John Valenti

John Valenti (born John LiVigni) is an American singer-songwriter from Chicago, Illinois.

Background

He began his career as John LiVigni with a cover of Stevie Winwood's "Gimme Some Lovin'," released on Raintree Records in 1971. He then became lead singer and writer for the pop band Puzzle. Puzzle released two albums on Motown Records in 1973 (Puzzle I) and 1974 (Puzzle II). They were one of the rare white groups on Motown, with a sound often reminiscent of the early Chicago Transit Authority. They were a horn pop soul band with John's vocals recalling Stevie Wonder. They owed a lot to Chicago, one of their inspirations. They never made the Hot 100 singles or Top 200 album charts.

John eventually went solo. He released one album in 1976, entitled Anything You Want, on Ariola Records. It peaked at No. 51 on the US Black Albums chart[1] on the strength of its title track, which had been released as a single and which peaked at No. 37 on the Billboard Hot 100.[2] The title track fared better on the US Hot Soul Singles chart, where it went to No. 10,[3] also making minor dents on the Adult Contemporary (#49) and Canadian pop charts (#69).

John released a less successful second album, I Won't Change, in 1981.

References
  1. John Valenti at Allmusic.com
  2. Joel Whitburn, The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits. 7th edn, 2000
  3. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 600.
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