Sarah Dash

Sarah Dash has been singing all of her life. Born the seventh of thirteen (13) children, Sarah began singing in The Trenton Church of Christ, Young Peoples Choir, in Trenton , New Jersey . Her tightly knit family, Pentecostal grounded, and firmly held together by her late father, Elder Abraham Dash (Ass. pastor of Trenton Church of Christ, under national leader Bishop Bonner, he became, Ass. New Jersey State Bishop and also an honor that few are given; Father of The State of New Jersey. Because of his work in the church, there is also a classroom named after him in Church College of South Carolina and New Jersey ), and her mother Elizabeth Evans Dash, a nurse. Both parents stressed living in a God-centered life to all of their children with a strong belief in self, with their advice which Sarah has relied upon, enabled her to endure and over come multitude of challenges, in her professional and personal life.
In her pre-teen years, Sarah turned to secular music, began performing with her schoolmates, and formed, a group called "The Del Capri's"' in which Nona Hendryx was also a member. They auditioned for a manager in Philadelphia named Bernard Montague, and did a few talent and local shows around the Trenton area. When some of the Del Capri's no longer showed the dedication to the dream as Nona and Sarah did, their manager put them together with two other girls, Cindy Birdsong and Patricia Holte and called them” The BlueBells". Because was another group in the artist union with that name, the record company president re-named the group as, "Patti LaBelle and The BlueBells." They rolled out with the hit song, "I Sold My Heart to the Junkman," that bought them national and international attention. There was a string of early chart successes among them “Down The Aisle”, You’ll Never Walk Alone” and a song which Sarah sang the lead vocal “Danny Boy”. One of the highlights of their early success was when on The Rolling Stones first American and Canadian tour, Patti LaBelle and The BlueBells was the opening act. They toured extensively on what was then known as the “Chitlin Circuit” and gained the nickname “The Sweethearts of the Apollo” for their immensely popular repeated engagements at the legendary venue. The group was then signed to Atlantic Records for two Albums “Over The Rainbow” and “Dreamer”. After the release of Dreamer Cindy Birdsong left the group to fill the spot of Florence Ballard in the Supremes. Nona, Patti and Sarah decided to continue as a trio, and closed out their Atlantic stint with collaboration with another legend Curtis Mayfield who wrote and produced “Trustin In You” and “Suffer”.
The music business had changed and like most of the contemporaries they struggled with the post British Invasion realities for black female acts. Realizing that they needed a change, Sarah contacted Vicki Wickham, a British television producer of "Ready Steady Go." Ms. Wickham along with the managers of the legendary Pete Townsend's group "The Who" took them to England where they did a complete change with image and style of singing approach unlike anything any black female singing group had ever done. After living in London for nearly a year, they hit the American audiences with a new look and new name "LABELLE." Now Vicki Wickham was their sole manager. Their initial release “LABELLE” showcased the new sound and included a tour stint with “The Who” This was followed by a collaboration with Laura Nyro on “Gonna Take A Miracle” and the next Labelle Album “Moonshadow” which featured the Sarah Dash penned song “Peace With Yourself."
The next album was “Pressure Cookin” which featured Gill-Scott Heron’s “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” combines with Thunderclap Newman’s’ “Something In The Air” and the Labelle Hallmark (Can I Speak To You Before You Go To) Hollywood. The group rose in popularity in the pop music world with their individual sleek space age inspired costumes, and cutting edge sultry songs' of lust and desire, with strong political messages. Their cross over album "NightBirds," on the Epic label sold to gold album status. The gold record single, "Lady Marmalade "placed them among the top pop groups in the world. They were known as the act no one could follow, and did every major TV show of their day including a week long stint as co-hosts of The Mike Douglas Show following John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Making history again, Labelle was the first black female group to perform at the world famous "METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE" at Lincoln Center in New York City . Sarah was there in her silver bra, space skirts, and flowing feathers, holding the harmony with her partners, Nona and Patti effortlessly reaching high harmonies with her 4 and 1/2 octave range. On a personal note, Sarah had a surprising, happy, tearful history making moment when her father, Elder Abraham Dash, joined his wife, sister and sister-in law, children and close family members that evening, seated in the reserved royal box, with Mrs. Dash, at The Metropolitan Opera House, making that his first time to see daughter perform secular music live. There was the cover of Rolling Stone and two more Labelle albums to follow “ Phoenix ” and “Chameleon”. In 1977 after 16 years together Labelle put the group concept on hiatus and pursued solo careers.
Sarah has the first post-Labelle hit, the Disco anthem “Sinner Man”, which also served as the theme music for the popular “Don Kirshners Rock Concert”. Sarah recorded ground-breaking singles with the late Patrick Cowley “Lucky Tonight” and “Low Down Dirty Rhythm” featuring Sylvester on background vocals.
When Keith Richards ran into Sarah at CBS presidents’ office, he said to her" you are the voice I want on my solo album." The album was called "Talk Is Cheap.” As the female, counterpoint to his rough-hewn vocals on their duet "Make No Mistake," and "Rock Awhile." Sarah toured with Keith and was showcased in tour de force version of "Time Is on My Side." Sarah received a platinum album for singing efforts on Keith Richards and the X-pensive Winos~ she later earned platinum again for the vocals on The Rolling Stones “Steel Wheels” album. Sarah recorded a second album with Keith Richards and The X- pensive Winos "Main Offender" and co wrote the single "Body Works" with Keith and Producer Steve Jordan.
Sarah took a break to work on her autobiography, Dash of Diva. She decided with her friend and confidante arm twisting (the late Pam Johnson) scripted excerpts and wrote a musical with same title debut at The Cross Roads Theater in New Brunswick . Sarah received a citation from the deputy Mayor of New York City, Ruth Messenger for her work and efforts in the community where she raised funds for home-less single women with children. Through her unselfish and generous giving of her time, the donation and funds she acquired helped mothers and their children with clothing, toys, books, after activities, excursions to amusement parks, theater in the parks, and most Important of all extra food.
Sarah is currently finishing up a Gospel Album with self-penned songs, is working to again bring to the stage “Dash of Diva” and recently reunited with her Labelle cohorts on the song “Dear Rosa” a tribute to the late civil rights icon Rosa Parks with plans for a full Labelle album and tour being worked on as of this writing.