R&B / Soul singer-songwriter Barbara Lewis – born in Salem, Michigan on February 9, 1943 – is best known for the 1963 hit “Hello Stranger.” She began writing and recording in her teens and was produced by local DJ and producer Ollie McLaughlin and signed with Atlantic Records. While it later became a norm in the industry, Barbara Lewis was one of the rare female artists at the time who wrote her own material. Her soulful and lush recordings also set her apart from her contemporaries. Her first single, 1962’s “My Heart Won’t Do Dat Da,” was a local hit in Detroit, but did not chart nationally. She scored a major hit in 1963 with “Hello Stranger,” which sent to number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and went to the top of the R&B / Soul Singles chart. That same year, she released her debut album, Hello Stranger, which included the previous two singles as well as the Top 40 hit “Puppy Love.” Although she was a songwriter, her next album was a collection of covers called Snap Your Fingers (Barbara Lewis Sings the Great Soul Tunes). In 1965, producer and songwriter Van McCoy wrote “Baby I’m Yours,” which Barbara Lewis recorded and took to number 11 on the Hot 100. Her next single, “Make Me Your Baby,” also reached number 11. Although she continued to release singles – including “Don’t Forget About Me” (1966), “Make Me Belong to You” (1966), “Baby What Do You Want Me to Do” (1966), and “I’ll Make Him Love Me” (1967), Barbara Lewis was overshadowed by the artists emerging from the Motown and Stax labels and after the 1970 album The Many Grooves of Barbara Lewis, she stepped away from the limelight. Interest in Barbara Lewis continued to grow, especially when “Hello Stranger” was covered by several artists including Yvonne Elliman, who scored a hit with it in 1977. Since she had stepped away from the limelight, it was difficult to track her down in the late 1970s. However, after she was finally re-discovered and her music has reached generations of new fans ever since.
