https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/4235844/ralph-tavares-dead-heaven-missing-angel/

Obit/Wikipedia says he waa 79. Joel Whitburn's "Top Pop Singles, 1955-2015," under its entry for "Tavares," says that he was one day shy of 79 giving his birthday as 12/10/1942

So far I've bddn unable to determine how much Ralph sang lead for Tavares, although I gather it wasn't often, if ever.

What I CAN attest to is that, during my tenure as a disco DJ--in Boston. St.. Louis and then Houston clubs 1976-1980--few tunes got the platform-heeled crowds boogiein' on the dance floor like "Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel" would, all but instantly. Even though Tavares was out of Providence, they smartly emulated the so-called Philadelphia Sound, a considerablely silkier grade of dance tunes than Motown* mostly generated--and thusly to my mind (and ears) way more [leisure-?]suited to the disco milieu.

Oh, and who can't love "Whodunit?"--what with its name-checks of, among other noted fictive sleuths, Columbo, Kojak and oh that plaintive, "...tell Dirty Harry! We s'pposed to be married!"

BRYAN STYBLE/Florida
-------------------------------------
* An utterly-fantastic fellow vocal group also employing The Philadelphia Sound was The Spinners, who were out of (suburban) Motown but not ON Motown, but rather the Atlantic Records label.

Uh...that "bddn" [in lieu of "been"] was the result of knuckled-headed proofreading (and ancient eyes), not some "Let's Go Brandon!"-style subtle swipe at our unfortunately-addled President.

STYBLE/Florida

radioacti...@gmail.com <radioactiveseattle@gmail.com> wrote:
> So far I've bddn unable to determine how much Ralph sang lead for Tavares, although I gather it wasn't often, if ever.
>
> What I CAN attest to is that, during my tenure as a disco DJ--in Boston. St. Louis and then Houston clubs 1976-1980--few tunes got the platform-heeled crowds boogiein' on the dance floor like "Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel" would, all but instantly. Even though Tavares was out of Providence, they smartly emulated the so-called Philadelphia Sound, a considerablely silkier grade of dance tunes than Motown* mostly generated--and thusly to my mind (and ears) way more [leisure-?]suited to the disco milieu.
>
> Oh, and who can't love "Whodunit?"--what with its name-checks of, among other noted fictive sleuths, Columbo, Kojak and oh that plaintive, "...tell Dirty Harry! We s'pposed to be married!"
>
> BRYAN STYBLE/Florida
> -------------------------------------
> * An utterly-fantastic fellow vocal group also employing The Philadelphia Sound
> was The Spinners, who were out of (suburban) Motown but not ON Motown, but
> rather the Atlantic Records label.

As distinct from the other Spinners from Liverpool,who started performing
in the 1950s but are best known to me for a song they actually got from
Pete Seeger.
https://youtu.be/wIDKOmyFSx8

-=-=-
The World Trade Center towers MUST rise again,
at least as tall as before...or terror has triumphed.

On 12/13/2021 1:56 PM, Louis Epstein wrote:
> radioacti...@gmail.com <radioactiveseattle@gmail.com> wrote:
>> So far I've bddn unable to determine how much Ralph sang lead for Tavares, although I gather it wasn't
>> often, if ever.
>>
>> What I CAN attest to is that, during my tenure as a disco DJ--in Boston. St. Louis and then Houston clubs
>> 1976-1980--few tunes got the platform-heeled crowds boogiein' on the dance floor like "Heaven Must Be
>> Missing an Angel" would, all but instantly. Even though Tavares was out of Providence, they smartly
>> emulated the so-called Philadelphia Sound, a considerablely silkier grade of dance tunes than Motown*
>> mostly generated--and thusly to my mind (and ears) way more [leisure-?]suited to the disco milieu.
>>
>> Oh, and who can't love "Whodunit?"--what with its name-checks of, among other noted fictive sleuths,
>> Columbo, Kojak and oh that plaintive, "...tell Dirty Harry! We s'pposed to be married!"
>>
>> BRYAN STYBLE/Florida
>> -------------------------------------
>> * An utterly-fantastic fellow vocal group also employing The Philadelphia Sound
>> was The Spinners, who were out of (suburban) Motown but not ON Motown, but
>> rather the Atlantic Records label.
>
> As distinct from the other Spinners from Liverpool,who started performing
> in the 1950s but are best known to me for a song they actually got from
> Pete Seeger.
> https://youtu.be/wIDKOmyFSx8

And the reason why, in England and elsewhere
in Europe, the American group always had to be
billed (to this day) as The Detroit Spinners,
while the Liverpool group was virtually unknown
on this side of the pond.

David Samuel Barr <dsbarr@mindspring.com> wrote:
> On 12/13/2021 1:56 PM, Louis Epstein wrote:
>> radioacti...@gmail.com <radioactiveseattle@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> So far I've bddn unable to determine how much Ralph sang lead for Tavares, although I gather it wasn't
>>> often, if ever.
>>>
>>> What I CAN attest to is that, during my tenure as a disco DJ--in Boston. St. Louis and then Houston clubs
>>> 1976-1980--few tunes got the platform-heeled crowds boogiein' on the dance floor like "Heaven Must Be
>>> Missing an Angel" would, all but instantly. Even though Tavares was out of Providence, they smartly
>>> emulated the so-called Philadelphia Sound, a considerablely silkier grade of dance tunes than Motown*
>>> mostly generated--and thusly to my mind (and ears) way more [leisure-?]suited to the disco milieu.
>>>
>>> Oh, and who can't love "Whodunit?"--what with its name-checks of, among other noted fictive sleuths,
>>> Columbo, Kojak and oh that plaintive, "...tell Dirty Harry! We s'pposed to be married!"
>>>
>>> BRYAN STYBLE/Florida
>>> -------------------------------------
>>> * An utterly-fantastic fellow vocal group also employing The Philadelphia Sound
>>> was The Spinners, who were out of (suburban) Motown but not ON Motown, but
>>> rather the Atlantic Records label.
>>
>> As distinct from the other Spinners from Liverpool,who started performing
>> in the 1950s but are best known to me for a song they actually got from
>> Pete Seeger.
>> https://youtu.be/wIDKOmyFSx8
>
> And the reason why, in England and elsewhere
> in Europe, the American group always had to be
> billed (to this day) as The Detroit Spinners,
> while the Liverpool group was virtually unknown
> on this side of the pond.

I became aware of the Liverpool group from an American television
show (1970s,I think,they played the song I linked) while I had not
heard of the Detroit namesakes until years later.

-=-=-
The World Trade Center towers MUST rise again,
at least as tall as before...or terror has triumphed.

On 12/13/2021 9:35 PM, Louis Epstein wrote:
> David Samuel Barr <dsbarr@mindspring.com> wrote:
>> On 12/13/2021 1:56 PM, Louis Epstein wrote:
>>> radioacti...@gmail.com <radioactiveseattle@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> So far I've bddn unable to determine how much Ralph sang lead for Tavares, although I gather it wasn't
>>>> often, if ever.
>>>>
>>>> What I CAN attest to is that, during my tenure as a disco DJ--in Boston. St. Louis and then Houston clubs
>>>> 1976-1980--few tunes got the platform-heeled crowds boogiein' on the dance floor like "Heaven Must Be
>>>> Missing an Angel" would, all but instantly. Even though Tavares was out of Providence, they smartly
>>>> emulated the so-called Philadelphia Sound, a considerablely silkier grade of dance tunes than Motown*
>>>> mostly generated--and thusly to my mind (and ears) way more [leisure-?]suited to the disco milieu.
>>>>
>>>> Oh, and who can't love "Whodunit?"--what with its name-checks of, among other noted fictive sleuths,
>>>> Columbo, Kojak and oh that plaintive, "...tell Dirty Harry! We s'pposed to be married!"
>>>>
>>>> BRYAN STYBLE/Florida
>>>> -------------------------------------
>>>> * An utterly-fantastic fellow vocal group also employing The Philadelphia Sound
>>>> was The Spinners, who were out of (suburban) Motown but not ON Motown, but
>>>> rather the Atlantic Records label.
>>>
>>> As distinct from the other Spinners from Liverpool,who started performing
>>> in the 1950s but are best known to me for a song they actually got from
>>> Pete Seeger.
>>> https://youtu.be/wIDKOmyFSx8
>>
>> And the reason why, in England and elsewhere
>> in Europe, the American group always had to be
>> billed (to this day) as The Detroit Spinners,
>> while the Liverpool group was virtually unknown
>> on this side of the pond.
>
> I became aware of the Liverpool group from an American television
> show (1970s,I think,they played the song I linked) while I had not
> heard of the Detroit namesakes until years later.

Formed in 1954, the Ferndale, MI
group had their first modest hit in
1961 and during the '60s had several
others on Tri-Phi, Motown and V.I.P.
(a Motown imprint), but once they
moved to Atlantic in 1972 they
exploded onto the charts with "I'll
Be Around" and then had a constant
string of hits through the '70s
including "Could It Be I'm Falling
in Love", "One of a Kind (Love Affair)",
"I'm Coming Home", "Mighty Love",
"Then Came You", "They Just Can't
Stop It (The Games People Play)" and
"Rubberband Man". In 1979-80 they
recorded two medleys which paired a
remake of someone else's '60s hit
with a second song written by disco
producer Michael Zager--"Working My
Way Back to You/Forgive Me, Girl" and
"Cupid/I've Loved You For a Long
Time"--and were among their biggest
hits, but a third such effort in 1981
stalled out and after that they placed
only a few records near the bottom of
the charts through 1984. Nonetheless,
they remain high in the pantheon of
classic soul groups and have continued
to tour to this day, though now with
only one of the original members
remaining. They released their first
album in decades just this past August.

The Liverpool Spinners (who initially
used that name before dropping the
city designation early on) were active
from 1957 to 1988 and recorded over 40
albums, mostly in the '60s (for Philips)
and '70s (for EMI). They were successful
in England but largely unknown in America,
as their folk and folk-imitative music
was not the substance of pop hits but
of interest only to aficionados thereof
here.

On Mon, 13 Dec 2021 21:03:40 -0500, David Samuel Barr
<dsbarr@mindspring.com> wrote:

>And the reason why, in England and elsewhere
>in Europe, the American group always had to be
>billed (to this day) as The Detroit Spinners,
>while the Liverpool group was virtually unknown
>on this side of the pond.

<https://cassavafilms.com/list-of-9/nine-british-bands-that-had-to-change-their-names-for-the-us-audience>
<https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/bands-with-different-names-in-different-countries.989533/>