Gary Byrd and the GB Experience | |
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Origin | United States |
Genres | Pop music |
Years active | 1980s |
Labels | Motown |
Gary Byrd and the GB Experience was an American male/female vocal/instrumental group.
The group released a single, "The Crown" on 23 July 1983 written by Gary Byrd and Stevie Wonder. [1] [2] According to Byrd, it was the only release on Stevie Wonder's short-lived U.S.-based Wondirection record label (part of Motown Records) that celebrated African heritage in a motivational rap featuring both Byrd and Wonder. [3] Due to lack of sufficient promotion,[ citation needed ] it only reached number 69 on the Billboard R&B chart. [1] In the UK, it was released on the Motown label, entered the UK Singles Chart on 23 July 1983 at number 21, and rose to a high of number 6; it remained in the chart for 9 weeks. [4] It also reached number 7 in the Swiss Hitparade, [5] number 14 in the German GfK Entertainment charts [6] and number 21 in the Irish Singles Chart. [7]
The 12" version of "The Crown" ran for 10 minutes 35 seconds, making it one of the longest tracks ever to chart in the UK. It was written by Gary Byrd and Stevie Wonder, and presented a wide-ranging historical narrative of human progress (beginning with the ancient Egyptians and continuing to the present day) with an emphasis on African heritage. It featured spoken/rapped verses by Byrd, an American DJ, with one verse sung by Wonder and Crystal Blake. Byrd described the song at the time thus: "The idea is not that black, white or anyone is better, but that we all have our place. We've all made contributions - and mistakes too. Wearing the crown is reaching the top of your potential. You could be a writer or you could be a mechanic, but you can still wear the crown." [8]
Gary Byrd (born 1954, Buffalo, New York) [9] also worked as a DJ in the UK and presented a gospel music programme on BBC Radio 1 called "Sweet Inspirations". He often played the more obscure gospel sounds from groups such as Earth, Wind and Fire of whom he was a big fan. It was broadcast on Sunday evenings (11 pm to midnight) in the early 1980s on MW and stereo FM using the BBC Radio 2 transmitters.
Prior to this, Gary Byrd released the single "Every Brother Ain't A Brother", the album The Gary Byrd Experience and the single "Soul Travelin' (Inside the G.B.E.)" on RCA, whose intro was sampled by Soul to Soul on the song "Jazzie's Groove". He also collaborated with Wonder on the songs "Black Man", "Village Ghetto Land", "Dark and Lovely" and "Misrepresented People."
Stevland Hardaway Morris, known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include R&B, pop, soul, gospel, funk, and jazz. A virtual one-man band, Wonder's use of synthesizers and other electronic musical instruments during the 1970s reshaped the conventions of contemporary R&B. He also helped drive such genres into the album era, crafting his LPs as cohesive and consistent, in addition to socially conscious statements with complex compositions. Blind since shortly after his birth, Wonder was a child prodigy who signed with Motown's Tamla label at the age of 11, where he was given the professional name Little Stevie Wonder.
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Judy Cheeks is an American singer. In the 1970s and 1980s, she recorded as a soul and R&B singer, before releasing more dance-oriented music in the 1990s. Cheeks performed with Ike & Tina Turner as an Ikette. She also worked as a backing vocalist for various artists such as Stevie Wonder, Donna Summer, Amanda Lear, and David Knopfler.
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"Signed, Sealed, Delivered " is a soul song, by American musician Stevie Wonder, released in June 1970 as a single on Motown's Tamla label. It spent six weeks at number one on the U.S. R&B chart and peaked at number three on the U.S. Pop chart. In the same year, the song was also released on the album Signed, Sealed & Delivered.
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Imhotep Gary Byrd is an American, New York City–based radio talk show host and executive producer, radio DJ, poet, songwriter, music recording artist and producer, rapper, writer and community advocate/activist. Byrd began his career as a radio DJ in Buffalo at age 15. In 2015, he celebrated 50 years as a radio personality. For over 30 years, he’s been a talk show host at WBLS and WLIB radio in New York City.