Thea Austin

Thea Tereese Austin (born June 10, 1960)[1] is an American singer/songwriter/composer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She is the lead vocalist and co-author of the German Eurodance hit song "Rhythm Is A Dancer" by Snap!

Thea Tereese Austin
Born (1960-06-10) June 10, 1960
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
NationalityAmerican
Occupations
  • Dancer
  • singer
  • songwriter
  • composer

Early life and career

Austin was born on June 10, 1960, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[1] She began singing with her older sister Vontelle at the age of four and by eight singing became her paying profession. In California, she was a music columnist for magazines including The R&B Report, an industry trade publication.[1] She has four sisters, one brother, and has been married once.[2]

Musical career

Snap!

In the early 1990s Austin finished a tour in Japan and upon returning to Los Angeles began writing for a solo album with dance music producer Michael Eckart (Stacey Q). She was introduced through a mutual friend to Penny Ford who had just left the group Snap! to pursue a solo career after the success of "The Power." Austin met in Germany with the producers Michael Munzing and Luca Anzilotti. The result of that meeting was the Snap! album The Madman's Return on which Austin wrote or co-wrote all of the songs including Snap!'s cross-Atlantic hit "Rhythm Is a Dancer."[3] She received the BMI Pop Award in 2015[4] when Jeremih's hit "Don't 'Tell 'Em" incorporated her lyrics.

Originally, "Rhythm Is a Dancer" was going to be released as the lead single, but after objections from Turbo B, "Colour of Love", also co-written by Austin and featuring Austin's lead vocals, was released as the single. The song charted at number 6 in France and Sweden, number 9 in Germany and number 54 in the UK. "Rhythm Is a Dancer" fared better, charting at number 1 in the UK, France, Netherlands, Italy and Germany, and number 5 in the US. Other singles from the album co-written by Austin included "Do You See The Light" which would later be covered by Nikki Harris.

Soulsearcher

In 1999, Austin teamed with Marc Pomeroy to form Soulsearcher,[1] which had a #8 hit on the UK Singles Chart with "Can't Get Enough"[5] which drew inspiration from and sampled Gary's Gang's "Let's Lovedance Tonight" and later on that year charted at #20 on the Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart.[5][6] The duo performed at The Prince's Trust Party in the Park all-star concert in London in 1999.[1] Their second single, "Do It to Me Again", charted at #32 on the UK Singles Chart[5] (AllMusic's entry for Soulsearcher states that the song charted at #13[1]) after which Austin and Pomeroy split up.

Pusaka

Austin joined Pusaka and wrote and sung lead vocals for their 2001 hit "You're the Worst Thing for Me", which was awarded the Best Underground 12" Award at Miami's Winter Music Conference in March 2002[7] and charted at #34 on the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart and #1 on the Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart.[8]

Boombox!

A planned May 2022 concert residency at the Westgate Las Vegas titled "Boombox!" will feature an alternating cast of hip hop artists, including Austin, accompanied by a live DJ and drummer.[9]

Charts
Original artist Year Title Peak chart positions Album
French Singles Chart Swedish Singles Chart German Singles Chart UK Singles Chart Netherlands Singles Chart Italian Singles Chart Billboard Hot 100 Dance Music/Club Play Singles Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales
Snap! 1991 "Colour of Love" 6 6 9 54 6 The Madman's Return
1992 "Rhythm is a Dancer" 1 2 1 1 1 1 5 1[10]
Soulsearcher 1999 "Can't Get Enough" 66 84 8 46 20 N/A
2000 "Do It To Me Again" 32
Pusaka 2002 "You're the Worst Thing for Me" 34[8] 1[8]

See also

References
  1. Ankeny, Jason. "Soul Searcher | Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-06-10.
  2. "Thea Austin Biography".
  3. "BMI | Repertoire Search". repertoire.bmi.com. Retrieved 2018-05-22.
  4. Bouley, Charles Karel (2015-05-14). "BMI Pop Awards Focus Attention on the Writers". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2018-05-22.
  5. "Soulsearcher | Artist". Official Charts. 1999-02-13. Retrieved 2014-06-10.
  6. "Hot Dance Music chart". Billboard. 1999-11-06. p. 38.
  7. Bonacich, Drago. "Pusaka | Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-06-10.
  8. Bonacich, Drago. "Pusaka | Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-06-10.
  9. "CeeLo Green, Treach of Naughty By Nature lead Vegas 'Boombox!' show: 'Doing the thing we love together'". USA Today.
  10. "Dance Club Songs". Billboard.
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