Lisa Stansfield – British singer, songwriter, and actress
Lisa Stansfield was born in Manchester, UK on 11 April 1966. Her mother was an actress, who fostered the girl’s love for music. Since childhood, Stansfield enjoyed R&B. She was a big fan of Barry White and Marvin Gaye, who were popular in the 1970’s.
In 1980, while still in high school, Stansfield won a local contest Search for a Star. During her performance, the representatives of Devil’s Records noticed her and offered to sign a contract. This led to the release of a single “Your Abbis”, which Lisa recorded in 1981. The song was used in a movie filmed by the label. It didn’t make it into the charts but gave Stansfield career a good jump start.
In 1982, the young woman signed a contract with Polydor label. With it, she recorded a couple of singles, including “Listen To Your Heart” and “I’ve Got A Feeling”. The songs didn’t appear in the charts but helped Stansfield gain recognition.
In 1984, together with Ian Devaney and Andy Morris, Lisa formed a band called Blue Zone. The group stayed together for four years. The musicians released one studio album and a few singles. Their most popular song was “Jackie”, which reached the 54th spot of Billboard Hot 100 in 1988. It was a cover of Elisa Fiorillo’s song, written for an extremely popular 80’s movie Summer School.