The popularity of classic funk/R&B/soul acts performing in the US and abroad started to expand in the mid-1990s on events like the awarded Sinbad's Summer Jam: '70s Soul Music Festival.
#Dazz band let it whip instruments free#
In 1986, Dazz Band recorded Wild & Free for Geffen Records, and moved to RCA Records. In 1985, Fearman left the group and were replaced by Marlon McClain and Keith Harrison.
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The band was known for its live performances, often proving more popular than the headlining act. They would go on to score R&B hits with the songs "Party Right Here" (1983), "Joystick" (1984), and "Let It All Blow" (which was also their biggest UK single, peaking at #12) (1984).Īfter Keep It Live, the band recorded the albums On the One, Joystick, Jukebox and Hot Spot, all for Motown. 1 on the R&B charts and won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. The group's biggest breakthrough came with the album Keep It Live (1982), containing the hit "Let It Whip" - which reached No. The group's next album, Let The Music Play (1981), featured the minor hit single "Knock! Knock!", reaching the Top 50. They had their first hit with "Shake It Up" in 1980.ĭazz's first album for Motown was Invitation to Love (1980), a self-produced set, whose title track, the ballad "Invitation to Love", began a string of hits for the band starting in March 1981. The group expanded from the original quintet - Harris, Calhoun, Pettus, and the Wiley brothers - with newcomers Kevin Kendrick, Steve Cox, Eric Fearman, Pierre DeMudd, Sonny "Skip" Martin, Jerry Bell and Terry Stanton. Separately, the 20th Century Records label was closed, and the Dazz Band was signed to Motown Records.
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The Kinsman Dazz became the Dazz Band in 1980. They released their first single, "I Might as Well Forget About Loving You", in late 1978. Bailey would co-produce the second album, Dazz, and had a major input into the group's vocal arrangements. Harris requested and got Philip Bailey, the vocalist of Earth, Wind & Fire, to produce the group's first album, Kinsman Dazz. Owing to illness, Gaye had to back out of the duties. The group went to Los Angeles to record for producer Marvin Gaye. Kinsman Dazz was signed to 20th Century Records by Joe Lewis in 1978. The group adopted its name before the song "Dazz" became an R&B hit for Atlanta's Brick in 1976. Summing up Calhoun's solo era so far, including The One, his musicianship expertise should keep him in the post Dazz Band game.The Dazz Band, formed in 1976, grew out of the Cleveland, Ohio, jazz fusion band Bell Telefunk, composed of Bobby harris (founder)lead guitarist/songwriter Mike Calhoun, percussionist Kenny Pettus, drummer Isaac "Ike" Wiley, Jr., and his brother bassist Michael Wiley, and the band Mother BraintreeThe group became known as Kinsman Dazz, named after both the street and the lounge where they worked as the house band: Sonny Jones' Kinsman Grill Lounge. However, the mixed genres theory causes a lack of cohesion in a couple of spots, and sometimes the production gets mired in electronic vocal masking and paper thin instrumentation.
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Calhoun's guitar skills are sharp and the supporting cast of vocalists and rappers are commendable no matter what the musical taste. Overall, The One has more pros than cons.
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For his latest release The One, Calhoun sticks with the multi-genre format of In Blue but with an emphasis on inspirational and worship themes. When he finished his tenure with The Dazz Band, he blended his rock and funk skills with other avenues of music by playing reggae with the band Identity, touring with bluesman Travis Haddix, and as a studio musician backing several hip-hop artists emanating from him hometown of Cleveland, Ohio.Ĭalhoun finally launched his solo recording journey with In Blue in 1997 (under the name of Mike Calzone) that successfully demonstrates his versatility beyond the Dazz party funk. Yet there are also plenty of other sides to the founder of the popular R&B band with a hit parade during the seventies and eighties that brought us "Let It Whip" & "Joystick." In fact, much of Calhoun's influences are rooted in progressive rock guitarists like Jeff Beck and Jimi Hendrix.
#Dazz band let it whip instruments how to#
As the lead guitarist of The Dazz Band, Mike Calhoun knew how to throw down plenty of funk licks to keep all those happy feet moving and grooving on the Soul Train line and during their energetic concerts.