhooked Generation -
1969
BAND OF GOLD-
(1970)
Deeper And Deeper
Bring The Boys Home -
1971
Beautiful Freda Payne (Freda Charcelia Payne) was born in Detroit, Michigan on 19th of September 1942, sister of the latter day Supremes' star, Scherrie Payne.
In Detroit Freda had been friends with 'HDH'; Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Edward Holland, Jr and they asked her to sign with their newly-formed record label Invictus, which they had started after a royalty payments dispute with Berry Gordy resulting in the trio leaving Motown.
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In 1969 her first Invictus single Unhooked Generation was released. Then writers Edythe Wayne and Ron Dunbar brought the song Band of Gold to her. Initially due to the lyrics about a broken marriage ending on the wedding night, Freda did not want to record it, but was eventually persuaded by the producers and songwriters. In 1970 it became a smash hit reaching 3 in the US and 1 in the UK and became a gold record.
Years later in 1990 she recorded three songs for Ian Levine's UK Motorcity label, a remake of Band of Gold, Memories and Souvenirs and Only Minutes Away.
As well as being a soul singer who made one of the most played soul tracks ever, she had a separate career as an actress. She appeared in several films - Private Obsession (1995), Ragdoll (1999), The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000), Fire and Ice (made forTV, 2001).