Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam were a United States urban contemporary band and one of the first freestyle music groups to emerge from New York City in the 1980s. Cult Jam consisted of vocalist Lisa Lisa, born Lisa Velez, guitarist/bassist Alex "Spanador" Moseley, and drummer/keyboardist Mike Hughes. They were assembled and initially produced by Full Force.
History
Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam formed after Lisa Velez auditioned for the production team Full Force at age 14. The group signed with Columbia Records, which released their debut single, "I Wonder If I Take You Home," to CBS Records' European division in 1983 for the compilation album Breakdancing. The track gained traction in American clubs in 1984 as an import, prompting Columbia to release it domestically. It topped Billboard's Dance/Disco chart, reached No. 6 on the R&B chart, and peaked at No. 34 on the pop chart in the summer of 1985. The single eventually went gold in the United States.
That same year, the group released their debut album, Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force.
"I Wonder If I Take You Home" was followed by another club hit, "Can You Feel the Beat", which went to No. 40 on the R&B chart in late 1985. A sampling of the lyrics of this song was later used by Nina Sky for their 2004 hit single "Move Ya Body". Their third single, the ballad "All Cried Out", went gold, going to number No. 3 R&B and No. 8 pop in summer 1986. In 1997, "All Cried Out" was recorded by Allure, and was a hit in 1998. Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force went platinum.
Their second album, Spanish Fly, was a success in 1987.
Discography
Studio albums
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Album details
! colspan="5"| Peak chart positions
! rowspan="2"| Certifications
|- style="font-size:smaller;"
!width="30"| US<br>
!width="30"| US<br>R&B<br>
!width="30"| CAN<br>
!width="30"| UK<br>
|-
| 1985
| align="left"| Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force
- Release date: August 2, 1985
- Label: Columbia
| 52
| 16
| —
| —
| 96
| align=left|
- RIAA: Platinum
|-
| 1987
| align="left"| Spanish Fly
- Release date: April 8, 1987
- Label: Columbia
| 7
| 7
| —
| 18
| —
| align=left|
- RIAA: Platinum
|-
| 1989
| align="left"| Straight to the Sky
- Release date: April 12, 1989
- Label: Columbia
| 77
| 18
| —
| 63
| —
| align=left|
|-
| 1991
| align="left"| Straight Outta Hell's Kitchen
- Release date: August 20, 1991
- Label: Columbia
| 133
| 29
| 125
| —
| —
| align=left|
|-
| colspan="15" style="font-size:90%" | "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
|}
Compilation albums
- Head to Toe (1995, Sony Music)
- Lisa Lisa and Friends (1995, Sony Music)
- Past, Present & Future (1996, Thump)
- Super Hits (1997, Sony Music)
- Playlist: The Very Best of Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force (2010, Columbia/Legacy)
Singles
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"
|+ List of singles, with selected chart positions and certifications
! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:18em;" | Title
! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Year
! scope="col" colspan="10" | Peak chart positions
! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:10em;" | Certifications
! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Album
|-
! scope="col" style="width:2.5em;font-size:90%;"| US<br>
! scope="col" style="width:2.5em;font-size:90%;"| CAN<br>
! scope="col" style="width:2.5em;font-size:90%;"| NL<br>
! scope="col" style="width:2.5em;font-size:90%;"| NZ<br>
! scope="col" style="width:2.5em;font-size:90%;"| UK<br>