Shalamar

Shalamar is an American R&B and soul vocal group formed in Los Angeles in 1975. The group begins as a disco project created by Soul Train booking agent Dick Griffey and show creator and producer Don Cornelius, with the name chosen by Griffey. It develops into a dance-oriented act associated with boogie, disco, electro-funk, funk, pop and R&B.

Early formation and breakthrough

The group’s first single is the 1977 Motown medley “Uptown Festival”, recorded with studio musicians. After that record becomes a hit, Griffey forms a performing group under the Shalamar name. Through Soul Train, he assembles Jody Watley, Jeffrey Daniel and Gerald Brown as the first vocal line-up. Brown is soon replaced by Howard Hewett in 1978.

Shalamar’s run of dance-soul hits starts in 1979 with “Take That to the Bank”. Later that year, “The Second Time Around” reaches the Top Ten. During the early 1980s the group becomes a regular presence on the U.S. R&B scene and also earns several British hit singles.

1980s line-up changes and major records

Watley and Daniel leave in 1982. Delisa Davis and Micki Free join in 1984, while Howard Hewett later leaves for a solo career in 1986. Sidney Justin then replaces Hewett, and the group records Circumstantial Evidence in 1987. The album does not match the success of the earlier hit period. Shalamar later issues Wake Up in 1990 before fading away soon afterwards.

Among the group’s best-known British singles are “A Night to Remember” and “There It Is”, both from 1982. The group is also associated with fashion trends, with members described as fashion icons and trendsetters, and is credited with helping to introduce body-popping to the United Kingdom.

Awards, later activity and reunions

Shalamar wins a Grammy Award for “Don’t Get Stopped in Beverly Hills”, a song featured in Beverly Hills Cop. The group reforms in the late 1990s with Jeffrey Daniel, Howard Hewett and Carolyn Griffey, the daughter of Dick Griffey, and plays UK arena tours in 1999 and 2003.

In 2005 the group appears on Hit Me Baby One More Time and continues touring internationally. A reconstituted line-up of Hewett, Daniel and Griffey performs in London in 2009, which leads to further UK touring in 2010. The group returns to the same London venue in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014, then plays a series of UK dates in 2015.

Line-up and membership

Associated members include Jody Watley, Jeffrey Daniels, Micki Free, Carolyn Griffey, Jeffrey Daniel, Howard Hewett and Jermaine Stewart.