Karen Young (March 23, 1951 — January 26, 1991) was an American disco singer known for her 1978 hit song "Hot Shot".

Biography

Young grew up in a Northeast Philadelphia rowhouse. She began as a singer of jingles and backing vocalist for Philadelphia-based production companies. In the early 1970s, she performed with the group Sandd, featuring Frank Gilckin (lead guitar), George Emertz (rhythm guitar), Frank Ferraro (bass guitar) and Dennis Westman (drums).

In 1978, Young released the single "Hot Shot", written and produced by (Andy) Andrew Kahn and Kurt Borusiewicz. The song spent two weeks at number 1 on Billboards disco chart and eventually peaked at number 67 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978. An album, also titled Hot Shot, was then released by West End Records of New York City. The song propelled Young to international fame. By 1981, the disco fad had dissipated, and Young was unable to duplicate her success. Young continued her singing career as a local performer in the Philadelphia area, and the song "Hot Shot" became a hit.

"Rendezvous with Me," a song written by Kahn in 1979, was intended as a follow-up to "Hot Shot," but it was never finished. Discovered in Kahn's tape vault, "Rendezvous with Me" was released by MaxRoxx Music in March 2009.

Discography

Albums

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

|-

! Title

! Album details

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

|-

! scope="row"| Hot Shot

|

  • Release date: 1978
  • Label: West End Records

|}

Singles

{| class="wikitable"

! rowspan="2"| Year

! rowspan="2"| Title

! colspan="3"| Peak chart positions

! rowspan="2"| Label

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

! width="45"| US Hot 100<br>

! width="45"| US Dance<br>

| align="center"|—

| align="center"|7

| align="center"|—

| rowspan="2" | MaxRoxx Music

|-

| 2009

| "Rendezvous with Me"

| align="center"|—

| align="center"|—

| align="center"|—

|-

| colspan="6" style="text-align:center; font-size:9pt;"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

|}

See also

  • List of Billboard number-one dance club songs
  • List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance Club Songs chart

References

  • Altramoda.nl
  • Karen Young at Bandcamp
  • Karen Young at Webstarts
  • Karen Young at Discogs.