Gerri Granger – The Show Stopper from the Double L Records 45

Well here we are on Friday already. It’s been a long week, with Super Tuesday and the Super Bowl, it’s finally coming to an end. Today I want to throw out a side I included in my That’s Heavy Old Man Mix with DJ Devil Dick. It’s a great upbeat Soul tune that I’m sure you’re going to dig. Here’s Gerri Granger and “The Show Stopper” on Double L Records.

Starting out at age 14 in Newark, NJ, Gerri Granger got an unlikely chance to sing at Teddy Powell’s Lounge on an amateur night. She won that night, but being a singer was not first and foremost to her. After graduation from high school she earned a scholarship for Design at NYU. She would go on and join Lloyd Price’s Big Band and then did a stint on the circuit in the Catskills of New York State as a singer and dancer. Her talent caught the eye of the William Morris Agency, who would launch her television career. She would meet her mentor in entertainment, Sammy Davis, Jr. during this time, and go on to have a great career working with him. The majority of the time she focused on television. She has led a great life, being involved in television not only in the States, but Europe as well, singing, acting, and entertaining. This particular side we have her today was recorded on Lloyd Price’s “Double L” label out of New York City. Granger has been noted for some really great Northern Soul sides, the most popular being, “I Go To Pieces”. She took a hiatus from singing, but has recently got back into the studio and started making music and touring once again.

“Show Stopper” is a great side, upbeat and bouncy. It spins a tale of a strong independent woman, who takes no shit from any man. It’s cutting chorus of “One monkey don’t stop no show” rings out along with the horn section and tambourine throughout this short piece. The big band influences from Lloyd Price are definitely obvious. This song is proof why Granger was making the rounds of the television circuits in the 70’s, her voice is that good. The Shirley Bassey of New Jersey? Perhaps, but comparisons aside, her voice is really great in her own right. I’ll be back Monday with a new mix for some new friends, and if the weather holds out, some digging reports on the weekend. Keep Diggin’!