Pat Lundy: The Lady Has Arrived (1976) ... plus

Pat Lundy is known mainly for ‘Day by day’, a track with a nice funky intro which was the 'B' side of DC La Rue's Blackpool Mecca classic ‘Cathedrals’, in 1976. It was a new release on the Pyramid label then. Sadly the lady has had no hits of her own, and for someone who has put out four albums, very little is known. Lundy was a New York-based singer and actress, and was apparently a girlfriend of New York producer Buddy Scott. She was originally a member of the Symbols - a group that she left in 1962 - and put out several albums and singles on Deluxe, Columbia, RCA, Toto, Leopard and Heidi labels over a 20 year period, some of which are quite worth sorting out. This album, The Lady Has Arrived, alone stands high out there. It contains a version of the Jackie Wilson's classic ‘Ain't No Pity in The Naked City’, the Northern soul tune ‘Happy Walk’, the soul blues ballad 'Baby Don't You Let Me Down', and the jolly little stepper ‘Let's Get Down To Business’, amongst others. A binding force behind many of her songs was writer Jimmy Radcliff & productions of Buddy Scott. Bob Babbitt (much used by James Brown) bass player is found on this album, arranged by Phil Medley with Patti Austin on backing vocals and recorded at Groove Sound Studio's in New York, in 1976. One of her most sought-after cuts at the moment is the 12" of 'Work Song' (commands a £50 price tag), a song whose break has been sampled by many rap vocalists since the ‘80s. I added 4 bonus tracks to the album: the aforementioned 'Work Song', her answer song to Ben E. King's 'Don't Play That Song', 'Play It Again', and the Northern Soul stompers 'Prove It' (1969) and 'Soul Ain't Nothin' but the Blues' (1968). I am sorry I couldn't get a better copy of the latter, but it is so good that I decided to include it anyway. It will have to do as a mere appetizer! After marrying Chuck Patterson - an actor and Equity advocate for minorities and women - Pat continued performing and became an SGI member dedicating her life towards peace in the world. She died in 1994 from brain cancer, just before her 52nd birthday. http://mickeynold.blogspot.com/