20. The Blue Belles – I Sold My Heart to the Junkman (1962)
Her breakthrough hit with pop and doo-wop quartet the Blue Belles (also Patti LaBelle and the Blue Belles, plus various other spellings) was mired in controversy – there’s a school of thought that says the most often heard version doesn’t actually feature LaBelle or the Blue Belles at all. But let’s go with what it says on the label and delight in the sheer post-Please Mr Postman early-60s girl-group joy of the whole enterprise.
19. Patti LaBelle – The Spirit’s in It (1981)
LaBelle’s disco tracks tend to get critical short shrift, as if they were an unnecessary diversion from the more pressing matter of singing ballads. That’s nonsense. The gritty power of her voice works perfectly in that setting, as demonstrated here, roughing up the cool, streamlined sound of the backing track.
18. Labelle – Sunday’s News (1972)
The Blue Belles’ Cindy Birdsong left to join the Supremes, leaving the trio of LaBelle, Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash, who changed their look, sound and name. Labelle took a while to get going: there were few takers for their initial denim-clad, socially conscious incarnation, which was a shame. Heavy on rock covers, their albums deserved better than flop status. Moreover, Hendryx was developing rapidly as a songwriter, as evidenced by the sweet melody and Vietnam-haunted lyrics of Sunday’s News.
17. Patti LaBelle and the Blue Belles – Down the Aisle (Wedding Song) (1963)
The controversy around I Sold My Heart to the Junkman died down in time for the ultra-dramatic ballad Down the Aisle to become a US hit. Influenced in equal part by doo-wop and emotionally potent gospel-infused soul, there’s a real intensity about it, amped up by LaBelle’s vocal.
16. Patti LaBelle – 2 Steps Away (2004)
LaBelle’s recorded output understandably slowed up in her 60s and 70s and has tended more towards Christmas albums and jazz than soul. But 2004’s Timeless Journey is worth a listen, not least for 2 Steps Away: a classic LaBelle ballad stripped back to acoustic guitar and strings, sung – as ever – to perfection.
15. Labelle – Isn’t It a Shame (1976)
From Chameleon, the last album Labelle made before going on hiatus (they eventually reconvened in 2008), Isn’t It a Shame feels as though it’s pointing the way towards the blockbuster ballads that Patti LaBelle would release in the 80s. The song is the handiwork of MOR songwriter Randy Edelman, with LaBelle’s raw vocal giving it edge.
14. Patti LaBelle – On My Own (1986)
Songs about divorce and wistful nostalgia were weirdly big in the mid-80s – the sound of baby boomers hitting middle age. On My Own, featuring LaBelle in a vocal battle with the Doobie Brothers’ Michael McDonald, both sounding alternately careworn and racked, could be the supreme example: misery packaged in sumptuous 80s MOR wrapping.
13. Patti LaBelle – The Right Kinda Lover (1994)
Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis produced the original version – a sassy and pleasingly lascivious slice of funky mid-tempo R&B – but the Def Jef remix is worth checking out. For one thing, it strips the track back and toughens up the beat; for another, it throws the profoundly improbable sound of a female ragga MC into the mix.
12. Labelle – Phoenix (The Amazing Flight of a Lone Star) (1975)
Labelle’s follow-ups to their breakthrough album, Nightbirds, didn’t hit in quite the same way, which is no reflection on their contents. Hendryx was turning out ambitious and unique songs; if anything, the epic, episodic, beguiling title track from Phoenix may have been too idiosyncratic for mass acceptance.
11. Labelle – Open Up Your Heart (1973)
By 1973, Labelle must have wondered what they had to do to get a hit: their image had shifted to space-age glam, they had an album full of fantastic songs in Pressure Cookin’, and they still couldn’t get arrested, even when Stevie Wonder rocked up and gifted them the fabulous Open Up Your Heart.
10. Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles – Take Me for a Little While (1967)
The stock in trade of LaBelle’s 60s girl group was covers of weepy classics like Danny Boy, Somewhere Over the Rainbow and You’ll Never Walk Alone, but there are some superb soul sides in their discography, too. The tough, mid-tempo Take Me for a Little While is a case in point; for more, check the Northern-friendly stomper You Forgot How to Love.
9. Patti LaBelle – Music Is My Way of Life (1979)
The pinnacle of LaBelle’s excursions into disco, Music Is My Way of Life’s hymn to the transformative power of dancing is a flat-out amazing record, hard-edged and funky but utterly euphoric. The version you want is the extended remix by the great John Luongo: eight minutes of dancefloor nirvana.
8. Patti LaBelle – Yo Mister (1989)
The sound of Prince – who wrote, produced, arranged and played every instrument – trying out a curious New Jack Swing/hard-rock hybrid with post-Sign o’ the Times socially conscious lyrics. It’s an odd combination, and not one he’d pursue much further, but its clanking drum-machine-driven sound provoked a superb LaBelle performance, angry and commanding.
7. Labelle – What Can I Do for You? (1974)
The other hit from Nightbirds is unfairly overshadowed by Lady Marmalade. What Can I Do for You? is every bit its equal: an anthem on New York’s nascent disco scene, there’s a real spark of originality about its busy rhythm and a hint of jazz in the drumming’s unlikely accents – and the trio’s vocals are incredible.
6. Patti LaBelle – Somebody Loves You Baby (You Know Who It Is) (1991)
The 1991 album Burnin’ briefly reunited the Labelle trio on Release Yourself, but the hit was her solo track Somebody Loves You Baby (You Know Who It Is). It’s prime 80s/90s Patti territory: a piano ballad that subtly builds to a showstopping climax, the sheer power of her voice scuffing against the glossy arrangement.
5. Patti LaBelle – New Attitude (1984)
From the soundtrack of Beverly Hills Cop, New Attitude sounds not unlike the kind of synth-driven pop the Pointer Sisters were making around the same time. It’s very much of its era, which makes it sound oddly hip in 2024, but it’s also a great song, and LaBelle absolutely roars her way through the I-am-freshly-empowered lyrics.
4. Labelle – Messin’ With My Mind (1975)
Hard-hitting and super-funky, powered along by ferocious blasts of brass and interjecting backing vocals, locking into a hypnotic groove for its final 90 seconds, Messin’ With My Mind is amazing: you can almost feel the sweat dripping off the ceiling above a packed dancefloor as it plays. Incredibly, only a minor hit.
3. Labelle – Lady Marmalade (1974)
The song that finally delivered Labelle to the upper reaches of the charts, Lady Marmalade has the lot – hooks galore, the Meters providing the super-tight funk backing, Allen Toussaint in the producer’s chair, and a hint of daring in its subject matter (about which LaBelle herself claimed to be oblivious).
2. Patti LaBelle – You Are My Friend (1977)
A minor hit that went on to become one of LaBelle’s signature songs – a glorious, emotional ballad inspired by her son, its reputation was bolstered by the awesome cover on Sylvester’s 1979 live album Living Proof, and by LaBelle’s own live performances, which made the song’s gospel roots more explicit.
1. Patti LaBelle – If Only You Knew (1983)
LaBelle’s move to Philadelphia International initially looked like a mistake: the label was long past its hitmaking peak and her first album for them flopped. But then in-house writers Kenny Gamble, Dexter Wansell and Cynthia Biggs came up with If Only You Knew, as classy a ballad as LaBelle had ever sung, and one that suited her perfectly. It’s spiked with unexpected chord changes, super-smooth but powerful, and provoked a star vocal turn: LaBelle drives the track to its emotional climax entirely with her voice. It reanimated her career, and while it has been covered and sampled dozens of times, LaBelle’s version remains unequalled.
