A Fantasy Love Affair

A musician and producer from outside of Chicago, Peter Brown debuted in 1977 with the single "Do Ya Wanna Get Funky with Me." Released at the height of the disco craze on the powerhouse label TK Records, it was an immediate sensation and soon became the first gold-certified 12-inch single ever. A Fantasy Love Affair includes that, along with seven other high-quality jams. His innate musicianship and genre-bending style—which melds funk, soul, disco, rock, oldies, and proto-electro styles—is showcased on stellar tracks like "The Singer's Become a Dancer," "It's True What They Say About Love," and the dreamy "For Your Love." He'd release three more albums between 1979 and 1984, though none matched the commercial success of his first. In 1985 he cowrote Madonna's smash hit single "Material Girl"; in the late '80s he retired from the industry. His music, though, lives on in the form of hip-hop samples. His early tracks have been recycled by Ice Cube, LL Cool J, Puff Daddy, and Busta Rhymes, among many others.