NEW YORK, NY (February, 2024) – Two-time Grammy nominee Martha Wash (the voice of C&C Music Factory, Black Box, and The Weather Girls), Norma Jean Wright formerly of Chic and legendary disco soul singer Linda Clifford will take the stage together in First Ladies of Disco: The Ultimate Flashback Experience, Friday, March 15 at the Lakeport Opera House in Laconia, New Hampshire. Produced by James Washington and presented by Do-KWA Productions, the show will be a night of unforgettable music, fun, and laughter with the ladies singing and performing their greatest hits while honoring the iconic artists who played a vital role in shaping the disco-funk-soul-pop-dance genre of the 70s, 80s, and 90s.
Joining the First Ladies of Disco for the once-in-a-lifetime evening will be special guest performers: Grammy nominee Anita Ward (“Ring My Bell”) and the hilarious actress and comedian Marsha Warfield (best known for playing Roz Russell on NBC’s Night Court and most recently seen on Netflix’s The Upshaws).
“Audiences will get ‘Lost in Music’ in this high-energy, flashback show that commemorates the music and cultural essence of disco, soul, pop, and dance,” says First Ladies of Disco producer James Washington.
Known collectively as the First Ladies of Disco, Martha, Linda and Norma Jean Wright formerly of Chic are well-known to fans who came up during the soul, disco, funk and dance music eras. Two-time Grammy nominee Martha Wash recorded and performed the classic dance hits “It’s Raining Men,” “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now),” “Everybody, Everybody,” and “Strike It Up” for the groups The Weather Girls, C&C Music Factory and Black Box respectively. In the 1990s, after her vocals were misrepresented to the public, Wash famously worked for legislation that made vocal credits on CDs and other recordings mandatory. Today, Ms. Wash is an activist for her fellow musicians, while recording and touring as a solo artist extensively.
Norma Jean Wright formerly of Chic was a vocalist with the legendary group behind hits including “Dance Dance Dance” and “Everybody Dance”, before embarking on a solo career that featured her hit song “Saturday,” produced by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers. She has worked as a vocalist for luminaries such as Aretha Franklin, Luther Vandross, Sister Sledge, Chaka Khan, and others.
Linda Clifford’s hits include “If My Friends Could See Me Now”, “Red Light” from the Oscar-winning movie Fame, the chart-topping “Runaway Love” and countless club hits.
Her songs have spent a total of sixty weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Dance Music Charts, and Clifford has been nominated for several awards.
The First Ladies of Disco’s first album Show Some Love, released in 2016, climbed to the top ten on the Billboard Dance Charts. It was followed in 2018 with their smash hit, “Don’t Stop Me Now”.
First Ladies of Disco: The Ultimate Flashback Experience opens with an explosive performance of “Don’t Stop Me Now.” Then, it is ninety-minutes of rocking and toe-tapping to the best in ’70s ‘80s ’90s, Soul, Rock, Pop, R&B, and Dance music. The concert was voted “Best Retro Music Experience” by fans, and heralded by critics as a stunning lesson in the evolution of popular music.
First Ladies of Disco: The Ultimate Flashback Experience takes place Friday, March 15 @ 7PM at the Lakeport Opera House, 781 Union Avenue, Laconia, New Hampshire. Tickets are available now at www.Lakeportopera.com/shows-events.