Wednesday, May 6, 2009

The Androgynous: Shalamar



Shalamar began as a thrown-together producer's group and wound up one of the most popular and exciting vocal groups of the late 70s and early 80s. When Soul Train host Don Cornelius and show A&R man Dick Griffey decided to create Soul Train Records - later called Sound of Los Angeles Records (or SOLAR, for short) - they debuted with a discofied Motown medley called "Uptown Festival" performed by a group of studio musicians and singers dubbed Shalamar. When the song turned out to be a smash dance hit, a singing group of Soul Train dancers was put together as the face of Shalamar. Consisting of Jody Watley, Jeffrey Daniel and Gerald Brown, the new group scored a couple hits and had two moderately successful albums, Uptown Festival and Disco Gardens, before Brown was replaced by mellifluous singer Howard Hewett.
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Jody Watley Interviews with Essence

ESSENCE.COM: You started with the group Shalamar. Do you think there will ever be a reunion?

WATLEY: That's probably the question I get asked the most (laughs). Not in the foreseeable future. I've always been the one to keep it moving forward. I've been on my own longer than I've been with Shalamar. Shalamar was a fantastic experience and there are a lot of people that would like to see it...but I don't really see it. You never know, maybe something like BET will honor the group and we get together for something special like that. Just throwing that out there! (laughs)



ESSENCE.COM: I'd love to see it! You and Howard Hewett up there again!
WATLEY: (Laughs) For me, I was kind of a caterpillar and I turned into a butterfly. It's just very difficult being your own person, a soloist, to go back to a background role.

Mikkie Free and Prince

"And Mikki Free was like the new cat in Shalamar that when he joined the group, I heard mad cats was like, "Yo man Shalamar got a new, new girl in there man, that bitch fine like a mf!"

~Charlie Murphy

10 comments:

  1. I have the 2nd season CD with the skit of Dave Chappelle doing Prince. That skit is funny as heck. Who in the world is that brother in the picture with Howard Hewitt and the other chick. Is that Mikki Free? WOOOOOOOOOOOOW (flav's voice). Man he/she or it is undistinguishable. that's a darn shame. Please answer this, is incest the only way a person can be born a hermaphrodite? Because it is sad that these people continue to molest their family members. What the heck is wrong with these people? Do they care about all the pain that they are causing their offsprings? I was reading about a person born as an intersexual and it appears that it can be very painful when they urinate. This can also cause alot of diseases because they are not getting rid of their waste properly. This is s damn shame!

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  2. DAAAAAAMN Mikki Free looks just like Holly Berry. Maybe they are related. You can tell that "it" has 2 Gene-tails.

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  3. The only thing these people care about is MONEY and FAME!

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  4. It looks like "Jeffrey Daniel" created the Michael Jackson "Moon Walk".

    ....Dag! These androgynous being stayed around each other!

    Michael Jackson’s brother Tito has pulled out of the UK tour of Thriller Live.

    Jeffrey Daniel He will be replaced by Jeffrey Daniel from pop group Shalamar, who will now take on the role of MC in the show. Daniel claims to have originated the Moonwalk dance and taught the routine to Michael Jackson.

    http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/16722

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  5. Shalamar was the creation of Dick Griffey, the booking agent for the television R&B program Soul Train, and British R&B producer Simon Soussan. The group's first single, the 1977 Motown medley "Uptown Festival," featured a bevy of faceless studio musicians; once it became a hit, Griffey decided to form a performing group under the name Shalamar. Through Soul Train, Griffey found Jody Watley, Jeffrey Daniels, and Gerald Brown, the three vocalists that became Shalamar; Brown was quickly replaced by Howard Hewitt in 1978.

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  6. Group Members:

    Howard Hewett, Micki Free, Delissa Davis, Jeffrey Daniel, Jody Watley, Sidney Justin

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  7. Delissa Davis look like "Lisa Bonet"!

    Jeffrey Daniel look like "Lloyd"!

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  8. Mikki Free had all of his or her pictures taken down!

    That goes to show that he or she is hiding out in Hollywood!

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  9. Micki free took the "blue" pill!

    She went from an androgynous fe-male to a "MAD" male!

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  10. So did he get the "slit" stiched up?

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