SONGWRITER RECORD PRODUCER MUSICIAN

Suzette Charles was born Suzette DeGaetano in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to her American mother, a school teacher and Italian father who was a salesman. She took her stage name Charles from her father.
As a child she was always singing, whether it be at church, weddings or any celebration, even then she had a big voice for a little girl.

"We grew up in a church environment, and my mothers side of the family was very much into gospel music. I knew that was somewhere I couldn't go musically, but I did enjoy the likes of Aretha Franklin, Gladys knight and Anita Baker. I loved the smokiness of their voices so I would practice with that, but I also loved the technical part of Celine Dion and Barbra Streisand."

Her first foray into the entertainment business was in tv commercials and this led to parts in soap operas and kids shows such as Sesame Street when she was 8 years old.
She joined a performing arts school and auditioned for the movie, Fame, eventually losing out to Irene Cara.

"The casting director was very impressed with me as someone who sung and could dance, the typical performing arts student who could do everything, and he wanted me for the part of Coco. Unfortunately my new manager had Irene Cara on his books and pushed her for the part instead. That was my first slap of reality in showbusiness."

In 1983 she competed in the Miss America Pageant as the representative of New Jersey. This gave her a lot of national exposure and allowed her to demonstrate her singing ability in the Talent section of the competition which she won with a stunning rendition of "Kiss Me In The Rain". While she originally placed as first runner-up in the overall competition, after the reigning Miss America Vanessa Williams was forced to resign, Suzette replaced her as the new Miss America.

"Everyone was against me doing it but my mother knew it would be national exposure so we went for it. The pageant wasn't exactly a great idea but it did expose me to different areas in showbusiness."

After the pageant she was acting in Soap operas and working with legends such as Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr, Lou Rawls, Andrea Bocelli and Stevie Wonder, touring the world for about 6 years.

"We toured in Europe and all over the world, which was terrific exposure, working with 21 piece orchestras and singing live, we did that for 5 or 6 years."

She then decided she wanted to be a recording artist which led her to work with Barry Manilow and Jackie Jackson. 

"I had the opportunity to work with Barry Manilow, his manager represented me and he wrote songs for me on Capitol Records that were released."

In 1992 she was signed to RCA records in America but Suzette was struggling to find the right songs. 

"I had an A&R man who would bring me songs every day but none of them were really resonating with me. I wanted to make a difference, I wanted people to be moved by my voice and the music, but none of the songs I was given did it for me."

A memory that had stuck with Suzette was the Rick Astley phenomenon in 1987, she had loved the music so much that she knew she wanted to work with the producers involved.

"Never Gonna Give You Up was like a theme in my head. I remember saying at the time that if I ever did a song I would find out who did Rick Astley's music and work with them. So in 1992 I had my opportunity. I did my research and found out who it was and literally jumped on a plane to the UK. I called the studios so many times pestering them to speak to Pete waterman and eventually they let me in."

Suzette got her wish and in early 1993 she went into the studio with Mike Stock and together they recorded 6 tracks. A single was released in August 1993, "Free To Love Again" which reached #53 on the UK Singles Chart.

"Working with Mike was easy and fun. He is very technical but I felt that I was able to follow him, he didn't make me feel intimidated. It was an honour." 

Sadly, Suzette became a victim of the business break up of Mike Stock and Pete Waterman who ended their partnership the same month that the single came out. The other 5 tracks recorded languishing in the vaults for the best part of 3 decades.

"I went back home and heard nothing. I didn't know what was going on. I tried to reach out but again, nothing. It just ended. That's showbusiness, you just move on."

Fast forward 30 years and Suzette and Mike have once again been recording together.

"Michael Stock has touched my heart with his music all these years. I just wanted to have the chance to record something with him again. His songs, his lyrics they have stayed with me all this time. 30 years later I had to revisit that, that is unfinished business and here I am following my original dream."