The Valadiers

Last updated
The Valadiers
Origin Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Genres R&B, vocal group
Years active1959–1964, late 1980s, 2009–present
LabelsMiracle, Gordy, Motorcity
MembersStuart Avig
Andy Alonzo
Donald Revels
Charlie Valverde
Past membersMarty Coleman
Art Glasser
Jerry Light
Website http://www.valadiers.com/

The Valadiers are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who became notable as the first white vocal group signed to Motown in the early 1960s.

The group was formed in 1959 by Stuart Avig (born 1943, lead vocals), Marty Coleman (lead, bass, baritone), and Art Glasser (second tenor), who had all attended Oak Park High School, and Jerry Light (bass, baritone), from Detroit Mumford High School. After auditioning for Motown, they received a contract and made recordings which went unreleased, before recording a song they had written, "Greetings (This Is Uncle Sam)." The song was worked up by Motown staffers Robert Bateman, Brian Holland, and Ronnie Dunbar, who received co-writing credits, and was issued on the Miracle label, a Motown subsidiary for which this was its only hit record. [1] The record reached #89 on the Billboard pop chart in 1961. [2] [3] The song also became a minor hit for the Monitors in 1966. The Valadiers toured widely in packages with R&B stars including Marv Johnson, the Isley Brothers and Wilbert Harrison, and continued to release occasional singles with little success until 1964, when they split up. [2]

Stuart Avig spent time in the US Army, later recorded as a solo singer under the name Stuart Ames, and occasionally performed with backup singers as The Valadiers. Coleman worked as a staff songwriter for Motown under the name Martin Cohen, [4] placing songs with The Spinners, Gladys Knight & the Pips, and others. [2] His biggest hit as a songwriter was The Precisions' "If This Is Love (I'd Rather Be Lonely)", which was issued on Drew Records.

Avig later worked in the precious metals business. [5] In the 1980s, English record producer Ian Levine recorded him with other singers, as The Valadiers, issuing two singles on his Motorcity label. [2]

In 2003, Avig reformed the group with new members Andy Alonzo, Donald Revels, and Nick Marinelli. Marinelli was an original member of The Shades of Blue, and the quartet began performing together under both names. [6] [7] The current group, consisting of Avig, Revels, Charlie Valverde, and Charles Davis, continues to perform together as the Valadiers and The Shades of Blue. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Supremes</span> American Motown female singing group

The Supremes was an American girl group and a premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as the Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful American vocal band, with 12 number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100. Most of these hits were written and produced by Motown's main songwriting and production team, Holland–Dozier–Holland. It is said that their breakthrough made it possible for future African-American R&B and soul musicians to find mainstream success. Billboard ranked the Supremes as the 16th greatest Hot 100 artist of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florence Ballard</span> American singer (1943–1976)

Florence Glenda Chapman was an American singer and a founding member of the Motown vocal female group the Supremes. She sang on 16 top 40 singles with the group, including ten number-one hits. After being removed from the Supremes in 1967, Ballard tried an unsuccessful solo career with ABC Records before she was dropped from the label at the end of the decade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Otis Williams</span> American singer (born 1941)

Otis Williams is an American tenor/baritone singer. He is occasionally also a songwriter and a record producer. Williams is the founder and last surviving original member of the Motown vocal group The Temptations, a group in which he continues to perform; he also owns the rights to the Temptations name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Syreeta Wright</span> American singer-songwriter (1946–2004)

Syreeta Wright, who recorded professionally under the mononym Syreeta, was an American singer-songwriter, best known for her music during the early 1970s through the early 1980s. Wright's career heights were songs in collaboration with her ex-husband Stevie Wonder and musical artist Billy Preston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Marvelettes</span> American girl group

The Marvelettes were an American girl group that achieved popularity in the early to mid-1960s. They consisted of schoolmates Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson, Georgeanna Tillman, Juanita Cowart, and Georgia Dobbins, who was replaced by Wanda Young prior to the group signing their first deal. They were the first successful act of Motown Records after the Miracles and its first significantly successful female group after the release of the 1961 number-one single, "Please Mr. Postman", one of the first number-one singles recorded by an all-female vocal group and the first by a Motown recording act.

The Undisputed Truth was an American Motown recording act, assembled by record producer Norman Whitfield as a means for being able to experiment with his psychedelic soul production techniques. Joe "Pep" Harris served as main lead singer, with Billie Rae Calvin and Brenda Joyce Evans on additional leads and background vocals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)</span> 1965 single by the Four Tops

"I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" is a 1965 hit song recorded by the Four Tops for the Motown label.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Tears of a Clown</span> 1970 single by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles

"The Tears of a Clown" is a song written by Hank Cosby, Smokey Robinson, and Stevie Wonder and originally recorded by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles for the Tamla Records label subsidiary of Motown, first appearing on the 1967 album Make It Happen. The track was re-released in the United Kingdom as a single in July 1970, and it became a #1 hit on the UK Singles Chart for the week ending 12 September 1970. Subsequently, Motown released a partially re-recorded and completely remixed version as a single in the United States as well, where it quickly became a #1 hit on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B Singles charts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warren "Pete" Moore</span> American singer-songwriter and record producer

Warren Thomas "Pete" Moore was an American singer-songwriter and record producer, notable as the bass singer for Motown group the Miracles from 1955 onwards, and was one of the group's original members. He is also a 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee, and a BMI and ASCAP award-winning songwriter, and was the vocal arranger on all of the group's hits.

<i>The Temptin Temptations</i> 1965 studio album by The Temptations

The Temptin' Temptations is the third studio album by The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label released in 1965. The album includes several of the group's hits from 1965, and also includes a handful of singles that were not included on the Temptations' first 1965 album, The Temptations Sing Smokey. Among these are the 1964 singles "Girl " and "I'll Be in Trouble"; and the 1965 singles "Since I Lost My Baby", and "My Baby". Seven of the album's 12 tracks had previously been released as singles and their B-sides, though "My Baby" preceded the album only by a month.

Dennis James Coffey is an American guitarist. He was a studio musician for many soul and R&B recordings, and is well known for his 1971 Top 10 hit single "Scorpio".

<i>Greetings! Were The Monitors</i> 1968 studio album by The Monitors

Greetings! We're The Monitors is the debut album by The Monitors, released in 1968.

The Shades of Blue were an American blue-eyed soul vocal group from Livonia, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit.

The Monitors were an American vocal group who recorded for Motown Records in the 1960s. The group, which consisted of lead singer Richard Street, Sandra Fagin, John "Maurice" Fagin, and Warren Harris, had two minor hits, "Say You", and then a cover of the Valadiers' "Greetings ", which reached #21 on the Billboard R&B Chart, and #100 on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Four Tops</span> American vocal quartet

The Four Tops are an American vocal quartet from Detroit who helped to define the city's Motown sound of the 1960s. The group's repertoire has included soul music, R&B, disco, adult contemporary, doo-wop, jazz, and show tunes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gonna Give Her All the Love I've Got</span>

"Gonna Give Her All the Love I've Got" is a 1967 Soul song, originally recorded and made a hit by Jimmy Ruffin on Motown's Soul Label imprint. Ruffin's 1967 original version, from his album Jimmy Ruffin Sings Top Ten, reached the Pop Top 30, peaking at #29, and was a Top 20 R&B Hit as well, peaking at #14. It was also a hit in Britain, reaching #26 on the UK Singles Chart. The song has a social context: it depicts a man anticipating his release from prison on the morrow, when he'll return home on a train to "the girl that I left behind," promising himself that he will reward her steadfast love for him by "giv[ing] her all the love [he's] got." The song was written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong and produced by Whitfield.

Leonard Caston Jr. is an American rhythm and blues songwriter, record producer, pianist and singer. He recorded for both the Chess and Motown labels in the 1960s and 1970s, and co-wrote or co-produced several major hit records, including Mitty Collier's "I Had A Talk With My Man" (1964), The Supremes' "Nathan Jones" (1971), Eddie Kendricks' "Keep On Truckin'" (1973) and "Boogie Down" (1974).

Robert Bateman was an American R&B singer, songwriter and record producer. Among other songs, he co-wrote the hits "Please Mr. Postman" and "If You Need Me".

"Greetings (This Is Uncle Sam)" is a 1961 song recorded by three American R&B music groups, The Valadiers, The Monitors, and The Isley Brothers for the Motown label. It was written by Robert Bateman, Brian Holland, Stuart Avig, Martin Coleman, Art Glasser, Jerry Light, P Bennet, Lawrence Horn and Ronald Dunbar. (Avig, Coleman, Glasser and Light were members of the Valadiers.) The Isley Brothers version was shelved while the Valadiers' and Monitors' versions give both groups their first and only charter on the Billboard Hot 100 charts and became the biggest "hit" for each; both groups could only archive very minor hits due to non-promotion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Terry (saxophonist)</span> Musical artist

Andrew Alexander "Mike" Terry was an American saxophonist, songwriter, arranger, producer and musical director. His baritone sax solos feature on the breakthrough hits of Martha and the Vandellas, and The Supremes. As a member of the Funk Brothers he performed on thousands of Motown recordings from 1960 to 1967, including at least seven US #1 hits. As was Motown's policy at the time, none of the studio musicians were credited by name. Terry was the musical arranger of the 1966 hit "Cool Jerk" by The Capitols, and later became a record producer, with partners including George Clinton, Sidney Barnes, and Jack Ashford.

References

  1. ↑ "Greetings (This Is Uncle Sam)", Motown Junkies. Retrieved 4 September 2014
  2. 1 2 3 4 Biography by Andrew Hamilton, Allmusic.com. Retrieved 3 September 2014
  3. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2003). Top Pop Singles 1955–2002 (1st ed.). Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p.  736. ISBN   0-89820-155-1.
  4. ↑ Betts, Graham (June 2, 2014). Motown Encyclopedia. AC Publishing. ISBN   9781311441546 – via Google Books.
  5. ↑ Bak, Richard (April 20, 2011). Detroitland: A Collection of Movers, Shakers, Lost Souls, and History Makers from Detroit's Past. Wayne State University Press. p. 61. ISBN   978-0814334997 – via Google Books.
  6. ↑ Ryan, Jack (April 20, 2012). Recollections, the Detroit Years: The Motown Sound by the People who Made it. Glendower Media. p. 156. ISBN   9780914303046 – via Google Books.
  7. ↑ "The Shades of Blue | History". Theshadesofblueonline.com.
  8. ↑ The Valadiers official website. Valadiers.com Retrieved 4 September 2014
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.