By the late 1960s Austin was a prolific session musician and commercial jingle singer. By the 1980s she was signed to Jones's Qwest Records and she began having hits. She charted twenty R&B songs between 1969 and 1991 and had success on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, where she hit number one in 1981 with "Do You Love Me?" / "The Genie."
The album containing that hit, Every Home Should Have One, also produced her biggest mainstream hit. "Baby, Come To Me," a duet with James Ingram, peaked at number 73 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1982. After being featured as the love theme in a prominent storyline on the soap opera General Hospital, the song re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart in October and went to number one in early 1983.
Next Austin released her third album in three years entitled "Gettin' Away With Murder". In addition to the title track, she had two more hit singles, "Honey For The Bees" (#24 R&B and #6 Dance) and "The Heat of Heat". Produced by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, noted for their later work with Janet Jackson, the latter track returned Austin to the top 15 of the R&B charts for what would be the last time to date. It would also be her last Hot 100 charting to date, peaking at number 55, although she would score a top-5 dance hit with the single Reach that appeared originally on her 1994 CD That Secret Place (GRP Records). "Gettin' Away With Murder" used producers Russ Titelman, Tommy LiPuma, Monte Moir (of "The Time"), and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Billy Joel (Austin sang background on his "Just The Way You Are"), Dan Hartman, friends Luther Vandross and Jocelyn Brown, along with Chaka Khan were among the background vocalists on the project, with successful songwriters, Randy Goodrum, Michael Bolton, Jam & Lewis plus several other big name writers offering up their best compositions on what was likely a big budget affair. She next appeared with Jeff Bridges and Joan Allen in Francis Ford Coppola's critically acclaimed period piece Tucker: The Man and his Dream (1988). That year, Austin released The Real Me, a collection of standards which garnered her the first of several Top 10 showings on the Jazz Albums chart. "The Real Me" was chiefly produced by David Pack who had been a part of the Pop group Ambrosia. Austin served as a co-producer and as Executive Producer on the project. Austin sang "It's the Falling in Love" with Michael Jackson on his album Off The Wall. Other duet partners include George Benson ("Moody's Mood for Love" and "Keep Your Dreams Alive"), and Luther Vandross ("I'm Gonna Miss You In The Morning"). Earlier she'd recorded featured duets with Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons on "Our Day Will Come" and "Swearin' To God" with little billing. Austin also sang lead and background vocals on many contemporary Jazz instrumentalists' records in the 1970s. In 1985 she sang lead vocals on a collaboration with her producer, Narada Michael Walden, and the single, "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme", went top 40 on the R&B charts. In 1991, she recorded the duet "You Who Brought Me Love" with music legend Johnny Mathis, which was received with critical acclaim. That same year she was invited to be a guest on a Johnny Mathis television special that was broadcast across North America.
Austin led a new group of Raelettes for the 2006 album Ray Charles + Count Basie Orchestra = Genius². That group also featured veteran session singer Valerie Pinkston and members of the group Perry.
During a 2007 interview promoting her latest recording, Austin reflected how as a teenager she reluctantly attended one of Judy Garland's last concerts and the experience helped focus her career, stating "She (Judy Garland) ripped my heart out. I wanted to interpret a lyric like that, to present who I was at the moment through the lyric."
In 2007 Patti Austin participated in the Avo Session Basel with a program dedicated to Ella Fitzgerald.
In 2008, fifty-three years after getting her first record contract, Patti Austin was awarded her first Grammy Award, winning Best Jazz Vocal Album for "Avant Gershwin" at the 50th annual Grammy Awards. The award came for her ninth nomination in that category.
Austin is co-producer and one of over 70 artists singing on "We Are the World: 25 for Haiti", a charity single in aid of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
In 2011 Austin released a mostly covers album project titled "Sound Advice" which contained re-works of Bob Dylan's "Gotta Serve Somebody", Brenda Russell's "A Little Bit Of Love", a lesser known Jacksons tune, "Give It Up," her tribute to late friend/collaborator, Michael Jackson, a cover of Bill Withers, "Lean On Me" which she first sang at a milestone birthday for her Godfather Quincy Jones. Also on "Sound Advice" standout performances of Don McLean's "Vincent" (aka Starry Starry Night) and a deeply female take on "My Way." Austin wrote the anthemic "The Grace Of God" after watching an episode of the old "Oprah Winfrey Show" which featured a facially scarred woman ... Keeping relevant, Austin offered the bouncy slice of Pop/Rock/RandB "Round And Round" including the latest trendy vocal effects, though Austin remains one singer who clearly needs no such production techniques to cover a crystal clear, flexible, and knowing voice imitated by many, duplicated by none. Austin co-wrote and sings in the star-studded L.O.V.E. - Let One Voice Emerge, encouraging especially younger Americans to get out there and exercise their right to vote.[citation needed]
Austin appears in the Academy Award-winning documentary film 20 Feet from Stardom (2013), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was released on 21 June 2013. She is working on an upcoming, as yet untitled duets album project with James Ingram.
Round And Round
Patti Austin Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Every good bye and gone
Every hello didn't just come around
Everything that you see
Ain't the sunset of .. looks like
You are flat on the ground
.. what you see
I look up to you
We really should see eye to eye
Don't you even want to try
You got me turning round and round
Feel like you are taking me down down
We can argue and fight
Who is wrong who is right
We will get .. from the day
If we play on the same stage
.. I feel like I am in a bad bad time
Seems like .. nothing as it seems .. all over the place
You got me turning round and round
Feel like you are taking me down down
I am wishing you could see things that day
Hope it will be a brighter day
Why is it always a price to play
Have you even been listening to what I say
You got me turning round and round
Feel like you are taking me down down
Every shine and sleep
Every good bye and gone
Every hello didn't just come around
Everything that you see
Ain't the sunset of .. looks like
You are flat on the ground
You got me spinning round and round
Feel like you are taking me down down
The lyrics to Patti Austin's song "Round And Round" give us a glimpse into a relationship that is in a constant state of confusion and turmoil. The opening lines, "Every shine and sleep, Every good bye and gone, Every hello didn't just come around," suggest that there is a cycle of ups and downs in the relationship. The singer seems to be caught in a whirlwind of emotions and events that she can't seem to escape from. There is clearly a power dynamic at play in the relationship, with one person seemingly looking down on the other. The lyric, "I look up to you, You look down on me, We really should see eye to eye, Don't you even want to try," speaks to this dynamic, and the singer's desire to find common ground with her partner.
The chorus of the song is where the singer's frustration comes to the fore. She is tired of the constant back-and-forth, and wants things to change. The repetition of the line, "You got me turning round and round, Feel like you are taking me down down," emphasizes the feeling of being trapped and powerless. The second verse continues in the same vein, with the singer wishing for a better future, but feeling that her partner is not listening to her.
Overall, "Round And Round" is a song about the difficulties of communication in a relationship, and the frustration that can come from feeling out of control. The repeated images of spinning and turning underscore this feeling of being caught in a cycle that can't be broken.
Line by Line Meaning
Every shine and sleep
Every moment of light and darkness
Every good bye and gone
Every farewell and departure
Every hello didn't just come around
Every greeting is not just coincidence
Everything that you see
Everything that catches your eye
Ain't the sunset of .. looks like
Is not the end of what it appears to be
You are flat on the ground
You are stuck in reality
.. what you see
Questioning if it's true
I look up to you
I admire you
You look down on me
You belittle me
We really should see eye to eye
We should understand each other
Don't you even want to try
Don't you want to make an effort
You got me turning round and round
You're causing me to be unsure
Feel like you are taking me down down
Feel like you're dragging me down
We can argue and fight
We can have disagreements
Who is wrong who is right
Who is at fault
We will get .. from the day
We will learn from our experiences
.. I feel like I am in a bad bad time
I feel like I'm in a difficult situation
Seems like .. nothing as it seems .. all over the place
Everything appears to be unclear and confusing
I am wishing you could see things that day
I hope you can have a different perspective in the future
Hope it will be a brighter day
Hope for a more positive future
Why is it always a price to play
Why does everything require a sacrifice
Have you even been listening to what I say
Have you been paying attention to me
You got me spinning round and round
You're making me feel dizzy and confused
Feel like you are taking me down down
Feel like you're causing me to fail
Contributed by Eliana C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@MasterShower13th
Love it so hard. So fresh and light. It is a pity this album is not on Spotify.
@777olk
Dear Producers: Turn off Auto-Tune! It sucks! Especially on the voice of my favourite singer. Otherwise the production is really nice.
@treasurecompanion
Auto tune is awful I agree