Claudine Clark's 1962 hit "Party Lights" came in the middle of a career that started with recording in 1958 for the Herald Records label. Claudine Clark was discovered on a Wilmington television show by Al Silvers of Herald Records after attending Coombs College on a music scholarship, where she was proficient on the guitar and organ. She then joined Gotham Records and had her hit, "Party Lights," on Chancellor Records, which, like Jamie, was a Philadelphia label. With her vibrant voice set to her own powerful songs, she joined Jamie in 1964 for two releases. The first, "(The Strength) To Be Strong" b/w "Moon Madness," was produced by Brenda & the Tabulations producer Bob Finiz and the second, "A Sometimes Thing" b/w "Buttered Popcorn," was produced by Barbara Mason producer DynoDynamic Productions. A cover of a 1961 Supremes release, "Buttered Popcorn" came out before the Motown stars had hit it big, but the song did not produce a hit for Caudine. Clark, either. In fact, when Ace Records included the recording in their Claudine Clark compilation, "Ask the Girl Who Knows" (CDCHD 189, 2008), liner note writer Mick Patrick doubted whether it actually ever came out. Contrary to his otherwise impeccably accurate notes, an image of the 45 is proof of its existence as Jamie 1291. Its accompanying side, the soaring vocal, "A Sometimes Thing" was, like most of Ms. Clark's best-known recordings, written by her.
Born on April 26, 1941 in Macon, Georgia, Claudine Clark soon moved to Philadelphia where she was raised and lived in the thriving West Philadelphia neighborhood around Lancaster Avenue. Nearby was the popular music store Treegoobs, a furniture store that started carrying records as part of its sale of console turntables. It was an important early R&B record outlet.
