Funky Little Beat

Biography

The South Florida native, who aspired to perform since childhood, Connie realized her dreams after a friend introduced her to the legendary music producer, Henry Stone. Stone, best known as the co-owner and president of TK Records with a career spaning R&B in the early 1950s through the disco boom of the 1970s to the present day, would go on to become the executive producer of Connie's 1985 debut single "Funky Little Beat", catapulting the young singer onto the international music scene. In 1...

The South Florida native, who aspired to perform since childhood, Connie realized her dreams after a friend introduced her to the legendary music producer, Henry Stone. Stone, best known as the co-owner and president of TK Records with a career spaning R&B in the early 1950s through the disco boom of the 1970s to the present day, would go on to become the executive producer of Connie's 1985 debut single "Funky Little Beat", catapulting the young singer onto the international music scene.

In 1986, while under the Sonte's Sunnyview Record label, Connie released her second single "Experience", which along with "Funky Little Beat", "Your Eyes", "I Can't Stop", "Fire In My Heart", "Laughter In The Rain", "I'm In Love With You", and "Rock Me", provided her self-title debut album CONNIE.

The following six years Connie toured the globe, performing with music legends Kool & The Gang, Evelyn Champagne King, Morris Day and fellow Freestyle peers, Expose and Lisa Lisa. In the early 90’s Connie took a step back from the music scene to get married. Before the birth of her daughter in 1996, Connie recorded her second full-length album, NO TEARS, released under the Black Olive Record label.

In 2002 Thump Records released THE BEST OF CONNIE. Containing three versions of Funky Little Beat ( the original and two club-style remix), the BEST OF CD also featured Connie's original version of Rock Me, Experience, and Your Eyes, plus the newly recorded cover tracks Look Out Weekend, How Can We Be Wrong, and When I Hear Music, which had been made popular a decade earlier by fellow "freestylers".

By the mid 1990's the self-proclaimed "FOREVER FUNKY" one itched to get back into the studio and with a new production team, Black House Productions; Connie released LET'S PARTY in 2006. Revealing a fierce Latin twist and new "funky beat style" LET’s PARTY is an English/Spanish crossover with a Reggaeton, Cumbia, Merengue, and R&B beat. That year also saw the release of the MP3 download compilation THE BEST OF ( FUNKY LITTLE BEAT) featuring digitally remastered original songs on Amazon.com.

Funky Little Beat, regarded as one of the defining songs of the freestyle era, still holds its own in today inspiring Canadian singer, Kim Esty to cover the catchy tune, while Connie’s other popular hit - ROCK ME - is reaching a new younger audience as the soundtrack to the NIKE commercial filmed at the Berrics.

Connie currently resides in South Florida with her husband, daughter, and family dog and continues to perform in both public and private concerts, throughout the U.S. and abroad. You can follow Connie on Facebook, Myspace and her personal website, http://www.conniemusic.com/ Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.