BEAUTIFUL ONES: Phyllis Hyman

These black-and-white portraits were shot in late 1977 by jazz lensman Anthony Barboza inside Phyllis’s Upper West Side apartment, a loft she called “the birdcage.” She’d just wrapped sessions for Norman Connors and was demoing solo material for Arista. The open-reel deck behind her is a TEAC A-3340S—she kept rough mixes of “You Know How to Love Me” spinning while Barboza snapped away. The stunning Phyllis stood six feet one in bare feet. Onstage, she often donned a Nina Ricci silk gown and seven-inch heels, announcing, “I like to look my audience in the eye—even in the balcony.” Her signature jewelry is the bone-bird necklace you see in the apartment shot—hand-carved in Kenya, a gift from drummer Bud Ellison. 

“You Know How to Love Me” (1979)

Cut and mixed in New York at Sigma Sound Studios, the track was produced and arranged by James Mtume and Reggie Lucas, with album mastering at Sterling Sound. Ed Walsh handled synthesizer programming and Gary Bartz solos on sax. The title track did not fully cross to pop, but it became her club signature, #6 on the U.S. Disco chart and Top 20 R&B. Phyllis nailed a four-octave glide recording at Sigma Sound NYC. The final mix retains Scarborough’s jazz chord dust. Larry Levan immediately playlisted it at Paradise Garage; by week two, dancers were lip-syncing every word. Phyllis called “You Know How to Love Me” her “cosmic handshake”—the record that let fans know she could marry jazz phrasing to disco without dimming either. Catch this performance on the Mike Douglas Show: YouTube Clip

Vinyl

• U.S. promo 12 inch: Arista SP-75 carries the full-length album mix (about 7:34). A staple for clean intros and system-checking the rhythm guitars.

• Canadian 12-inch mistakenly credits Scarborough as “Scabbourgh”—typo copies fetch higher because nerds love anomalies.

  
  

Afterlife

• Dimitri From Paris special remixes (RSD 2018, 2×12 inch). Includes the “Alternative String-Apella” and “Super Disco Orchestra” takes. (Release page)

• Mike Maurro, “A Mike Maurro Mix” (12:13), issued in The Mike Maurro Remix Vault. (SoundCloud)

• Dave Lee (fka Joey Negro) Extended Disco Mix (about 9:58) from Remixed with Love (Selected Works). (Z Records)