Klymaxx

Klymaxx

Klymaxx was a female Urban/Funk Band formed in Los Angeles, California between 1979 and 1990. The group consisted of drummer/founder Bernadette Cooper, vocalist Lorena Porter, bassist Joyce Irby, keyboardists Lynn Malsby and Robbin Grider and guitarist Cheryl Cooley. Klymaxx became the first and last (so far) all-female band in this style of music to all play an instrument.

Career

In 1981, they signed to Solar Records. Their debut album, Never Underestimate The Power Of A Woman, was released on Solar Records. Upon beginning work on their second album, they became the first ever act to work with writers/producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The team wrote and produced the song "Wild Girls" for that second album Girls Will Be Girls. After the second Solar album in 1983, they switched to the Constellation label (via MCA) for Meeting In The Ladies' Room which featured the 1985 hit "I Miss You" which peaked at #3 on both the Adult Contemporary and Billboard Hot 100 charts. "I Miss You" stayed on Billboard's Hot 100 for 29 weeks, an extremely long chart run at the time, and good enough to rank it as the third-biggest pop hit of 1986, ahead of several songs that hit #1. The album also featured the hits "The Men All Pause" and "Meeting in the Ladies Room". Two years later, their song "Man Size Love," from their self-titled Klymaxx album, was featured on the soundtrack for the movie Running Scared. Klymaxx scored another massive hit with the ballad, "I'd Still Say Yes" written by Babyface and Joyce Irby. It peaked at #18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #8 on the Adult Contemporary chart in 1987 and was covered by Toni Braxton's siblings The Braxtons in 1996.

The group was down to three members by the end of 1989 when the band was composed of Porter, Cooley, and Grider. In 1990, they returned with The Maxx Is Back, which featured the singles "Good Love" and "Don't Run Away." "Good Love" peaked at #23 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play and #4 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks charts.

1994-Present

They attempted a comeback in 1994 with the album titled One Day. It was released on the label Valley Vue. The album featured the single "All I Think About Is You." Even though it received positive reviews from fans, it met with zero interest in radio airplay.

Five of the six members from the classic Klymaxx lineup (the one exception being keyboardist Robbin Grider) reunited on an episode of the VH1 series Bands Reunited in 2003 in order to perform some of their vintage hit singles. Unfortunately, disagreements between guitarist Cheryl Cooley and the rest of the band (particularly founding member Bernadette Cooper) resulted in the former not actually performing with her former bandmates. The remaining four members have recently attempted to continue performing as Klymaxx, while Cooley has put together her own band.

Bernadette Cooper

She signed with MCA Records for a lone solo album entitled The Drama According To Bernadette Cooper in 1990. The set yielded the singles "I Look Good" and "Stupid" that year. Another single, "The Underground," followed in 1991. Though the album is now out of print, "I Look Good" was included on the Klymaxx collection Greatest Hits. On her own, Bernadette Cooper continued writing and producing for other artists, most notable was the trio Altitude, whom had two Top 40 singles in 1991 which were "Silly" and "Work It (Like a 9 to 5)". Cooper engineered the female singing trio Madame X in the 80's. She also produced Salt-N-Pepa's "I Am The Body Beautiful" for the soundtrack of the motion picture To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar.

Joyce Irby

Joyce "Fenderella" Irby signed with Motown Records and released the dance-oriented Maximum Thrust in 1989. The solo set spawned two singles and music videos for "Hey Mr. DJ" and "She's Not My Lover". Joyce also wrote "I Will Always Love You" for male R&B group Troop. More recently Irby has been involved with starting the career of young R&B vocalist and The Inc/Def Jam recording artist Lloyd. Lloyd was once a member of the teen-pop group N-Toon which was put together by Irby and signed to Dreamworks Records in the mid 90's.

Discography

Albums

• Never Underestimate The Power of a Woman (Solar, 1981)
• Girls Will Be Girls (Solar, 1982)
• Girls In The Band (Elektra, 1983) - Unreleased
• Meeting In The Ladies Room (Constellation/MCA, 1984) US #18
• Klymaxx (Constellation/MCA, 1986) US #98
• The Maxx Is Back (MCA, 1990) US #168
• One Day (Valley Vue, 1994)

Solo Albums by Members of the Band

• Joyce Irby — Maximum Thrust (Motown, 1989)
• Bernadette Cooper — The Drama According To Bernadette Cooper (MCA, 1990)

Compilations

• Greatest Hits (MCA)
• 20th Century Master: The Millennium Collection (Geffen)

Singles

• "Never Underestimate The Power of a Woman" (Solar, 1981)
• "Don't Hide Your Love" (Solar, 1982)
• "Multi-Purpose Girls" (Solar, 1983) / from their unreleased Girls In The Band-project
• "I Miss You" (Constellation/MCA, 1985) US #5, UK #89
• "The Men All Pause" (Constellation/MCA, 1985) US #80
• "Meeting In The Ladies Room" (Constellation/MCA, 1985) US #59
• "Lock and Key"
• "Man Size Love" (1986) US #15, UK #86
• "Sexy" (Constellation/MCA, 1986) US #20 R&B
• "Divas Need Love Too" US #5 R&B
• "I'd Still Say Yes" (Constellation/MCA, 1987) US #18
• "Good Love" (MCA, 1990) UK #89
• "Private Party" (MCA, 1990)
• "Don't Run Away" (MCA)
• "4 The Old Dawg In U"
• "All I Think About Is You"

External Links

• Klymaxx.org Website
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