Billy Newton-Davis is a r&b singer born in Cleveland, Ohio but who developed his successful recording career in Canada. Before moving to Canada, Billy enjoyed some success south of the border in both music and stage. His first gig was performing as a back up singer to Gloria Gaynor ("I Will Survive"). During his time in New York, he performed in a Broadway play featuring the late Sammy Davis Jr.. Upon arriving in Canada, he continued his stage performances but as well, began recording music. His debut in 1986 was entitled, Love Is A Contact Sport, and it featured the hit, Deeper. Although there was an established r&b and soul scene in Canada which even predated Billy's own success, the genre wasn't mainstream and only a few very popular artists made headlines. Hard to believe when you compare it to it's popularity today. The 80's changed all that though and luckily for Billy, with the release and success of this album, he became one of the more popular faces of r&b in Canada. There wasn't even a Juno awarded for this genre of music until 1985! I would suspect Michael Jackson's Thriller release in 1983 may have had something to do with the new award. However, it probably should not have taken us two years to figure it out. Nonetheless, Billy won two Juno's in 1986 for Most Promising Male Vocalist and Best R&B Soul Recording of the Year. Not bad for a first swing. Billy would release his sophomore album in 1989 and once again, win a Juno. He then joined the popular vocal group, The Nylons, for a number of years. Today, Billy has continued to re-invent himself and has had some recent success thanks to a DJ named Deadmau5. He has a new remixed single with Deadmau5 which is due for release this spring. You can follow him at http://www.facebook.com/billynewtondavis. You can hear his first hit, Deeper, on You Tube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcoxWi7fODM&list=UUppSJ2-WmKhVgELd07MXO3w&index=1&feature=plcp). Unfortunately, Love Is A Contact Sport, is a very difficult album to find these days. At the time of this blog, there was one copy trading on Ebay for $15. Thanks for reading and enjoy!
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