Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, singer-songwriter and keyboardist Lauren Wood stormed the adult contemporary scene in the late 1970s and 1980s, although her musical ventures under her birth name, Ilene Rappaport, can be traced back much earlier. Initially founding the six-piece psychedelic band Rebecca and the Sunnybrook Farmers, she released a sole album, 1969’s Birth, with the group, which drew upon influences from folk and blues and featured prominent anti-Vietnam War messaging. She later appeared on Frank Zappa’s 1972 album The Grand Wazoo, founding another band, Chunky, Novi and Ernie, the following year. Joined by her cousin, Novi Novog, on viola and Ernie Emerita on bass, she released two self-titled albums with the group in 1973 and 1977 via the Warner-owned Reprise Records. “Rosalie”, taken from the first LP, featured an uncredited spoken-word introduction from Zappa. In 1979, Wood released an eponymous debut solo album, which spawned a Billboard #24 hit in the form of the Michael McDonald duet “Please Don’t Leave”. Her next LP, Cat Trick, arrived in 1981, with “Fallen” enjoying renewed success following its inclusion in the 1990 blockbuster Pretty Woman. During this period, Wood also penned the 1986 hits “Echo My Heart” for Philip Bailey and “Send It to Me” for Gladys Knight, both of which reached the US top 20. After a lengthy hiatus, she returned at the turn of the millennium to create her own label, Bad Art Records, and recorded the theme for the TV show Just Shoot Me! as well as songs for The Little Mermaid II and The Tigger Movie. Wood’s third solo LP, also self-titled, was released in 1999, and was followed by a fourth, Love, Death & Customer Service, in 2006. In 2020, she repackaged her first two solo LPs into a compilation entitled The Warner Brothers Years.
