Shalamar

Shalamar were originally the brainchild of Nashville producer and promoter Dick Griffey - booking agent for the likes of Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder and James Brown - who formed them as a dance troupe for the TV variety show Soul Train. Initially using session singers, producer Don Cornelius developed them into a real group, with the regular vocal line-up of Jody Watley, Howard Hewett and Jeffrey Daniel. They had a million-seller in 1979 with The Second Time Around, which launched a string of hits with I Owe You One, I Can Make You Feel Good, A Night To Remember, There It Is and Friends - title track of their 1982 hit album. Their popularity rocketed in the UK when Jeffrey Daniel demonstrated his amazing "body-popping" dancing on TV show Top Of The Pops when he also demonstrated the moonwalk, which later became a staple in the act of one of their biggest fans, Michael Jackson. More hits followed from the 1983 album The Look, but internal disputes prompted the departure of both Watley and Daniel, while Hewett quit to launch a solo career in 1985. The group continued with other members but split in 1991. Hewett and Daniel re-launched Shalamar in 2005 with Carolyn Griffey (daughter of Shalamar founder Dick Griffey) for the UK TV series Hit Me Baby One More Time, after which they returned to live appearances.