Lonnie Gordon (born November 8, 1965, Philadelphia) is an American female dance, pop and R&B singer and songwriter. She scored several chart hits during the 1990s, most notably for her 1990 UK top 10 single "Happenin' All Over Again".

Early life and career

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Gordon moved to the Bronx at an early age. In the early 1980s, she started performing around the Harlem area in clubs as the lead singer of a band called Nythjar. After meeting her husband, she relocated to England in the late 1980s, and retired from the music scene to take care of her daughter Rikki.

Gordon resumed her singing career in 1988 singing lead vocals for club-oriented acts such as Offshore, Deja Vu and most notably, House ensemble Quartzlock, releasing the singles "No Regrets", "Love Eviction" and "You Make Loving Fun". In 1989, she contributed lead vocals to Simon Harris' cover of the On the House song "(I've Got Your) Pleasure Control", which became her first charting single in the UK. The record brought her to the attention of Supreme Records, who offered her a deal in 1989.

The first single on the Supreme label, a cover of First Choice's "Let No Man Put Asunder" (re-titled "It's Not Over (Let No Man Put Asunder)"), was a club hit but did not translate into pop success. For her next single, "Happenin' All Over Again", Gordon collaborated with British hitmaking team Stock Aitken & Waterman (SAW). She had long admired their work with Dead Or Alive, and Supreme acts Mel & Kim and Princess, and was determined to work with them. The single peaked at No. 48, with Gordon expressing her disappointment over its performance, and its impact on her forthcoming album campaign.

In 1991, Gordon flew to Italy and recorded the song "Gonna Catch You", written and produced by the Italo house group Black Box. During this time, Gordon sported a dramatic makeover: Gone were the long dark curly hair, and in was a blonde buzz cut, which became (and continues to be) a defining trademark for Gordon. It was released as a single in the UK where it became a top 40 hit, peaking at No. 32. Due to its inclusion in the Vanilla Ice film Cool As Ice, the song became her debut release in the U.S., where it peaked at No. 1 on the U.S. Dance charts and at No. 79 on the Billboard Hot 100. This was Gordon's last release with Supreme Records.

Signed to SBK Records, Gordon released her second album Bad Mood in 1993. The album included two further U.S. No. 1 Dance singles, "Bad Mood", and a remixed version of "Happenin' All Over Again", which also peaked at No. 98 in the Billboard Hot 100. A follow-up single, "Do You Want It", also did well on the dance charts in 1994.

Gordon has hit the U.S. dance chart two more times in 1996, with the songs "Dirty Love" on Geffen Records, which peaked at No. 6, and "If You Really Love Me" released on Big Bang Records, which peaked at No. 42. In 2000, she released the compilation album No Regret, which included many of her singles and album highlights, as well as two new songs. A cover of "He Lives in You", was released as its lead single. Also, in 1997, Lonnie Gordon worked with European dance producers P.O.F., Roland Michael and Demetrius Ross and remixed the single, If You Really Love Me originally written and recorded by Stevie Wonder.

In 2002, Gordon starred as the lead vocalist and narrator for "Zumanity", another side of Cirque du Soleil, in Las Vegas. Working with Cirque du Soleil and moving to Las Vegas was a bold career move that provided an opportunity for Gordon to showcase her strong vocals and stage presence.

!width="35"|<small>AUS<br></small>

! width="35"| <small>BEL<br>(FLA)</small><br>

! width="35"| <small>FRA</small><br>

! width="35"| <small>GER</small><br>

! width="35"| <small>IRE</small><br>

! width="35"| <small>NED</small><br>

! width="35"| <small>NZ</small><br>

! width="35"| <small>SWE</small><br>

!width="35"|<small>US</small><br>

!width="35"|<small>US Dance</small><br>

|-

|rowspan="1"| 1989

| align=left| "It's Not Over (Let No Man Put Asunder)"

| 91 || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || —

| align="left" rowspan="4"| If I Have to Stand Alone

|-

|rowspan="3"| 1990

| align=left| "Happenin' All Over Again"

| 4 || 33 || 25 || 24 || 44 || 3 || 35 || 43 || 14 || — || —

|-

| align=left| "Beyond Your Wildest Dreams"

| 48 || 104 || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || —

|-

| align=left| "If I Have to Stand Alone"

| 68 || 147 || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || —

|-

|| 1991

| align=left| "Gonna Catch You"

| 32 || 145 || — || 37 || — || — || 27 || — || — || 79 || 1

| align="left" rowspan="1"| Cool as Ice

|-

|rowspan="2"| 1993

| align=left| "Bad Mood"

| — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || 1

| align="left" rowspan="3"| Bad Mood

|-

| align=left| "Happenin' All Over Again '93" <small>(US only)</small>

| — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || 98 || 1

|-

|| 1994

| align=left| "Do You Want It"

| — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || 5

|-

|rowspan="2"| 1996

| align=left| "Dirty Love"

| — || 157 || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || 6

| align="left" rowspan="5"| Non-album single

|-

| align=left| "If You Really Love Me"

| — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || 42

|-

|rowspan="2"| 1998

| align=left| "Beat the Street '98" <small>(UK only)</small>

| — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || —

|-

| align=left| "Happenin' All Over Again '98" <small>(US only)</small>

| — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || —

|-

|| 1999

| align=left| "Everybody's Talking" <small>(AUS/NZ only)</small>

| — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || —

|-

|| 2001

| align=left| "He Lives in You"

| — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || —

| align="left" rowspan="1"| No Regret

|-

| align="center" colspan="15" style="font-size:8pt"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released.

|}

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

|-

!rowspan="2"| Year

!rowspan="2"| Title

!colspan="2"| Chart positions

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

! width="35"| <small>UK</small>

!width="35"| <small>US Dance</small>

|-

|| 1987

| align=left| "Cinco de Mayo" (by Tropical Beat)

| — || —

|-

|rowspan="2"| 1988

| align=left| "All Work and No Play" (by Offshore)

| — || —

|-

| align=left| "No Regrets" (by Quartzlock)

| — || —

|-

|rowspan="2"| 1989

| align=left| "(I've Got Your) Pleasure Control" (by Simon Harris)

| 60 || 23

|-

| align=left| "Beat the Street" (by Love Inc.)

| — || —

|-

|rowspan="1"| 1990

| align=left| "We Got the Love" (by Touch of Soul)

| 46 || —

|-

| 1995

| align=left| "Love Eviction" (by Quartz Lock)

| 32