The Emotions ~ I Don't Wanna Lose Your Love 1976 Funky Purrfection Version

The Emotions were composed of three sisters Hutchinson, Wanda, Sheila and Jeanette, who hailed from Chicago, Illinois. When they first began singing at the Mt Sinai Baptist Church, they were joined by their father Joe and were known as the Hutchinsons, before adopting the Heavenly Sunbeams moniker. They first appeared on TV in 1958 as a one off and then hosted a radio gospel program. Their newfound fame got them a weekly TV series and brought them to the attention of The Staple Singers who in turn suggested that legendary Stax/Volt Records in 1968. They wanted to break out of gospel and move into pop music so they changed their name to The Emotions. Soon sister Pam replaced Jeanette in the trio and they began to work with Isaac Hayes (Shaft). They released four singles, but were unable to reach the top 40 except for the #39 "So I Can Love You" in 1969. "Black Christmas" and "Blind Alley" became underground favorites for R&B crowd and Mariah Carey used a sample of "Blind Alley" in her hit song "Dream Lover". Carey says that the riff inspired the song was put way down in the mix. Stax/Volt famously imploded in 1975 and the sisters found themselves without label support. Maurice White stepped in and signed the group to his Kalimba Productions which was distributed by Columbia Records and their first collaboration resulted in the "Flowers" LP which again failed to make top 50 in the double sided single "Flowers/I Don't Wanna Lose Your Love", but opened them up to a new audience that fell in love with the intricate harmonies that played over a totally funky new sound. The song was embraced by the disco crowd who pushed it to #3 on the disco chart, and R&B radio where it peaked at #13.