Clifford is a former Miss New York State, and fronted a jazz music trio before switching to R&B.[5] After winning her title, Clifford worked as an actress, playing minor roles in films such as The Boston Strangler with Tony Curtis and Henry Fonda, Coogan's Bluff with Clint Eastwood and Sweet Charity with Shirley MacLaine. Unsatisfied with her roles, Clifford decided to concentrate on her singing career, performing for a year in Miami-area night clubs with the Jericho Jazz Singers,[6] before forming her own group Linda & the Trade Winds.[3]
In 1980, she released a duet album with Curtis Mayfield, The Right Combination,[8] and recorded a song "Red Light" for the Famesoundtrack in 1980. It peaked at number one on the American dance chart. "Shoot Your Best Shot" (1980) and "Don't Come Crying to Me" (1982) were the third and fourth of her four number one dance hits in the US. She released six albums while under contract on the Curtom label, all supervised by Curtis Mayfield, generally produced by Gil Askey (jazz trumpet player and musical director for many Motown acts) with many mixes by Jim Burgess or Jimmy Simpson, brother of Valerie Simpson from Ashford and Simpson. The sixth, I'm Yours, was produced by Isaac Hayes with the exception of "Red Light" (written by Pitchford and Gore). Curtom Records was distributed by Warner Bros. (1977–1978), by RSO (1979–1980) and by the end of 1980 by Capitol.
Her contract switched entirely to Capitol for her seventh album, I'll Keep on Loving You (1982). It included collaboration by Luther Vandross and the original version of "All the Man That I Need", another song written by Pitchford and Gore; they wrote this particular song with Clifford and her husband in mind.[9] A year later it was covered by Sister Sledge, in 1990 by Whitney Houston and in 1994 by Luther Vandross, under the name "All the Woman That I Need". On his album Songs, Vandross even credited Houston for being the "artist who did the original version of the song", forgetting that it was originally Clifford's song and that he was a background vocalist and the vocal arranger of her version.
Her 1984 offering, Sneakin' Out did relatively well on the American R&B chart.[9] Clifford's last studio album to date remains 1985's My Heart's on Fire, supported by the single "The Heat in Me". In 2001, she secured her fourth UK Singles Chart entry with "Ride the Storm", billed as Akabu featuring Linda Clifford.[10] Her most recent single, "Baby I'm Yours", was released in 2011.
In 2012, her minor hit from 1979, "I Just Wanna Wanna", resurfaced as the love theme in the Lee Daniels film, The Paperboy.
In 2015, Clifford collaborated with disco and house vocalists Martha Wash and Evelyn "Champagne" King on the download-only single "Show Some Love", which reached number #6 on the Billboard Dance Charts the same year, and released on Martha Wash's own label Purple Rose Records. Their collaboration was credited as a group to "First Ladies of Disco".[11] A video was released to promote the single [12] along with an alternate video featuring a remix by John LePage and Brian Cua.[13]
^ abWhitburn, Joel (2006). The Billboard Book of Top 40 R&B and Hip-Hop Hits (illustrated ed.). University of Michigan: Billboard. p. 109. ISBN978-0-8230-8283-4. CLIFFORD, Linda Born in 1944 in Brooklyn
^Pruter, Robert (1992). Chicago Soul (illustrated, reprint ed.). University of Illinois Press. p. 321. ISBN978-0-252-06259-9. Retrieved November 17, 2011. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)