Taana Gardner

Vocalist Taana Gardner was one of the leading lights of West End Records, a New York label that released some of the finest and most influential club music of the disco and post-disco eras. A vivacious soprano with gum-snapping swagger and an air of flirtatious sensuality all her own, Gardner and producer Kenton Nix broke through in 1979 with "Work That Body" and the subsequent "When You Touch Me," two songs contained on her self-titled and only album. Gardner and Nix outdid themselves two years later with the loping "Heartbeat," their third Billboard Top Ten club hit and a number six hit on the publication's R&B chart. Gardner continued to release singles on an occasional basis over the next couple decades, and charted again in 1998 with "I'm Comin'," a house track, produced by Nix, that showcased the belting raw power her voice had gained over the years.