About Great Voices Of Soul
The organisers of Great Voices of Soul have put together an award winning line-up of some of the most innovative Soul artist that helped to shape the music as we know it today. They will all be appearing at the world renowned SSE Arena in Wembley on Sunday 15th November 2015
Artists appearing:
Patti Labelle (the Godmother of Soul),
The Whispers (recently inducted in the Soul Hall of Fame)
SOS Band (One of the greatest R&B Collectives from the 80s)
Gwen Dickie (Former lead vocal of Rose Royce Band)
Mali’sa Morgan
Soul II Soul ft Jazzy B and Caron Wheeler
Loose Ends ft Carl McIntosh
Patti LaBelle
She’s sold over 50 million albums, is a multi-Grammy award winner and has been in the music industry for over 5 decades.
Pattie LaBelle has received scores of accolades. She’s been known, among other things, as the "Godmother of Soul", the "High Priestess of Good Vibrations", and the "Queen of Rock 'n' Soul.
LaBelle spent 16 years as lead singer of Pattie LaBell and the Bluebelles before going it alone, continuing her success, spawning several No. 1 hits including “If Only You Knew”, “On my Own”, duet with Michael McDonald. It was as a solo artist that she also received her first Grammy awards for her album “Burnin” followed by her second for her Live! One Night Only CD.
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The Whispers are an American group from Los Angeles, California, with a consistent track record of hit records dating back to the late 1960s.
Although they are one of the world’s longest-running soul vocals groups, having had 33 top ten hits over three decades, and over twenty Billboard charted albums, they are known mainly in the UK for their two early 80s big hits, “And the Beat Goes On” and “It’s a Love Thing”.
The Whispers who with their tuxedos, bat-like bowties and bright pink waistcoats, the group clearly oozes a certain sophistication.
They were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2003, and were winners of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation’s prestigious Pioneer Award in 2008. They were also inducted into The Soul Music Hall Of Fame at SoulMusic.com in December 2012
More recently, The Whispers was inducted into The Official R&B Music Hall of Fame. The group still performs around the world to thousands of loyal fans.
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The S.O.S Band (with S.O.S. standing for ‘Sounds of Success’) was formed in 1977 in Atlanta, USA.
One of the hottest R&B collectives of the 80s, The S.O.S. Band exploded on to the music scene in 1980 with their first hit single, ‘Take Your Time (Do it Right)’, written and produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, selling over 2 million copies.
Their debut LP, ‘SOS’, went gold, selling over 800,000 copies and holding the number two R&B spot for three weeks. The band went on to produce a number of hits including ‘Just Be Good to Me’, ‘Tell Me if You Still Care’, and ‘The Finest’, along with several gold albums in the R&B charts
In 1987, vocalist Mary Davis left the SOS Band to pursue a solo career, returning in 1994. The band recorded two more albums, Diamonds in the Raw (number 43 R&B in fall 1989) produced by Eban Kelly and Jimi Randolph and One of Many Nights produced by Curtis Williams.
The group continues to tour and perform to this day.
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Soul II Soul
Double Grammy Award winners Soul II Soul formed in London in 1988. They’ve been nominated for 5 Brit Awards ��" twice for Best British Group.
They are however best known for their 1989 UK chart-topper and US Top 5 hit, “Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)”), which topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks, and was the fifth best-selling single in the UK that year. Both tracks, featured Caron Wheeler on vocals, and are arguably their most enduring tracks.
Founded by Jazzy B Soul II Soul is renowned for featuring a changing roster of other musicians ��" notably Caron Wheeler, Nellee Hooper, and Simon Law.
In 1990, Soul II Soul got three US Soul Train awards
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Meli’sa Morgan
She may not be a household name in the UK but Meli'sa Morgan, began her career in the music industry, like so many of her contempories, - in the church.
Before going solo in 1985, she paid her dues as a back up singer, with legends like Whitney Houston and Chaka Khan both onstage as well as in the studios.
Her solo career got off to a great start in 1985, as her cover of Prince's "Do Me Baby" topped the US R&B charts. She recorded for Capitol Records from 1985 to 1987, and enjoyed two more Top Ten R&B singles with "Do You Still Love Me?" and "If You Can Do It: I Can Too!" before moving to Arista. Her duet with Kashif, "Love Changes," earned her another R&B hit that year, reaching number two.
After a spell away from the music in the 90s, Morgan signed with Orpheus Records in 2005 and released a new disc, ‘I Remember’. It won Female Vocalist of the Year in the SoulTracks Readers Choice Awards.
Meli'sa Morgan continues to tour in multi-artist shows, particularly on the East Coast of the US. In 2013, she teamed up with Saxman Najee on the hit song “In the Mood to Take it Slow”.
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Loose Ends is one of the top British dance and urban contemporary trios in the early '80s, Loose Ends were formed in London, by Carl McIntosh, Jane Eugene and Steve Nichol.
Their single "Hanging on a String (Contemplating)" topped the R&B charts in 1985. It also reached No.1 on the US Billboard R&B making Loose Ends the first British band ever to top that chart. They repeated that achievement in 1986 with ‘Slow Down’. Their last hit was “Watching You” in 1988, which reached number two on the Billboard R&B chart.
The group's lineup changed in 1990 and “Look How Long” turned out to be the final studio album released under the Loose Ends name, featuring the single, “Don't Be A Fool” which was their final hit.
McIntosh went on to work behind the recording desk and has since produced several artists' work, most notably that of Caron Wheeler.
All three members of the original band, reunited in Los Angeles and Atlanta in 2006.
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Gwen Dickey gained fame as the lead singer of 70s disco group, Rose Royce.
The soul and R&B singer was originally discovered by the band Undisputed Truth in Miami, Florida where she was singing with a local group called the Jewels and was later chosen by legendary Motown producer and songwriter Norman Whitfield to be the Rose Royce lead singer.
In 1976 Rose Royce had, arguably its biggest most enduring hit ‘Car Wash’ which went to No. 1. The group scored additional substantial R&B chart hits with such songs as ‘I Wanna Get Next to You’, ‘I'm Going Down’, ‘Do Your Dance’, ‘Ooh Boy’, ‘I'm in Love (And I Love the Feeling)’, and ‘Wishing on a Star’ throughout the late 70s.
In 1980 Gwen left Rose Royce to pursue a solo career. In 1998 she sang a duet with international rap star Jay-Z on a cover of Rose Royce's "Wishing on a Star" peaking at No. 13 on the UK charts the first week it was released as a single. Since then, Gwen has gone on to perform with some of the biggest names in the industry such as James Brown and Meatloaf, and has performed at festivals throughout the Europe including the legendary Glastonbury music festival in 2004.
Today, Gwen continues to tour all over Europe with her band Gwen Dickey's Rose Royce.
