Saturday, January 17, 2009
Chi Coltrane...Remember Chi Coltrane?
It's pronounced "shy". She was born and raised in and around Racine. She didn't come from money. Her family moved a lot, a habit that forced her to bounce around from school to school. Finding solace in music, she mastered several instruments including piano. (She was inspired to play the piano by watching fellow Wisconsinite Liberace on TV.) By age 17 she was playing nightclubs across the state line in Chicago - another one of those unique, fully formed at a young age, musical talents that her generation seemed to mass produce. In 1972, she hit the Nations top 40 airwaves with "Thunder and Lightning"....and then she disappeared.
She certainly was beautiful, extremely talented and what a voice. Being a young teenager in 1972 and seeing Chi Coltrane on TV was powerful stuff. I remember her well.
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Interesting footnote:
For some reason or another, WDLS-AM in Wisconsin Dells, back during its 2003-2006 incarnation as "Your Vacation Station" (with studios on The Broadway), had "Thunder and Lightning" on its musical playlist quite often.
How could someone like that just disappear? Steve
She completely disappeared from the American Pop scene. She later found some minor success in parts of Europe...enough to keep going. She returned to the US and spent a decade working with underpriviledged kids. Chi is planning a European comeback tour later this year.
she's amazing. I never knew.
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