Stephanie Mills rose to prominence billed as “the little girl with the big voice” after landing the role of Dorothy in the acclaimed Broadway musical The Wiz, drawn from L. Frank Baum’s enduring novel The Wizard of Oz. Over the ensuing years she amassed a string of R&B successes that included “I Have Learned to Respect the Power of Love,” “I Feel Good All Over,” “(You’re Puttin’) A Rush on Me,” “Something in the Way (You Make Me Feel),” and “Home,” capped by the million-selling, RIAA-certified single “Never Knew Love Like This Before.” Five of her albums also attained gold status: Whatcha Gonna Do with My Lovin’, Sweet Sensation, Stephanie, If I Were Your Woman, and Home.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, on March 22, 1957, Mills refined her powerful voice by performing gospel selections at Cornerstone Baptist Church while still a young child. At nine she made her Broadway debut in Maggie Flynn and, that same year, captured first prize on six consecutive weeks of the legendary Apollo Theater’s “The Amateur Hour.” The streak opened doors; she soon opened shows for the Isley Brothers and developed a lasting friendship with lead singer Ronald Isley, who decades later would manage and wed songwriter Angela Winbush, co-author of one of Mills’s chart-topping R&B singles. Her first album, Movin’ in the Right Direction, appeared on ABC Records in 1974. The following year she secured the Dorothy role in The Wiz; her nightly delivery of the show’s poignant ballad “Home” held audiences spellbound for several seasons. Jerry Wexler produced the original-cast recording, released by Atlantic Records in spring 1975. When Motown’s film division and Universal Pictures adapted The Wiz into a feature, however, Diana Ross assumed the part, and the movie proved a costly disappointment.
Jermaine Jackson introduced Mills to Berry Gordy, resulting in her signing with Motown. Her label debut, For the First Time, written and produced by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, arrived in October 1976. The project featured Mills delivering a series of Bacharach/David standards previously associated with Dionne Warwick. In 1978 she moved to 20th Century Records and began collaborating with the production team of James Mtume—who would later helm the gold single “Juicy Fruit” with his group Mtume—and Reggie Lucas. Their first joint effort, Whatcha Gonna Do with My Lovin’, reached gold certification, peaking at number twelve R&B and number twenty-two pop during summer 1979 and generating the singles “Whatcha Gonna Do with My Lovin’” and “You Can Get Over.” Sweet Sensation followed in spring 1980, climbing to number three R&B and number sixteen pop while spawning “Sweet Sensation,” “Never Knew Love Like This Before,” and the album track “Try My Love.” Around this period she entered a brief marriage with Shalamar’s Jeffrey Daniel, a former Soul Train dancer.
Her next release, Stephanie, appeared in spring 1981 and also performed strongly, attaining number three R&B and number thirty pop; among its highlights were the mid-tempo duet “Two Hearts” with Teddy Pendergrass, “Night Games,” and the radio favorite “Don’t Stop Doin’ What Cha Do.” That same year Mills joined Neil Bogart’s Casablanca Records, issuing Tantalizingly Hot, Merciless, and I’ve Got the Cure. In 1983 she hosted her own NBC daytime talk program, revisited the Dorothy role in a Broadway revival of The Wiz, and signed with MCA Records for the album Stephanie Mills.
The first single from that project, “Stand Back,” surfaced in late 1985 and was joined on the set by the heartfelt ballad “I Have Learned to Respect the Power of Love.” Originally penned by Rene & Angela (Rene Moore and Angela Winbush) as a gospel number and recorded in 1978 by Alton McClain and Destiny for their Polydor self-titled LP, the track later appeared on Polygram’s anthology Power of Love: Best of Soul Essentials Ballads. Thanks to heavy radio play as an album cut, Mills’s Ron Kersey–produced version was promoted to A-side status and topped the R&B chart for two weeks in spring 1986; its follow-up, “Rising Desire,” reached number eleven R&B that summer. The subsequent album took its title from the Clay McMurray/Gloria Jones/Pam Sawyer composition “If I Were Your Woman,” a 1971 number-one R&B and number-nine pop hit for Gladys Knight & the Pips. Producer Nick Martinelli delivered Mills’s second R&B chart-topper with “I Feel Good All Over,” written by Gabriel and Annette Hardeman. Although the Hardemans had first offered the song to MCA labelmate Patti LaBelle, it appeared on Mills’s June 1987 LP If I Were Your Woman, which climbed to number thirty pop. Paul Laurence and Timmy Allen supplied the groove for “(You’re Puttin’) A Rush on Me,” Mills’s third number-one R&B single in fall 1987; it crossed over to number eighty-five pop and was succeeded by “Secret Lady,” which peaked at number seven R&B later that year. Additional tracks from the set included covers of “If I Were Your Woman” and “Where Is the Love.” The album itself held the top R&B spot while reaching number thirty pop.
Seeking fresh material, Mills approached Ronald Isley about collaborating with Angela Winbush, whose prior successes included hits as half of Rene & Angela and production work for Body. Their partnership yielded the summer-1989 R&B number-one single “Something in the Way You Make Me Feel.” Having performed “Home” nightly for five years in The Wiz and having recorded it for the 1975 original-cast album, Mills wished to revisit the song as a tribute to the show’s producer, Ken Harper, and its composer, Charlie Smalls. Take 6 supplied background vocals on the new version, which ascended to number one R&B in late 1989 and was followed by “Comfort of a Man” and “Real Love.” The resulting Home album peaked at number five R&B and number eighty-two pop during summer 1989. She later scored a charting duet, “Heart to Heart,” with J.T. Taylor in late 1991. Her final MCA release, Something Real, contained the hits “All Day All Night” and “Never Do Wrong.” After departing MCA she recorded the gospel project Personal Inspirations for Interscope and, in the late 1990s, cut several sides at Philadelphia International Records with Bunny Sigler and others.
