Information/Write-up
Carol Jiani (born Uchenna Carol Ikejiani) is a Nigerian-born disco and Hi-NRG vocalist whose recording career first took shape in Montreal, Quebec, where she emerged as one of the defining voices in early-1980s Canadian dance music. Best known for the enduring club anthem ‘Hit ’N Run Lover’, Jiani holds a distinctive place in Canadian music history: an international artist whose breakthrough was forged in Montreal’s late-1970s studio scene before carrying that momentum into the UK’s Hi-NRG boom.
Born in Nigeria into an Igbo family, Jiani moved to Montreal in the mid-1970s as a student, attending Concordia University while pursuing music more seriously. Her entry into recording came through producer Joe La Greca, one of the central figures in Montreal’s disco infrastructure. By 1977–78, she had auditioned for La Greca’s Montreal project and recorded the tracks ‘If You Believe in Me’ and ‘Higher and Higher’, issued under her birth name on the Salsoul-associated release Montreal Featuring Uchenna Ikejiani. Around this time, she adopted the stage name Carol Jiani, a change that helped position her for a wider North American dance audience.
Her breakthrough came in 1980–81 with ‘Hit ’N Run Lover’, a sleek, high-energy disco stormer written by Sandy Wilbur and produced by Joe La Greca. Remixed for the American market, the single became an international club success and reached No. 4 on Billboard’s Club Play chart in 1981, establishing Jiani as a major dancefloor presence at a moment when disco was evolving into the harder-edged Hi-NRG sound of the new decade. It remains her signature recording and one of the most important Canadian-associated dance singles of its era.
In the wake of that success, Matra Records issued her debut full-length LP, Hit’n Run Lover (1981), a strong and stylish collection that extended her partnership with Montreal’s dance-music production network. Produced by La Greca and arranged by Denis LePage, the album featured the title cut alongside the follow-up ‘The Woman In Me’ and the increasingly popular ‘Mercy’, a cover of the Pete Bellotte / Sylvester Levay composition that became another favourite among DJs. The record captured a key transitional moment between late disco and early Hi-NRG, and today stands as one of the stronger Canadian club LPs of the period.
Jiani returned the following year with Ask Me (1982), again on Matra, further consolidating her place within the Canadian dance market. The album generated the singles ‘Ask Me’, ‘X-Rated’, and ‘You’re Gonna Lose My Love’, and refined the sleek, rhythm-driven sound that had made her a favourite in clubs. Around the same period, she also recorded vocals for ‘Get Up and Do It Again’, another dancefloor-oriented release connected to the Montreal scene. By this point, Carol Jiani had become one of the recognizable voices associated with Canada’s early-1980s disco underground, even as her records were finding enthusiastic audiences well beyond the country’s borders.
Her final major Canadian phase with Joe La Greca came in 1983–84 with a run of singles including ‘Touch And Go Lover’, ‘Dancing In The Rain’, and a cover of ‘Don’t Leave Me This Way’. Although a complete album from these sessions was never fully realized in Canada as originally intended, the material pointed toward the next stage of her career. After relocating to England in the mid-1980s, Jiani entered a new chapter as part of the British Hi-NRG explosion.
In the UK, she signed with Record Shack and began working with producer Ian Levine, one of the era’s key Hi-NRG architects. This period produced another major club success with ‘Vanity’ in 1985, a single that became a staple of the British dance circuit and confirmed that her voice could move seamlessly from disco into the brighter, harder electronic textures of mid-1980s club music. Her subsequent association with MCA Records yielded ‘Such A Joy Honey’, while later singles such as ‘Turning My Back And Walking Away’ and ‘Hit ’N Run Lover ’88’ further extended her reputation in international dance circles.
In the 1990s, Jiani returned to Canada to reconnect with the production team that had launched her career. Working again with Joe La Greca, she recorded the album Superstar (1996), a contemporary dance-pop set that yielded the singles ‘Come and Get Your Love’ and ‘Superstar’. The project functioned as both a comeback and a reaffirmation of the strong Canadian roots of her catalogue, linking her original Montreal-era recordings with a new generation of club production.
In the decades that followed, Carol Jiani remained active through a steady stream of singles, collaborations, remixes, and guest appearances, continuing to work with contemporary dance producers in Europe and beyond while periodically revisiting the songs that first made her famous. Her longevity has underscored the unusual durability of her career: a singer who moved naturally from disco into Hi-NRG, then into later forms of dance-pop without ever losing the commanding vocal presence that defined her earliest work.
-Robert Williston
Canadian Hi-NRG / disco LP by Carol Jiani, released in 1981 on Matra Records. Best known for the explosive title cut ‘Hit'n Run Lover,’ the album stands as one of the defining Canadian dance records of the early 1980s, pairing Jiani’s powerhouse vocals with sleek, club-driven production from Joe La Greca and arrangements by Denis LePage.
Musicians
Carol Jiani: vocals
Songwriting
'Hit'n Run Lover' written by Sandy Wilbur
'Can't Get Enough' written by Sandy Wilbur
'Mercy' written by Pete Bellotte and Lavay
'The Woman In Me' written by Sandy Wilbur
'High Cost Of Loving' written by Sandy Wilbur
'All The People In The World' written by Sandy Wilbur
Production
Produced by Joe La Greca
Arranged by Denis LePage
Mastered by Herb Powers Jr. at Frankford/Wayne Mastering Labs
Manufactured by Matra Records Ltd.
Distributed by Downstairs Records Ltd.
Pressed by Paramount Pressing
℗ 1981 Matra Records Inc. / Matra Records Ltd.
© 1981 Matra Records Inc. / Matra Records Ltd.
Sleeve credits list Matra Records Ltd.; labels list Matra Records Inc.
Notes
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