The Lewis Sisters - Dancing With Danger

Sisters Helen and Kay Lewis had cut a slew of niche and novelty records with a classical bent, but they came to Motown’s West Coast office in Los Angeles as songwriters and backing vocalists, rather than artists in their own right. LA producer Hal Davis liked the ladies’ voices a lot, and so they ended up with an artist contract too; billed, bafflingly, as “The Singing School Teachers” (even though neither of them were actually teachers), their two Motown singles failed to inspire much interest, despite the direct involvement of Motown president Berry Gordy Jr. and the rare privilege of seeing release in Europe. Thereafter, Helen and Kay stuck to songwriting, penning several excellent songs for more established Motown acts. Also writing under the names of Mastor and Miller, the two sisters from Michigan's names cropped up on Motown albums and some single releases in the '60s, such as Gladys Knight & the Pips' "Just Walk in My Shoes." But their careers didn't begin at Motown, rather, in the '50s as jazz singers and songwriters. Helen and Kay worked as a songwriting and vocal duo for over forty years. When Helen relocated out of the Los Angeles area in the mid-90's, to work as a founding high school counselor and teacher at a new school, they ended their Lewis Sisters songwriting team. They had quite a successful run as recording artists and composer/songwriters!
When Kay died, Helen continued on in music as a composer on a couple of film projects and as an extracurricular music teacher, providing songwriting, composition, and vocal coaching skills to her students at the high school and then again at the next job at the local college. She also provided recording studio experience for her students to record the school songs.
For the past eighteen years since retiring as a counselor at the college, she has been the co-owner of a multi-media production company and recording studio. She has been composing, recording, and producing multiple music projects, as well as being a vocal coach to established and upcoming new artists. Helen is still excited to share the legacy of The Lewis Sisters, with an in-depth look at their music careers as recording artists and songwriters from the early 50's through the 90's.