There are a lot of people who still remember the track “Memories” by Carolyn Harding. If you lived in New York during the 80’s you probably start thinking about the Paradise Garage. That’s what happens to me when I think of that track. M-M-M-Memories, yeah that distinctive intro would signal the start of pandemonium on many dance floors as people rushed to dance to one of the hottest club hits of the Garage era. Ok so maybe, if you remember, you might be thinking…yeah whatever happened to her. Well the answer is simple, she kept doing what she loves to do, sing and record. My memories of Carolyn Harding are of seeing her front and center on the stage of the Paradise Garage. I was there in a crowd of hundreds dancing to her music. As I’ve said in previous articles, dance music has the ability to shape and influence lives. The same is true for Carolyn Harding this music has had a profound effect on her life as it continues to do so even today. What’s interesting in her case is that the love of dance music prompted someone else to steer her in that direction. The person responsible for her
choosing this path was her brother Ricky; Carolyn credits him with introducing her to dance music. While she was still in high school her brother began to tell her about a place called the Paradise Garage. What he described to her was a type of music that people were connecting with, music he felt she should be a part of. This led to a series of events and chance meetings that brought us one of the most dynamic voices of what came to be known as house music.
Carolyn got her foot in the door singing backup vocals for artists like Salsoul Orchestra and Jocelyn Brown. From there she went on to work with producers who recognized her talent and guided her to her first record released on a dance music label. Her first single with Emergency records was released in 1985 the single was called “Gonna Get Your Love.” Carolyn was smart enough to leverage another record out of that deal. Her desire to sing the kind of music her brother told her about, led to her second release on Emergency, the hit single “Memories.” In the late 90’s she served as a production consultant to Peter Greco which gave her experience in the management end of the business. In 2000 Carolyn suffered injuries in a car accident, her previously busy production and performance schedule would have to be suspended. Carolyn resigned her position so that
