Milton Wright

Soul singer, songwriter and producer Milton Wright, Jr. – professionally known as Milton Wright – was born in Miami, Florida. The brother of soul legend Betty Wright, his career as a recording artist was brief and unsuccessful, although his releases have been reappraised over the years and they are now considered mid-1970s disco and soul classics. His first release was the 1968 single “The Gallop”, which was credited to Milton Wright and the Terra Shirma Strings. Seven years later, he released his next single, the funk and disco influenced “Keep It Up”, which became a dancefloor hit in Miami. The single was released on the Alston Records label, which was an offshoot of the legendary Miami-based label T.K. Disco. He released his debut album, Friends and Buddies, in 1975. The album was a minor hit in Miami but didn’t make much headway on the national charts. His second album, Spaced, was released in 1977 but was overlooked by the T.K. Disco label since they were focused on the massive success of Milton Wright’s labelmates KC & the Sunshine Band. Milton left the label behind and focused on a career outside of the music business. He served as a justice on the Boston Municipal court for several years (1998-2004) although he did not abandon his music career entirely. Known as ‘the Singing Judge’, he still performed live, occasionally recorded and wrote a musical based on the Bible’s Book of Job. His original albums became collector’s items since a lot of the original vinyl copies were destroyed in a warehouse fire. The albums Friends and Buddies and Spaced have since been reissued in several formats including alternate mixes and recordings of the original albums tracks.