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Womack & Womack facts for kids
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Womack & Womack
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Cecil & Linda Womack
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| Background information | |
| Also known as | The House of Zekkariyas |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1983–2004 |
| Labels |
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| Past members | |
Womack & Womack was a music duo made up of the married American musicians Linda Womack and Cecil Womack. They were very good at writing songs for other singers. They also had many popular songs themselves in the 1980s and 1990s. Later, they recorded music with their family under the name The House of Zekkariyas.
Contents
Meet Cecil and Linda Womack
Cecil Womack was born in 1947 in Cleveland, Ohio. He started singing gospel music with his older brothers. Their group was called the Valentinos. In 1961, they met a famous singer named Sam Cooke. They decided to change their style and sing popular music.
The Valentinos had a big hit song called "Lookin' for a Love." It sold two million copies! They also toured with James Brown. Another one of their songs, "It's All Over Now," became a number one hit in the UK when The Rolling Stones sang their own version.
Cecil Womack worked mostly as a songwriter and music producer in the 1960s. He first met Linda, who is Sam Cooke's daughter, when he was 13 and she was 8. Linda and Cecil became close friends. Cecil later married singer Mary Wells in 1967. He wrote songs for her, including "The Doctor." They had three children together.
Linda Cooke also became a songwriter. She helped write "Woman's Gotta Have It" for Bobby Womack, who was her stepfather. Cecil Womack and Mary Wells divorced in 1977. Soon after, Cecil and Linda got married.
Womack & Womack: The Music Duo
In 1983, Cecil and Linda started making music together as Womack & Womack. They released a successful album called Love Wars. The first song from the album, "T.K.O.", became popular on the R&B charts. Their next song, "Love Wars", reached number 14 on the UK singles chart in 1984. Another song, "Baby I'm Scared of You", was also a hit in the US and UK.
Cecil and Linda wrote most of their songs together. They used their own life experiences to write about the ups and downs of love. Their next album, Radio M.U.S.C. Man, came out in 1986. It included songs that Sam Cooke had started writing, which Cecil and Linda finished. They also covered The Beatles' song "Here Comes the Sun."
Their biggest success came in 1988 with the song "Teardrops." This song was from their album Conscience. "Teardrops" became a huge hit, reaching number 3 in the UK and number 1 in the Netherlands, Australia, and New Zealand. The album Conscience sold very well, earning gold in ten countries and platinum in three.
In 1989, a video of their live concert called Womack & Womack: Live in Concert was released. It showed their "Celebrate the World" tour.
Their album Family Spirit came out in 1991. The song "Uptown" from this album was popular in clubs and on the radio. After visiting Nigeria, Cecil and Linda learned about their family ties to the Zekkariyas tribe. They decided to adopt African names.
In 1993, they released their last album of new songs as Womack & Womack, called Transformation to the House of Zekkariyas. The song "Secret Star" from this album was their last song to appear on the UK charts.
The House of Zekkariyas
The Womacks, now using their African names Zek (Cecil) and Zeriiya (Linda), began making music as a family. Zek and Zeriiya, along with their children and backing group, released Sub Conscience in 2001. This album was a new version of many of their older songs. A remix album called Circular Motion was released in 2004.
Womack & Womack: Songwriters
Linda started writing songs at age 11 in 1964. She co-wrote "I'm In Love" for Wilson Pickett and "A Woman's Gotta Have It" for Bobby Womack. Cecil also wrote many songs, sometimes with his wife at the time, Mary Wells.
After Cecil and Linda started working together, they became a songwriting team. They wrote songs for artists like Teddy Pendergrass, the O'Jays, and Patti LaBelle. Cecil's song "Love TKO" was a big hit for Teddy Pendergrass. Many other artists, including Debbie Harry and Hall & Oates, later recorded it.
They also wrote songs for George Benson, Randy Crawford, and Eric Clapton. Bonnie Raitt covered their song "Good Man Monologue." Chaka Khan covered "It's My Party." Their song "Love Wars" was covered by the Beautiful South. "Teardrops" has been recorded by famous singers like k.d. lang, Elton John, and Joss Stone.
Discography
Albums
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||||
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| US R&B |
AUS |
UK |
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| 1983 | Love Wars | 34 | — | 45 | |||
| 1985 | Radio M.U.S.C. Man | 51 | — | 56 | |||
| 1986 | Starbright | — | — | — | |||
| 1988 | Conscience | 74 | 11 | 4 |
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| 1991 | Family Spirit | — | — | — | |||
| 1993 | Transformation to the House of Zekkariyas | — | — | — | |||
| 1997 | Timeless (as The House of Zekkariyas) |
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| 2001 | Sub Conscience (as ZEK) |
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| 2004 | Circular Motion (as ZEK / Womack & Womack Project) |
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| 2006 | Heritage I.D. (as The Greater House of Zekkariyas) |
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| "—" means the album did not appear on the charts. | |||||||
Compilations
- 1993: Tear Drops (Greatest Hits)
- 1998: Greatest Hits (CD version of Tear Drops)
- 2004: The Best of 1984-1993: Strange and Funny
Singles
| Year | Single (A-side / B-side) | Chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US R&B |
AUS |
AUT |
BEL |
FRA |
GER |
IRE |
NED |
NZ |
UK |
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| 1984 | "T.K.O." / "Express Myself" | 87 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Love Wars | ||
| "Love Wars" / "Good Times" | — | — | — | — | — | — | 9 | 12 | — | 14 | ||||
| "Baby I'm Scared of You" / "A.P.B." | 25 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 72 | ||||
| "Express Myself (Remix)" / "Woman" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1985 | "Eyes" / "No Relief" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Radio M.U.S.I.C Man | ||
| "Strange & Funny" / "Radio M.U.S.I.C. Man" | 44 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1986 | "Soul Love/Soul Man" / "Your Man's On Fire" | — | — | — | 35 | — | — | — | — | — | 58 | Starbright | ||
| 1988 | "Teardrops" / "Conscious of My Conscience" | — | 2 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | Conscience | ||
| "Life's Just a Ballgame" / "Slave (Just for Love)" | — | 127 | — | 8 | — | 30 | 22 | 7 | — | 32 | ||||
| "Celebrate the World" / "Friends (So Called)" | — | 37 | 15 | 12 | 24 | 22 | 18 | 24 | 9 | 19 | ||||
| "MPB (Missin' Persons Bureau)" / "MPB (Missin' Persons Bureau)" (Remix) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 92 | ||||
| "Conscious of My Conscience" (U.S. promo) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1989 | "Good Man Monologue" (12") | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1990 | "Uptown" / "Sanctification" | — | — | — | 35 | — | 43 | — | 28 | — | 79 | Family Spirit | ||
| 1991 | "My Dear (The Letter)" / "Keep On Climbing" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1992 | "Alimony" / "Get with the Band" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | ||
| 1993 | "Passion and Pain" / "Understanding" The House of Zekkariyas aka Womack and Womack |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Transformation to the House of Zekkariyas | ||
| 1994 | "Secret Star" The House of Zekkariyas aka Womack and Womack |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 46 | |||
| 1997 | "Be Thankful (Happy Holiday)" / "Toys (Let's Be in Love)" The House of Zekkariyas |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Timeless | ||
| "—" means the song did not appear on the charts or was not released in that country. | ||||||||||||||