Bernadette Cooper

Miss Bernadette Cooper is best known as one fifth of female R&B/funk group, Klymaxx. She provided spoken vocals on their hits The Men All Pause, which she co-produced and the classic Meeting In The Ladies room.

 “Somebody slap me!”

She left Klymaxx after they’d peaked and unleashed her own production company, Slap Me One Productions shortly afterward, discovering girl group Madame X. The group weren’t a huge success but they did release an album and contribute the closing theme to the 1988 movie Action Jackson, which was released as a single by Lorimar Records. It was the groups final offering.

“I’ve been kickin’ back, relaxing, just lookin’ good…”

Bernadette released her own album in 1990, Drama According To Bernadette Cooper. It was released by MCA Records and featured 12 quirky R&B tracks, many of which have been sampled in subsequent years. The single I Look Good was an R&B Top 5 hit. A dance remix of the track Underground was the second single, issued in 1991. It was an innovative album which took the sound she'd made famous with Klymaxx to a new level. You can tell that Bernadette had a major hand in the production without even looking in the booklet. Sadly it just wasn’t a hit.

Production duties for the likes of Nia Peeples, Cheryl Lynn, Mazarati and ex-Klymaxx bandmate Joyce ‘Fenderella’ Irby kept her busy around this time too. But she seemed to disappear for most of the 90’s.

Klymaxxing into the 21^st century…

In 2005 she was reunited with Klymaxx thanks to VH1’s Bands Reunited, the group were also the subject of a pretty funny Saturday Night Live skit around this time. Oscar winning actress Halle Berry played Bernadette! The group now performs a few dates a year.

- Jamie

Meeting In The Ladies Room (1984)

Klymaxx skit starring Halle Berry (2004)