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Concert in your area for Funk & Soul, R&B, and Electronic.
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Originally known as Santa Monica, the S.O.S. (sounds of success) Band formed of members Willie “Sonny” Killebrew on saxophone, Billy Ellis on flute, Jason Bryant on the keyboard, Bruno Speight on guitar, John Simpson on bass, James Earl Jones III on drums and Mary Davis on vocals. The band would perform regularly and recorded a series of demos, one of which was heard by Tabu Records who signed the group to their first recording contract.
In 1980 S.O.S. Band released their first hit single “Take Your Time (Do It Right)” written and produced by Sigidi Abdullah and Harold Clayton. The single went platinum, reached No. 1 in the R&B chart, staying there for five weeks, and debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200. The debut album “S.O.S.” also performed remarkably well selling over 800,000 copies and reaching No. 2 in the R&B album chart.
The band subsequently toured and welcomed the multi-instrumentalist Abdul Ra’oof to the line-up, whose recording debut with the band came on their sophomore album “Too” in 1981. S.O.S. Band’s third studio release entitled “S.O.S. Band III” came in 1982 with support from producer Terry Lewis.
After these modest successes, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis took over the production reigns for LP number four titled “On the Rise”. The album became certified gold as did its successor “Just the Way You Like It” which featured the No. 6 R&B single of the same name. The tide began to turn for the S.O.S. Band with their sixth studio album “Sands of Time” which despite reaching No. 4 in the R&B chart was the last of a string of their distinctive house music releases that made popular the Roland TR-808 drum machine.
Mary Davis announced her departure from the band in 1987 to pursue a solo career, however the band continued-on a released the albums “Diamonds in the Raw” (1989) and “One of Many Night” (1991). In 1994 Davis reunited with Abdul Ra’oof and Jason Bryant in a new band in the hopes of recreating some of the same funky sounds.
My husband is a huge Morris Day fan. He song every song and was almost sharper than Morris. Let me just say everything was COOL!!! We enjoyed the seats, the atmosphere was so condusive to our time. I would love to see more of our generation bands. That was really COOl!!!
terrie-antoine-willi
‘People always talkin’ bout, Your reputation, I don’t care about your other girls, Just be good to me’…what a classic R&B disco track from the 80s. It’s a track that brings back a lot of nostalgia for me and I think everyone at the S.O.S Band’s concert. Although the band have been around since the late 70s, their performances today are still just as knock out as they were back in the day. Changing the line up of bands usually takes away the original spark and chemistry that they had, but for S.O.S, their alteration of artists seems to bring new life and energy to the group.
They came on stage and took their positions behind their respective instruments, and launched straight into High Hopes, before introducing themselves and having a chat with the audience. It was great to hear from them about what they’d been doing in recent years, and how their new track Just Get Ready came about. When they played it, they taught the crowd a small section of the chorus, and got us all to sing along which was cool. It was pretty special to be one of the first audiences to hear the track live.
They really hit the balance of new and old tracks, playing all the hits from their albums, and the number one singles which everyone was loving. The energy and stage presence they gave off was still incredible, and you could tell that they were loving every moment of their performance. Hopefully they’ll keep writing and performing, because there’s definitely still potential for great music to come.
yazhow
‘Soul finger, soul finger, hoo ha’… just one of many hits from the Bar-Kays, their first stint of success from the 60s until the 80s was a time of great success for the original band. But even after their hiatus and their reformation with various different band members, they have still got that smooth soul R&B sound that they were so famous for back in the day.
Something that you can guarantee from Bar-Kays, regardless of their point in history, is that they will give a high energy performance every time. They are so dedicated and invested in their music that it encourages the audience to dance and sing along with them too. The guys are in their late 60s, early 70s now but you wouldn’t know they were a day past 50. Jimmie’s voice was powerful as ever, granted he couldn’t hold onto the high notes as long as he used to, but apart from that they sounded just like their recordings.
It was fantastic to gain an insight to their tremendous journey over the years, and the snippets of stories they told the audience were really eye opening to the industry 40 years ago. They brought a fun, enthusiastic, and musically impressive show for us. If you’re into their music I would definitely recommend catching them live whilst you still have the chance.
yazhow
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