Yvonne Gage

Born in Chicago in 1959, Gage entered the music scene at fourteen by joining the Soulettes, remaining with the group until she turned twenty-one. Over those years the ensemble adopted the names First Love and later simply Love, cutting an album for Chicago International Music in 1980. Before that release appeared, however, Gage had already left to provide backing vocals for Captain Sky. Her solo career began with the 1981 Atlantic single “Garden Of Eve,” which attracted minimal attention. She next lent her voice to the new-wave outfit Ministry and performed alongside Madness, the Police, and Culture Club. After voicing a commercial for Ultra-Curl, she cut her debut album Virginity for CIM/Epic; Don Burnside, who had also produced Captain Sky’s material, handled the sessions. Marketed as an unofficial response to Michael Jackson’s Thriller, the track “Doin’ It In A Haunted House” scraped the lower reaches of the U.S. R&B chart and climbed into the British Top 50 in June 1984. At the same moment her single “Lover Of My Dreams” gained traction in U.K. clubs. Despite those early signs of promise, Gage never returned to the charts. She resurfaced briefly in Britain in 1990 on Trax Records, yet again without commercial impact.