Essra Mohawk
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Biography
Pop / folk / jazz singer, songwriter, and musician Essra Mohawk â born Sandra Hurvitz on April 23, 1948, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania â was best known for her work on iconic early 1970s TV series Schoolhouse Rock and for her songs recorded by artist such as Cyndie Lauper and Tina Turner. Sandy Hurvitzâs career began with the release of the single âThe Boy with the Way,â which was released under the name Jamie Carter in 1964. Under the mentorship of producer and songwriter Shadow Morton, she began writing songs for other artists including Vanilla Fudge and the Shangri-Las. Sandy Hurvitz briefly became involved with Frank Zappaâs Mothers of Invention and was signed to his Bizarre Records label. Her debut album, Sandyâs Album is Here At Last, was issued at the end of 1968. She was scheduled to play at the legendary Woodstock Festival in August 1969 but arrived too late and was not able to perform. She then signed to Reprise Records and released the album Primordial Lovers (1970), which was her first album as Essra Mohawk. Rolling Stone Magazine later referred to Primordial Lovers as âone of the best 25 albums ever made.â Outside of her own recordings, she lent her voice to several songs that were played on the educational TV series Schoolhouse Rock during the mid-1970s including âInterjectionsâ (1974) and âSufferinâ âtil Suffrageâ (1976). Signing to Asylum Records, she released her poorly received self-titled album in 1974, which was followed by 1976âs Essra on the Private Stock label. While she would only release albums sporadically over the next few years â including E-Turn (1985), Raindance (1995), Essie Mae Hawk Meets the Killer Groove Band (1999), Youâre Not Alone (2003), and The One and Only (2019) â but never achieved the critical success of her early recordings. Commercially, she was more successful as a songwriter, penning songs for Cyndie Lauper (1986âs âChange of Heartâ) and Tina Turner (1989âs âStronger Than the Windâ). Essra Mohawk died on December 11, 2023, at the age of 75.
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Albums
Top Tracks
- Track Popularity
- The Love We Left Behind
- How Could You Turn On Me
- Guns Make It Easy to Kill
- The Devil's Gotta Move Along
- Loosen Up The Squeeze
- Lonelytown
- Caroline
- Love Is Still The Answer
- It Was Gonna Be You
- It's a Fool
- Couldn't Be Cool
- Life Is Scarlet
- It's Not About Love
- Ready for Some Good News
- God Help It
- Offering The Shelter
- Drifter
- Dad
- Brains with a Heart
- Actions Speak Louder Than Words
- Tell Me
- I'll Get Down With You
- Rollin' with the Punches
- All For Your Love
