Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam

Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam mixed freestyle, dance-pop, and ballads with a strong R&B foundation that resulted in six major crossover hits from the mid-'80s through the early '90s. Singer Lisa Velez, instrumentalists Mike Hughes and Alex "Spanador" Mosely, and writing and production team Full Force broke through together in 1985 with "I Wonder if I Take You Home," an effervescent single that led to the platinum success of Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force. Having cracked the pop Top 40, they scaled higher with that album's Top Ten final single, "All Cried Out," and topped the chart in 1987 with "Head to Toe" and "Lost in Emotion," taken from their second album, Spanish Fly. After two more LPs that yielded additional Top 40 hits with "Little Jackie Wants to Be a Star" and the Clivillés and Cole collaboration "Let the Beat Hit 'Em," Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam parted ways. Lisa Lisa made her solo debut with 1993's LL 77, featuring the Top 40 R&B/hip-hop single "Skip to My Lu." Mosely went on to work with Full Force and Poke & Tone. He and Hughes eventually reunited, and with another singer performed and recorded under the name CultJam.

Lisa Lisa, born Lisa Velez in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, started singing in church choir. She dreamed of becoming a recording star while working at a clothing store. After hearing that Madonna was discovered by DJ/producer Jellybean at the Funhouse, she snuck out of the family apartment after dark, hoping to be discovered the same way. It was at the legendary dance club where she met drummer and keyboardist Mike Hughes, a Brooklyn native who played with Full Force and was a roadie for the band. Hughes was thinking of forming a group and invited the aspiring singer to the group's East Flatbush home base for an audition. Coincidentally, Full Force were also thinking of forming a group -- one that, like New Edition, was inspired by a Motown act. Since there was a "new edition" of the Jackson 5, they'd create a modern version of the Supremes. Lisa performed some songs written by Hughes, as well as Sheena Easton's "For Your Eyes Only." Full Force found the singer they were looking for -- not a powerhouse, but one with whom everyday teenagers could sing along.

Signed to Full Force's management and production company, Lisa was dubbed Lisa Lisa, and Hughes, along with guitarist and bassist Alex Mosely (aka Spanador, an original member of Living Colour), were named Cult Jam. Combining their signature beat, which was influenced by Al Jackson, Jr. (whose work on Otis Redding and Carla Thomas' "Tramp" was frequently sampled by hip-hop producers) and the electro sound of Afrika Bambaataa's "Planet Rock," Full Force first put together "I Wonder if I Take You Home." Billed as "Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam with Full Force," the group was signed by the local Personal Records. The label leased "I Wonder if I Take You Home" to the European division of CBS Records for the compilation album Break Dancing. Stateside club DJs began playing the song from the import LP before the same set was issued in the U.S. (as Breakdancing). Subsequently issued on 12" by CBS, "I Wonder if I Take You Home" entered Billboard's club chart in April 1985, quickly went to number one, and crossed over to the R&B and pop charts, peaking respectively at numbers five and 34. (The first time Lisa heard it on the radio, she was at the cash register of her retail job.) The group's gold-certified debut was followed by the freestyle record "Can You Feel the Beat," another Top Ten club hit, and the ballad "All Cried Out," which fared even better, reaching number eight on the pop chart (number three R&B) while achieving gold status. The full-length Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force contained all three smashes and went platinum.

Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam had been featured on Full Force's own self-titled album, and the trio continued to work with the production team for their second LP, Spanish Fly. The more pronounced pop orientation of the first two singles paid off, as "Head to Toe" and "Lost in Emotion" topped the pop and R&B charts. "Someone to Love Me for Me," a ballad Lisa co-wrote, went Top Ten R&B, as did the tougher fourth single, "Everything Will B-Fine." Spanish Fly peaked at number seven on the pop and R&B charts and, like the debut, became another platinum seller. Between albums, Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam appeared on the Caddyshack 2 soundtrack with "Go for Yours" and scored their seventh Top 20 R&B hit. Still partnered with Full Force, the trio next delivered Straight to the Sky, a 1989 release highlighted by the cautionary and deceptively light-sounding "Little Jackie Wants to Be a Star," their fifth Top 40 pop placement. "Just Git It Together," a fusion of freestyle and house with an assist from U.T.F.O., became their fifth Top Ten club single. For fourth album Straight Outta Hell's Kitchen, released in 1991, Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam switched it up. Its production chores were split, with Robert Clivillés and David Cole of C+C Music Factory producing side one of the LP and Full Force handling side two. The Clivillés and Cole-produced single "Let the Beat Hit 'Em" hit number one R&B and club (number 37 pop) and went gold in summer 1991. The Full Force-produced follow-up, "Where Were You When I Needed You," charted at number 65 R&B months later. A cover of the Isley Brothers' quiet storm classic "Sensuality" proved that Lisa was continuing to evolve as a vocalist.

After four albums together, Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam split up. Lisa resurfaced as a solo act on the Elektra-distributed Pendulum label with the likes of Giovanni Salah, Junior Vazquez, Nona Hendryx, Jill Jones, and Guru among her collaborators. "Skip to My Lu" reintroduced Lisa in 1993 and reached number 38 R&B before the early 1994 release of her first solo album, LL 77. Like her albums with Cult Jam, the LP was pigeonhole-proof, a synthesis of hip-hop soul, acid jazz, and house that even rocked on occasion. Lisa continued performing and started acting with a recurring role on the teen sitcom Taina and an appearance in an episode of Law & Order. In 2009, with support from Mass Appeal, she released her second solo album, Life 'n Love. It skillfully referenced Lisa's past and dug deeper into her heritage while set in the present. The funky "Rock into Your Soul" reconnected Lisa with Tony Moran, whose work with Albert Cabrera as the Latin Rascals included the Lisa Lisa-sampling 1985 single "Lisa's Coming." ("Rock into Your Soul" originally appeared on Moran's The Event.) The album also included the flamenco-flavored bilingual dance track "Que Locura" and ranged from mature pop to sophisticated contemporary R&B.

Over the next decade-and-a-half, Lisa continued to tour and released independent singles such as "Rain," "No Lloraré Mas," and an update of "All Cried Out." The latter two appeared in 2024 and saw Lisa celebrating her Nuyorican salsa roots. Meanwhile, Mike Hughes and Alex Mosely teamed with a new vocalist and performed and recorded under the name CultJam. (Between the breakup of Cult Jam and the formation of CultJam, Mosely worked with Full Force and another production team, Poke & Tone, and as a consequence co-wrote songs for the likes of Cheryl Pepsii Riley, Avant, and LL Cool J.) CultJam released the album CultJam Love in 2024. ~ Andy Kellman & Ed Hogan