Stacy Lattisaw & Johnny Gill

While still a teen herself, D. C. singer Stacy Lattisaw, it's been written, was moved by another teenager's singing talent -- fellow D. C. native Johnny Gill, who was a featured soloist in his family's gospel ensemble, Wings of Faith. Record industry legend has it that the young Lattisaw brought the young Gill's talent to the attention of her Atlantic record label's executives. The executives, obviously impressed by what they heard, signed Gill to the Atlantic label and both Gill and Lattisaw recorded moderately successful solo projects while at that label in the 1980's. The two were even paired for a duet album, "Perfect Combination," a fairly successful release mostly produced and orchestrated by producer-extraordinaire Narada Michael Walden in the mid-1980's. Both Lattisaw and Gill continued to record solo projects, with Lattisaw being the more successful of the two early on. The late 80's saw both artists moving on to another famous label, Motown (Gill, while being a solo artist, also did double-duty as a member of New Edition) and while the two of them were at Motown, they finally recorded a very successful song together, a number one R&B single, "Where Do We Go From Here" for one of Lattisaw's Motown releases. As the 90's moved on in time, Lattisaw never recorded again, while Gill went on to record some very memorable and successful songs, both as a solo act and as a member of New Edition. As of 2011, the two singers had not recorded or released anything together since that Motown duet; however, fans of the two know, there was magic when the two sang together and the proof is in that Atlantic album and in that big hit. As a true fan, I am always hopeful that the two of them will perhaps record together again -- at least one more time. Great soul duets are many, but too far between. Johnny & Stacy, together, are a small part of that history.