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)

Co-written by Reggie Lucas and James Mtume, produced by the late Skip Scarborough. 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

• 12-inch Grail: Arista CP-701 (U.S. promo) has the full-length Tom Moulton mix—clean intro, extra Fender Rhodes sparkle, trades ≥ $75 VG+.

• Remix Buffet:
  • John Morales M+M Edit (2012) extends the breakdown into a minute-long plus-one-drink moment.
  • Dimitri from Paris slyly half-times the drums for a nudisco swirl (found on his Le Chic Remix radio rip).
  • DJ Duckcomb snuck an acetate-only Afro-percussive “Love Dub”
  
  

Vinyl

• Japanese 45 (Arista VIP-2768) flips the single with “Under Your Spell.” Obi strip features a rare studio headshot with her smoky eyes and the lilac background of the main photo above.

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