Carol Lynn Townes is an American soul singer from Warrenton, North Carolina.
Hailing from a family of gospel singers, she made her debut singing gospel at age three. She moved to New York in the early 1970s, joining a male soul group called Fifth Avenue. The group consisted of prominent jingle singers. With Townes as lead singer, the group recorded the single, "Wheeler Dealer", for Buddha Records, and followed with an album on RCA Records in 1976. But it was not until nearly a decade later that Townes achieved commercial success.
Signed to Polydor as a solo artist, she recorded a cover version of Alton McClain & Destiny's "99 ½" for the Breakin' soundtrack in 1984.[1] This became a top 10 dance club hit and made number 22 on the US Billboard R&B chart, and number 77 on the Billboard Hot 100.[2] It peaked at number 47 in the UK Singles Chart in August 1984.[3] She then recorded "Believe in the Beat" for the follow-up film, ,[1] in which she appeared at the end, performing the song. This track reached number 56 in the UK[3] and number 65 in Australia.[4] This led to her own solo album, Satisfaction Guaranteed. She then recorded a second album, Try Me Out, released in 1988. This was followed by the 12-inch single "What I Wouldn't Do" on Easy Street in 1989, and a dance version of The Grass Roots' hit "Midnight Confessions" on Life Line in 1993.
| Year | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Carol Townes and Fifth Avenue | Sixth Avenue |
| 1985 | Satisfaction Guaranteed | Polydor |
| 1988 | Try Me Out |
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [5] | US R&B | US Dance | UK [6] | AUS | |||
| 1975 | "Wheeler Dealer" (with Fifth Avenue) | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1984 | "99 ½" | 77 | 22 | 9 | 47 | — | |
| "Believe in the Beat" | 109 | 65 | 25 | 56 | 65 | ||
| 1985 | "I Freak for You" | 106 | — | 28 | — | — | |
| 1988 | "You Keep Running Back" | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1989 | "What Wouldn't I Do" | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1993 | "Midnight Confession" | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | |||||||
. Top R&B Singles: 1942-1995 . Joel Whitburn . 1996 . Record Research Inc. . Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin . 0-89820-115-2 . 449 . registration .
. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. illustrated. Australian Chart Book. St Ives, N.S.W.. 1993. 0-646-11917-6. 311.