My February Legend is the truly wonderful Chris Clark. Back in the 1970s when I started buying Motown albums the inner sleeves would have illustrations of other releases and one fascinated me as it seemed so out of place, a blonde Kim Novak lookalike in a black sequined dress - she didn't appear on any of my Motown Chartbusters albums and there were no records available - so who was Chris Clark?

It was only in the 1990s, when perusing a new Motown compilation cd, I saw that it included "From Head To Toe" by Chris Clark - I couldn't pay for it quick enough! After that I managed to land a European cd release of that long-lost album SOUL SOUNDS and my musical world was rocked - here was a seriously under-rated singer, very similar to Dusty with a throaty growl. Although never particularly successful in the charts she built up a big cult following particularly on the Northern Soul scene.
After only two albums she settled into an executive role with the company when it moved to LA and even won an Academy Award nomination for co-writing the LADY SINGS THE BLUES script. She married the FRENCH CONNECTION scriptwriter Ernest Tidyman and since his death has concentrated on being a photographic and digital artist, still playing the occasional gig.

She appeared at a Motown Weekender a few years ago in the north of England where she wowed the faithfull - and endeared herself to them by taking a photo of them from the stage!