Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam

Lisa Lisa (born Lisa Velez, January 15, 1966) and her band Cult Jam are an urban contemporary band and one of the first freestyle music groups to emerge from New York City in the 1980s. Cult Jam consisted of guitarist/bassist Alex "Spanador" Moseley, and drummer and keyboardist Mike Hughes. They were assembled and produced by Full Force.

History

Velez is of Puerto Rican descent and grew up in New York City and attended Julia Richman High School in Manhattan, NY. According to Spin Magazine, she was born in 1967 in Hell's Kitchen, NYC as the youngest of 10 to a mother who supported the family by babysitting and an absentee father. She learned to speak Spanish at home and English in school. Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam was formed after Velez auditioned with Full Force, a production team from East Flatbush, Brooklyn, at the age for 14. The group released their debut album Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force in 1985. She was signed by Columbia Records and the label released their single "I Wonder If I Take You Home" to the European division of CBS Records for the compilation album Breakdancing. Stateside club DJs began playing the single from the import LP, and thus the U.S. division of CBS, Columbia Records, released the record. It quickly became a chart-topper on Billboard's Hot Dance/Disco chart. It then crossed over to the R&B chart where it peaked at #6, and then to the pop chart, peaking at #34 in summer 1985. The single eventually went gold.