Shawne Jackson -

Shawne Jackson is a Canadian soul singer who released three singles between 1974 and 1983 around her 1976 album on RCA Victor.

Background

Shawne Jackson was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, where she sang as a child in church choir. At fifteen, she held regular work on CBC-TV’s Music Hop.

Jackson gained her first professional singing experience with The Silhouettes, then joined Jay Smith & The Majestics, a prominent vocal group with her brother, Jay Jackson. They released four albums on Arc Records: Instrumental R&B, Funky Broadway, Here Come Da Judge, and The Soul King Otis Redding – A Tribute.

After the Majestics split in 1969, Jackson joined the Stone Soul Children. She moved to New York for a modeling course and later worked in clothing design in the United States. Jackson returned to Toronto club dates in late 1973 and signed with Playboy Records the following spring. Domenic Troiano and Keith Olsen produced her 1974 single “Just As Bad As You,” a Troiano number backed with “He May Be Your Man,” a Jackson co-wrote. Jackson toured with Sweet Blindness during the single’s Canadian chart run, then cut her lone album.

Shawne Jackson

Shawne Jackson released her self-titled debut solo album in December 1975 on RCA Victor.

Jackson sings lead and backing vocals across soul-rooted vocal material with funk and disco accents. Producer Domenic Troiano wrote or co-wrote seven of the nine songs, with Jackson credited on four.

“Get Out of the Kitchen” saunters through strings and lets Jackson draw the lead across a lush studio chart. “The Greatest Love” lingers on long vocal cadences and broad romantic phrases. “Women of the World” drifts across extended lead lines and light jazz inflection. “Prove It” settles into a measured studio chart, with Jackson across the refrain in drawn-out sustain. “Along for a Ride” glides through a smooth chart and places the lead voice at the front. “Why Did You Spoil My Dream” simmers under soft arrangement weight and measured vocal phrases.

A1. “Get Out of the Kitchen” (3:06) – Jackson, Troiano
A2. “Can’t Make It Without You” (2:56) – Jackson, Troiano
A3. “I Apologize” (4:00) – Mercury, Smith
A4. “Why Did You Spoil My Dream” (3:49) – Troiano
A5. “Women of the World” (5:23) – Troiano

B1. “Along for the Ride” (3:15) – Bryant, Collier, Coulter, Smith
B2. “Prove It” (4:46) – Troiano
B3. “Don’t Wait for Tomorrow” (5:07) – Jackson, Troiano
B4. “The Greatest Love” (6:06) – Jackson, Troiano

Troiano produced and arranged Shawne Jackson for Pasqua Music Limited at Sound City in Toronto, Sound Stage, and Phase 1. Keith Olsen assisted with engineering and production. Rick Collins mastered the album at Kendun Recorders. David Foster arranged strings for “Get Out of the Kitchen” and “The Greatest Love.”

Ed Caraeff photographed and art-directed the package, and Tom Nikosey designed the layout. The front cover shows Jackson in close portrait against a soft amber field with a rose graphic beside the title script.

RCA Victor lifted “Get Out of the Kitchen” as a 1975 single (b/w “Don’t Wait for Tomorrow”). The label also serviced “Along for the Ride” as a 1975 promotional single (b/w “Women of the World”).

Later Singles

Shawne Jackson surfaced with the 1980 single “Come Back Boy” (b/w “Can’t Stop Thinkin’ About Ya”), co-written and produced by Domenic Troiano for El Mocambo, a new wave label that issued the record in an empty-suit picture sleeve.

Her final single, the Tavares cover “Loveline,” appeared in 1983 on Loose End Records, written by Kashif and produced by Willi Morrison and Ian Guenther.

Discography: