Zelma Davis

Zelma Davis (born August 2, 1970) is a Liberian-born American singer-songwriter. She is primarily known for her number-one dance hits "Things That Make You Go Hmmm..." and "Just a Touch of Love" with C+C Music Factory. She has won four American Music Awards, five Billboard Music Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards, and a Grammy Award nomination with the group.

Zelma Davis
Born	(1970-08-02) August 2, 1970 Liberia, Africa
Genres	R&B, house, dance, pop
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter, actress
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1989–present
Labels	Columbia
Associated acts	C+C Music Factory, Martha Wash

Career

Upon C+C Music Factory's emergence onto the scene in late 1990, Davis was marketed as the principal vocalist of the ensemble—despite there having been several other female vocalists, in addition to her, who had provided the vocals to various tracks on the group's debut album, Gonna Make You Sweat. Davis appeared in the music video for the album's number-one Hot 100-charting title track, where she lip-synched to vocals which had, in fact, been sung by Martha Wash.[1]

Wash (who had also provided vocals to Black Box during the same period, and also saw that group use models to lip-sync to her voice in the music videos) did not appreciate the perception of Davis being the voice behind the hit song, and proceeded to file a lawsuit against the group. With this happening during the height of the Milli Vanilli lip-synching scandal, Davis found herself being accused of being a "no talent" who was being featured by the group only because of her looks — despite her having actually performed a number of songs on their studio album Gonna Make You Sweat.

In 1992, she made an appearance on the American sitcom "Blossom".[2] In 1993, Davis performed a rendition of Dennis Edwards's song "Don't Look Any Further" for Dave Koz's album Lucky Man. In 1994, Davis reunited with C+C Music Factory to record their second album, Anything Goes!.[3] The album's lead single "Do You Wanna Get Funky", which featured Davis and Martha Wash, peaked at number-one on Billboard's Dance chart.[3] Davis also appears on the song "I Found Love".[3]

In 1997, she released a song called "I'm Calling (Say It Loud)" on the soundtrack for the documentary film, When We Were Kings.[4] In 2000, Davis released a single called "Power", which peaked at number-one on Billboard's Hot Dance Maxi-Singles Sales.[5]

In June 2008, Davis appeared on DJ Heavygrinder's single "Mind Reader".[6] In August 2008, Zelma Davis and Amber released a remake of Donna Summer and Barbra Streisand's "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)".[7] In 2009, she released another single with DJ Heavygrinder called "Chains of Love". In 2010, she released three singles: "Free Love",[8] "Touch the Sky",[9] and "Summer of Love".[10]

In January 2015, she released a single with Dank called "1994 (Rhythm Is Right)".[11] In 2017, Davis appeared in the TV series "Dr. Ken".[12]

Discography

Singles

Title	Year	Peak chart positions												Certifications	Album
		US [13]	US R&B [13]	US Dance [13]	BEL [14]	CAN [15]	FIN [16]	GER [17]	IRE [18]	NLD [19]	NZ [20]	SWI [21]	UK [22]
"Here We Go (Let's Rock & Roll)" (with C+C Music Factory)	1991	3	7	1	21	1	16	14	19	15	9	11	20	RIAA: Gold	Gonna Make You Sweat
"Things That Make You Go Hmmm..." (with C+C Music Factory)		4	31	1	—	1	10	27	9	19	2	15	4	RIAA: Gold
"Just a Touch of Love" (with C+C Music Factory)		50	83	1	—	—	—	—	17	47	21	21	31
"Do You Wanna Get Funky" (with C+C Music Factory, Martha Wash, and Trilogy)	1994	40	11	1	38	1	—	41	—	18	2	—	27		Anything Goes!
"I Found Love" (with C+C Music Factory)	1995	—	—	13	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	26
"Power"	2000	—	—	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—		Non-album single
"Mind Reader" (DJ Heavygrinder featuring Zelma Davis)	2008	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" (with Amber)		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"Chains of Love" (DJ Heavygrinder featuring Zelma Davis)	2009	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"Free Love"	2010	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"Touch the Sky"		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"Summer of Love"		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"1994 (Rhythm Is Right)" (with Dank)	2015	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Awards and nominations

American Music Awards

Year	Nominated Work	Category	Result[23]
1992	"C+C Music Factory"	Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group	Won
	"C+C Music Factory"	Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist	Won
	"C+C Music Factory"	Favorite Dance New Artist	Won
	"C+C Music Factory"	Favorite Dance Artist	Won

Grammy Music Awards

Year	Nominated Work	Category	Result[24]
1991	"C+C Music Factory"	Best New Artist	Nominated

MTV Video Music Awards

Year	Nominated Work	Category	Result[25]
1991	"Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)"	Best Dance Video	Won
		Best Choreography in a Video	Won
		Video of the Year	Nominated
		Best New Artist in a Video	Nominated
		Viewer's Choice	Nominated
	"Things That Make You Go Hmmm..."	Best Art Direction in a Video	Nominated

• Note: These are nominations Davis shares with the C+C Music Factory.

See also

• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart

References

1. C + C Music Factory lyrics, music, biography, records, band, album, videos, CD, and the discography including C + C Music Factory famous works
2. Blossom - Full Cast & Crew. IMDb. Retrieved on June 5, 2017
3. Published by Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (1994, April 2). Clivilles and Cole retool C+C Music Factory. Billboard, Vol. 106: No. 14, Page 24. Retrieved from https://books.google.com
4. When We Were Kings - Soundtrack | Overview. All Music Guide. Retrieved on June 5, 2017
5. Published by Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (2000, October 21). The Dance Trax Hot Plate. Billboard, Vol. 112: No. 43, Page 33. Retrieved from https://books.google.com
6. Heavygrinder — Mind Reader (feat. Zelma Davis). iTunes. Retrieved on June 5, 2017
7. Amber & Zelma Davis — No More Tears (Enough Is Enough). iTunes. Retrieved on June 5, 2017
8. Zelma Davis — Free Love (Maxi-Single). iTunes. Retrieved on June 5, 2017
9. Zelma — Touch the Sky. Discogs. Retrieved on June 5, 2017
10. Zelma — Summer of Love. Discogs. Retrieved on June 5, 2017
11. Dank & Zelma Davis — 1994 (Rhythm Is Right). iTunes. Retrieved on June 5, 2017
12. Dr. Ken - Full Cast & Crew. IMDb. Retrieved on June 5, 2017
13. "C and C Music Factory – Chart history". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
14. "Radio2 top 30: 1 oktober 2016". C and C Music Factory – Chart history. Archived from the original on 9 April 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
15. "Gonna make you sweat (everybody dance now) in Canadian 10 Dance Chart". Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
16. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
17. "GER Charts > C & C Factory". Media Control Charts. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
18. "Gonna make you sweat (everybody dance now) in Irish Chart". IRMA. Archived from the original on 3 June 2009. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
19. "NLD Charts > C+C Factory and Martha Wash". MegaCharts. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
20. "NZ Charts > C+C Factory". Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
21. "SWI Charts > C+C Factory". Swiss Music Charts. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
22. "UK Charts > C+C Music Factory". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
23. Winners Database|American Music Awards. American Music Awards. Retrieved on June 11, 2017
24. C + C Music Factory | The Recording Academy. Grammy. Retrieved on June 11, 2017
25. MTV Video Music Awards: MTV VMAs 1991. Awards and Shows. Retrieved on June 11, 2017