Shalamar  

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Shalamar, was an American music group of the 1970s and 1980s that was originally a disco-driven vehicle created by Soul Train booking agent Dick Griffey.

Career

Their first hit was the 1977 Motown-inspired production "Uptown Festival", the success of which inspired Griffey to replace his session singers with vocalists Jody Watley, Jeffrey Daniel, and Howard Hewett (the latter replacing short-time member Gerald Brown) in 1978.

The group was hooked up with legendary R&B producer Leon Sylvers III in 1979, signed with Griffey's SOLAR Records and scored a U.S. million seller with "The Second Time Around" (#1 US R&B, #8 US Pop).

In the UK the group had a string of hits with songs such as "Take That To The Bank" (1978), "I Owe You One" (1980) and 1982's "I Can Make You Feel Good", "A Night to Remember", "There It Is" and "Friends". The album of the same title Friends was also a big seller in the UK in 1982 crossing the genres of pop, disco and soul. The band's record sales in the UK increased dramatically when Daniel demonstrated his body-popping dancing skills on BBC Television's music programme, Top of the Pops.

The group took a knock when both Watley and Daniel left the band over artistic arguments with the SOLAR record label, shortly after the release of their next album The Look in the spring of 1983. Nonetheless, the album yielded a number of UK hit singles including "Disappearing Act", Dead Giveaway, and "Over And Over". The album itself moved Shalamar into a more new wave/synthpop direction, with rock guitars to the fore. But The Look generally was not the success that Friends had been the previous year.

With a mid 1980s line-up change with Delisa Davis and Micki Free, Shalamar returned to the U.S. Top 20 in 1984 with "Dancing In The Sheets" from the Footloose soundtrack, peaking at #17, and they won a Grammy for "Don't Get Stopped In Beverly Hills" from Beverly Hills Cop in 1985.

But when Hewett left for a solo career in 1986, and was replaced by Sydney Justin, the band faded into temporary obscurity. Hewett enjoyed some success on film soundtracks, contributing "Obsession" to the cult teen comedy hit The Heavenly Kid in 1985.<ref>80s Music Channel: Obsession</ref>

The most successful of the classic trio was Watley, who, with former Prince sidekick André Cymone, made classy solo albums and found success with her own singles, which included 1987's "Looking For A New Love", 1989's "Friends", and 1994's "When A Man Loves A Woman". She rejoined with Hewett and Daniel, plus LL Cool J, on Babyface's 1996 single "For The Lover In You"; a cover of a hit single from Shalamar's 1980 LP Three For Love. Watley was also one of the few American singers to perform on the original Band Aid record recorded by mostly British singers in November 1984. Micki Free is mentioned on the Dave Chappelle show, under Charlie Murphy's True Hollywood Stories when playing basketball with Prince.

Shalamar reformed in 2005 for the U.K. TV show 'Hit Me Baby' with original members Jeffrey Daniel, Howard Hewett, and with new singer Carolyn Griffey (long time friend and fan of the original band, and daughter of Shalamar founder Dick Griffey).

Shalamar has scored a total of three gold albums in America with Big Fun, Three For Love (which eventually went platinum) and Friends.

Also in 1980 the band made a promotion of "The Second Time Around" for radio station KJR in Seattle called "The Sonics Came To Play" dedicated to the Seattle Supersonics who won the NBA Championship, the previous year in 1979.

Discography

Albums

• 1977: Uptown Festival (Soul Train) - US #48, R&B #22
• 1978: Disco Gardens (Solar) - US #171, R&B #52
• 1979: Big Fun (Solar) - US #23, R&B #4
• 1981: Go For It (Solar) - US #115, R&B #18
• 1981: Three For Love (Solar) - US #40, R&B #8
• 1982: Friends (Solar) - US #35, R&B #1 UK #6
• 1982: Greatest Hits (Solar) - R&B #48 UK #71
• 1983: The Look (Solar) - US #79, R&B #13 UK #7
• 1984: Heartbreak (Solar) - US #90, R&B #32
• 1987: Circumstantial Evidence (Solar) - R&B #29
• 1990: Wake Up (Solar)
• 2006: Ultimate Collection (Capitol)

Singles

• 1977: "Ooh Baby, Baby" - R&B #59
• 1977: "Uptown Festival (Part 1)" - US #25, R&B #10, UK #30
• 1978: "Take That to the Bank" - US #79, R&B #11, UK #20
• 1979: "I Owe You One" - R&B #60, UK #13
• 1979: "Right in the Socket" - R&B #22 UK #44
• 1979: "The Second Time Around" - US #8, R&B #1 UK #45
• 1981: "Full of Fire" - US #55, R&B #24
• 1981: "Make That Move" - US #60, R&B #6, UK #30
• 1981: "Sweeter as the Days Go By" - R&B #19
• 1981: "This Is for the Lover in You" - R&B #17
• 1982: "I Can Make You Feel Good" - R&B #33, UK #7
• 1982: "A Night to Remember" - US #44, R&B #8, UK #5
• 1982: "There It Is" - UK #5
• 1982: "Friends" - UK #12
• 1983: "Dead Giveaway" - US #22, R&B #10, UK #8
• 1983: "Disappearing Act" - UK #18
• 1984: "Over and Over" - R&B #26, UK #23
• 1984: "Amnesia" - US #73, R&B #49 UK #61
• 1984: "Dancing in the Sheets" - US #17, R&B #18 UK #41
• 1984: "Deadline USA" - R&B #34 UK #52
• 1984: "You Can Count On Me" - R&B #77
• 1985: "Don't Get Stopped in Beverly Hills" - R&B #79
• 1985: "My Girl Loves Me" - R&B #22
• 1987: "Circumstantial Evidence" - R&B #30
• 1987: "Games" - R&B #11

See also

• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart