Signed to Motown in the early '70s as a result of her work with Chuck Jackson, she appeared in a minor role as a chanteuse in the film Lady Sings the Blues before hooking up with producer Norman Whitfield for a first-rate series of singles: "Love Ain't No Toy," "Walk Out the Door If You Wanna," what is perhaps the definitive version of "Funky Music Sho' 'Nuff Turns Me On," and a stunning remake of the Kim Weston/Gladys Knight semistandard "It Should Have Been Me," which dented the lower end of the pop charts in 1976. A raucous soul belter who deserved better at Motown, Fair died in 1994. ~ John Lowe