'Behind the Curtains' by Jan Bradley
Soul singer Jan Bradley may have only eked out one significant pop crossover in 1963’s “Mama Didn't Lie,” but it helped signal a recognition of feminine agency in teen-oriented lyrics alongside contemporaneous works by Leslie Gore and some of the era’s female vocal groups. A year before Bradly’s lone chart smash (and later, more obscure singles that became favorites among England’s Northern soul aficionados), she made a Wisconsin connection.
For her first 45, she came up from Chicago to record at the studio of Sauk City’s prolific indie label, Cuca Records. Issued on Cuca's Night Owl imprint, the record’s A-side, “Behind the Curtains,” was written by Curtis Mayfield. The man who rhapsodized about Superfly a decade later penned an effectively forlorn midtempo ode to loneliness, imbued by producer Don Taffy with a slight strain of calypso. The Impressions’ “Pack My Things (And Go)” gives room for Bradley to kiss off a loser boyfriend against tuneful piano-driven proto-funk not far afield from Fats Domino and Huey Smith. Bradley would go on to greater heights, but she made an assured first step toward them during her brief time in the Badger State.
