Biography
Shirley & Company's solitary chart success, the track "Shame, Shame, Shame," signaled the commercial resurgence of vocalist Shirley Goodman and placed her among disco's earliest luminaries roughly twenty years after her breakthrough as one half of the prominent R&B pairing Shirley & Lee. Born June 19, 1936, in New Orleans, Goodman first honed her sharp vocal approach within her Baptist church choir before adding harmonies alongside friends on neighborhood street corners. At age 13 she participated with several classmates in cutting the demo "I'm Gone," produced by Cosimo Matassa. Months afterward, when Matassa played the master for Aladdin Records owner Eddie Messner, the executive singled out Goodman's piercing wail, located the teenager, extended a recording contract, and paired her with another local youth, Leonard Lee.
Shirley & Lee's first release, "I'm Gone," bypassed conventional harmonies for a contrasting boy-girl duet format that would exert lasting influence on ska and reggae; the record climbed to number two on the Billboard R&B charts in fall 1952 and established Shirley & Lee as stars. Known as "the Sweethearts of the Blues," the pair spent much of the ensuing decade on the road and, with the 1956 classic "Let the Good Times Roll," shifted direction toward rock & roll, entering the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time. Internal disputes, declining sales, and label difficulties nevertheless impeded the duo in the years ahead, leading to their 1962 split. Goodman and her son then moved to California, where she became a sought-after session singer and even contributed to the Rolling Stones' landmark album Exile on Main St.
By 1973 she had withdrawn from the music business and taken a position in the offices of Playboy magazine. While operating the switchboard there, she reestablished contact with longtime industry figure Sylvia Robinson, now co-owner of the All Platinum label. The two women maintained regular correspondence, and in late 1974 Robinson financed Goodman's trip to New Jersey to record the lead vocal on a dance track called "Shame, Shame, Shame." Issued under the name Shirley & Company, the single achieved immediate success as one of the first international disco hits and reached number 12 on the Billboard pop charts. A hastily compiled Shame, Shame, Shame album followed, its cover showing Goodman reprimanding Richard Nixon. She toured in support of the release through mid-1976; when a projected gospel album did not come to fruition, she returned to New Orleans in 1979 and soon retired from pop music permanently.
Shirley & Lee's first release, "I'm Gone," bypassed conventional harmonies for a contrasting boy-girl duet format that would exert lasting influence on ska and reggae; the record climbed to number two on the Billboard R&B charts in fall 1952 and established Shirley & Lee as stars. Known as "the Sweethearts of the Blues," the pair spent much of the ensuing decade on the road and, with the 1956 classic "Let the Good Times Roll," shifted direction toward rock & roll, entering the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time. Internal disputes, declining sales, and label difficulties nevertheless impeded the duo in the years ahead, leading to their 1962 split. Goodman and her son then moved to California, where she became a sought-after session singer and even contributed to the Rolling Stones' landmark album Exile on Main St.
By 1973 she had withdrawn from the music business and taken a position in the offices of Playboy magazine. While operating the switchboard there, she reestablished contact with longtime industry figure Sylvia Robinson, now co-owner of the All Platinum label. The two women maintained regular correspondence, and in late 1974 Robinson financed Goodman's trip to New Jersey to record the lead vocal on a dance track called "Shame, Shame, Shame." Issued under the name Shirley & Company, the single achieved immediate success as one of the first international disco hits and reached number 12 on the Billboard pop charts. A hastily compiled Shame, Shame, Shame album followed, its cover showing Goodman reprimanding Richard Nixon. She toured in support of the release through mid-1976; when a projected gospel album did not come to fruition, she returned to New Orleans in 1979 and soon retired from pop music permanently.
Albums
