First ever release of Deniece Chandlers Toddlin Town album includes all of her Toddlin Town and subsidiary Lock 45rpm releases plus previously unreleased and bonus recordings. She was born June 3rd, 1950 in Gary, Indiana and grew up rubbing shoulders with the Jackson 5. Her uncle William Blakely was the Bishop of Indiana and her sister sang back-up for Lou Rawls!She successfully auditioned for Toddlin Town Records from neighbouring Chicago, while still at high school and Eugene Record and Barbara Acklin penned her first single, Love Is Tears / Im Walking Away, which opens our set. The song enjoyed some modest local success, but more importantly, it caught the ear of Stevie Wonder!She recorded a total of six singles for Toddlin Town, and its associated Lock label, including a duet with Michigan soul singer Lee Sain. The twelve sides were intended to form her solo album, but sadly Lock went out of business in 1970 & Deniece returned to college. A year later the call came from Stevie Wonder and she joined his backing group Wonderlove (the inspiration for our album title). Her big break came in 1975 when she met Maurice White of Earth, Wind & Fire who took her to Columbia Records and produced the album "This Is Niecy" which spawned her self-penned single Free scoring a top 40 stateside hit and a No.1 in the U.K. Williams would go on to win four Grammys, twelve nominations and become a worldwide household name.
