La La (songwriter)
| La La | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | La Forrest Cope |
| Origin | Queens, New York City, US |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter |
| Years active | 1981 to 1992 |
La Forrest Cope, professionally known as La La,[1] is an American songwriter and performer. She is best known for writing the hit song "You Give Good Love", recorded by Whitney Houston for her 1985 self-titled debut album, which went on to sell over 25 million units worldwide.
History
La La was raised in the East Elmhurst neighborhood of Queens, New York City, United States. She took up the piano at the age of five and gave a piano recital at Carnegie Hall at the age of nine.
After leaving New York's High School of Music and Art, she formed a band called Jack Sass, which played Top 40 cover versions on the club scene.
As the group's reputation grew, La La began introducing more of her own songs into the repertoire before she went to Juilliard to major in composition.
In 1981, she was invited to tour with Stacy Lattisaw who opened for The Jacksons on a national tour.
Following this she sang with the group Change, along with Luther Vandross, where her voice was heard on their song "The Glow of Love", co-written by her childhood friend from East Elmhurst, Queens, Wayne K. Garfield.
She played one of her songs, "Stone Love", to another neighborhood friend, Kashif, who recorded it for his debut album in 1983.
Songs
La La has penned songs for many artists including Lillo Thomas ("All of You"), Melba Moore ("Living for Your Love" and "It's Really Love"), Glenn Jones ("Show Me" and "Stay"), Giorge Pettus ("My Night for Love") and a solo release "Into the Night" which was featured on the Beat Street soundtrack album.
Through Kashif, she had a couple of her songs recorded by Whitney Houston ("You Give Good Love" and "Thinking About You") before signing to Arista (both Kashif and Houston's label) as an artist. In 1987 she released a debut album, La La, including "We'll Keep Striving" (a duet with Bernard Wright), but she left the label shortly afterwards.
La La also wrote for Carl Anderson and Stephanie Mills in addition to further songs for herself, after a move to Motown Records in the early 1990s. Her debut Motown album was La La Means I Love You in 1991.
References
- ↑ Bultman, Scott. "Biography: La La". Allmusic. Retrieved 23 May 2010.