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Shalamar is due to play at Liverpool's
Olympia, on Friday, 28 April 2017!
IN the late 1970's and early 1980's, the name
Shalamar
became synonymous with the contemporary sound of catchy feel good dance music.
Shalamar are best known for a string of worldwide hits such as:- 'The
Second Time
Around,'
'Make That
Move,'
'I Owe You
One,'
'I Can Make You Feel
Good,' 'There It
Is', 'Friends'
and of course their often copied anthem:- 'A Night To
Remember.'
Shalamar started life as a "manufactured" group. Dick Griffey was
the talent co-ordinator for US hit show Soul Train when he decided to set up his
own record label; SOLAR. He took session musicians and created a hit
record; Uptown Festival; which was credited to a faceless artist
"Shalamar" in 1977. When the record became a hit he realised that there
was a demand for an actual group so he set about creating one with soul train
dancers Jeffrey Daniel and Jody Watley together with singer Gary Mumford, the
latter of whom quickly left the group to pursue other interests.
In late 1979, the group was riding high on the US R&B chart with their hit:-
'Take That To The
Bank' when Gerald Brown became the
second lead singer to walk out on Shalamar in as many years leaving his fellow
band members without a frontman again.
Jeffrey Daniel had met Howard Hewett at the LA nightclub:- "Maverick Flat"
a few years earlier and had already asked him to take up lead vocals after
Mumford's departure. At that time, Hewett was committed to another contract to
tour Europe with a covers band. When Brown left, Daniel asked Hewett to come on
board again and this time he agreed. The rest is history.
Hewett's 1st record:- 'The 2nd Time Around' was a million seller. As well as
being number one on the US R&B chart it went on to reach number eight in the
main Billboard pop chart indicating Shalamar's intention to cross over with an
edgy sound incorporating funk, disco, R&B and pop.
The trio consisting of Howard Hewett as lead vocalist together with Jeffrey
Daniel and Jody Watley became known as the "classic" line up of
the group. From late 1979 to mid 1983, they racked up more than a dozen hits all
over the world including North America, Europe, Africa and Japan. In the UK,
Shalamar are also remembered for Jeffrey Daniel's famous appearances on Top of
the Pops where he introduced body popping and moon walking to UK audiences.
Daniel is also an award winning choreographer well known for teaching the
moonwalk to Michael Jackson as well as co-choreographing some of Jackson's
videos and for being his dance mentor.
At the height of their fame in 1983, Watley and Daniel left Shalamar leaving
Hewett to continue the group with new members and further hits resulting in a
personal grammy for Hewett.
In 1999, Howard Hewett and Jeffrey Daniel reformed the group and began touring
again. For a number of years they left the 3rd slot empty as they continued to
invite Jody Watley back into the group. When they were happy that they had tried
their best to encourage Watley to re-join, they felt that they should look for
another female vocalist.
The natural choice of replacement was Carolyn Griffey, daughter of founder Dick
Griffey. She grew up a pre-teenager spending much time in the offices and
studios of Solar Records in the presence of the original Shalamar and their
label bandmates including:- 'The Whispers,' 'Midnight Star' and
her mother 'Carrie Lucas,' herself an accomplished R&B artist. At
the age of 18 Carolyn had a record deal with another group Absolute who had 2
songs featured on the soundtrack of the film Lambada.
Since Carolyn came on board in 2001, the group have been able to extend their
performance repertoire to those songs such as:- 'Full Of
Fire'
which require a female presence.
To see this amazing act, a few late release tickets are available from the
Liverpool Olympia's
website or by calling:-
0151 263 6633.
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