Uchenna Carol Ikejiani was born in Nigeria to an
Igbo family. She moved to Canada as a college student in the mid-1970s. In autumn 1978, she auditioned to appear on Joe La Greca's album
Montreal. In early 1978, Jiani recorded two tracks for the project, "If You Believe in Me" and "Higher and Higher". These were released on an EP, with her credited under her birth name. Glenn LaRusso of
Salsoul Records convinced her to shorten her name from Uchenna Carol Ikejiani to Carol Jiani to make it easier for North Americans to pronounce. In 1980, Carol Jiani recorded two Sandy Wilbur-written pieces with La Greca, "Hit 'N Run Lover" and "All The People of the World". "Hit 'N Run Lover" was remixed by San Francisco-based Moby Dick Records for their Gold Standard imprint and would become Jiani's
signature song, peaking at number 4 on the US
Billboard Club Play Singles chart in 1981. A follow-up album,
Ask Me was released the next year generating the singles "Ask Me", "X-Rated" and "You're Gonna Lose My Love". In 1982, Jiani recorded vocals for "Get Up and Do It Again". The song was a hit, as was the second version recorded by Mizz lead singer, Michelle Mills. At the end of 1983, she released her last Joe LaGreca production, "Touch And Go Lover" for the Canadian label Telescope. The song was also remixed by Step Pettibone and for the US by John Robie. A total of 7 songs was recorded but the album was not released. Two more singles were released, "Dancing In The Rain" and a cover of "Don't Leave Me This Way". Eventually all songs were released in 1984 on a 12" in the UK by the label Streetwave. In 1984, Jiani moved to England and soon signed with Record Shack to record "Vanity" with producer
Ian Levine.
Barbara Pennington had previously recorded the track but declined to release it to focus exclusively on
soul music. Jiani's "Vanity", released in 1985, was a hit reaching number 1 on the UK
Hi-NRG Club chart. Levine secured her a deal with
MCA Records, and she released "Such A Joy Honey". According to Levine, "Turning My Back And Walking Away" was to have been her second single for MCA until she was dropped from the label. MCA gave the recording to Levine and the single was quickly released by his
Nightmare Records label in 1987. In May 2010, "Broken", Jiani's collaboration with
Jimmy D Robinson, peaked at No. 9 on
Music Week's UK Upfront Club chart. 12 June 2015, Carol Jiani on vocals in Jason Parker Meets Naxwell feat. Carol Jiani "Hold That Sucker Down" 2018: "Deeper Love" Phoenix Lord Feat Carol Jiani.2018 "No More" Carol Jiani Feat Edge. ==Discography==