Carol Douglas

Carol Douglas (born April 7, 1948) is an American singer whose hit "Doctor's Orders" (1974) was a pioneering track in the disco genre.

Early life and acting career

Carol Douglas was born in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York City, United States.

Douglas's 1979 album Come into My Life was an obvious bid to recharge her club popularity; it was 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 a mild club success. Although she did not appear in the disco-themed movie Saturday Night Fever, she was enough of a disco star that her name appears on the marquee of the disco featured in the movie. (A snippet of "Midnight Love Affair" can be heard playing when Tony Manero, played by John Travolta and his friends are at the club).

In 1981, her 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 her debut on Carrere Records based in Paris where she lived for a time: in the early 1980s Carrère handled her European releases while in the US she 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 and included her last 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"; "You're Not So Hot" reached #71 in France (1982).

Career resurgence

The retro-boom of the 1990s put Douglas back on the road touring and making personal appearances at a number of special events including the Martin Luther King Concert Series, Beatstock '97, Saturday Night Fever 20th Anniversary Reunion, and the Dance Music Hall of Fame ceremony. In 2003, she returned to the recording studio when she was invited to sing backing vocals on Wanda Dee's Goddess Is Here! CD. During this period, she also re-recorded a number of her hits.

Douglas is not to be confused with (and is not related to) Carl Douglas, a fellow pop one-hit wonder whose famous No. 1 single, "Kung Fu Fighting", was in the Billboard Hot 100 at about the same time as "Doctor's Orders".

The People's Court

Douglas made an appearance on The People's Court (with Judge Marilyn Milian) in 2003 as the plaintiff in a case involving herself and fellow disco diva Sharon Brown. After the ruling, Brown stated that Douglas's decision to take her to court was a publicity stunt, to get some free TV air time. In addition to awarding Douglas some (not all) of the money she was requesting, Milian had Douglas sing a brief snippet of "Doctor's Orders", as well as having Brown sing a snippet of her 1982 song "I Specialize in Love".

Discography

Studio albums

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

! rowspan="2"| Year

! rowspan="2"| Title

! colspan="4"| Peak chart positions

! rowspan="2"| Record label

|- style="font-size:smaller;"

! width="35"| US

! width="35"| US R&B

! width="35"| SWE

| rowspan="1"| 1975

| align="left"| The Carol Douglas Album

| 177

| 37

| —

| 49

| rowspan="2"| Midland Int'l

| rowspan="1"| 1976

| align="left"| Midnight Love Affair

| 188

| —

| 71

| —

| rowspan="1"| 1977

| align="left"| Full Bloom

| 139

| —

| 99

| —

| rowspan="3"| Midsong Int'l

| rowspan="1"| 1978

| align="left"| Burnin

| —

| rowspan="1"| 1979

| align="left"| Come into My Life

| —

| rowspan="1"| 1983

| align="left"| Love Zone

| —

| rowspan="1"| Next Plateau

| colspan="15" style="font-size:90%" | "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Compilation albums

The Best of Carol Douglas (1980, Midsong Int'l)
Satin and Smoke: The Best of Carol Douglas (1981, Stack-O-Hits)
Greatest Hits (1989, Unidisc)
Doctor's Orders: The Best of Carol Douglas (1995, Hot Productions)
Disco Queen - Carol Douglas: Greatest Hits (1999, Classic World Productions)
Hits Anthology (2011, Essential Media Group)

Singles

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

! rowspan="2"| Year

! rowspan="2"| Single

! colspan="9"| Peak chart positions

! rowspan="2"| Album

|- style="font-size:smaller;"

! width="35"| US

! width="35"| CAN

! width="35"| GER

! width="35"| NZ

! width="35"| UK

| rowspan="1"| 1974

| align="left"| "Doctor's Orders"

| 11

| 9

| 2

| 31

| 10

| 1

| 37

| 6

| —

| align="left" rowspan="3"| The Carol Douglas Album

| rowspan="3"| 1975

| align="left"| "A Hurricane Is Coming Tonite"

| 81

| —

| 79

| —

| align="left"| "Will We Make It Tonight"

| —

| align="left"| "Headline News"

| —

| align="left" rowspan="3"| Midnight Love Affair

| rowspan="2"| 1976

| align="left"| "Midnight Love Affair"

| 102

| —

| rowspan="2"| 1

| —

| 93

| —

| align="left"| "Crime Don't Pay"

| —

| rowspan="4"| 1977

| align="left"| "Dancing Queen"

| 110

| —

| 35

| —

| align="left" rowspan="4"| Full Bloom

| align="left"| "I Want to Stay with You"

| —

| rowspan="2"| 28

| —

| align="left"| "Light My Fire"

| —

| align="left"| "We Do It"

| 108

| —

| rowspan="3"| 1978

| align="left"| "Night Fever"

| 106

| —

| 15

| —

| 66

| align="left" rowspan="3"| Burnin

| align="left"| "So You Win Again"

| —

| align="left"| "Burnin'"

| —

| 11

| —

| rowspan="2"| 1979

| align="left"| "I Got the Answer"

| —

| rowspan="2"| 51

| —

| align="left" rowspan="2"| Come into My Life

| align="left"| "Love Sick"

| —

| rowspan="1"| 1981

| align="left"| "My Simple Heart"

| —

| 42

| —