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The Manhattans were one of those classic R&B vocal groups who manage to achieve incredible career longevity by adapting their style to fit changing times. Formed in the '60s as a doo wop-influenced R&B quintet, the Manhattans reinvented themselves as sweet smooth soul balladeers during the '70s. In doing so, they somehow overcame the death of lead singer George Smith, and with new frontman Gerald Alston became more popular than they'd ever been, landing an across-the-board number one hit in 1976 with "Kiss and Say Goodbye." Under the leadership of Winfred "Blue" Lovett (who also composed some of the group's biggest hits), the Manhattans survived as a viable chart act well into the '80s, over two decades after their formation.
The Manhattans got together not in their namesake location, but in nearby Jersey City, NJ, in 1962. The group was centered around lead singer George "Smitty" Smith and bass (and sometime lead) vocalist Winfred "Blue" Lovett; the other original members were Kenny Kelley, Richard Taylor, and Edward "Sonny" Bivins, the latter of whom sometimes co-wrote material with accomplished songwriter Lovett. In 1964, the Manhattans signed with the Newark-based Carnival label and teamed up with producer Joe Evans; they scored their first hit in early 1965 with "I Wanna Be (Your Everything)," a number 12 R&B hit that established their way with a ballad right from the beginning. It was the first of eight singles for Carnival, a string that continued up through 1967. None were huge hits, but nearly all of them reached the Top 30 on the R&B charts, and are still prized by collectors of vocal-group soul for their aching harmonies, Smith's intense leads, and lack of concession to mainstream pop audiences.
In 1969, the Manhattans signed on with DeLuxe and issued several singles over the course of 1970. Unfortunately, Smith fell ill that year, and the group hired Phil Terrell as a temporary fill-in. Sadly, Smith passed away in 1971; he was replaced on lead vocals by Gerald Alston, who brought a smoother, more pop-friendly sound to the group. That quality soon became apparent when the Lovett-penned "One Life to Live" zoomed into the R&B Top Five in late 1972, giving the Manhattans their first major hit. The following year, they left DeLuxe for Columbia, where their debut single, "There's No Me Without You" (written by Sonny Bivins), equaled the R&B chart peak of "One Life to Live" by reaching number three. Initially working with producer Bobby Martin, the Manhattans' records now fell into line with the sweet, string-laden sound of contemporary '70s soul. The Manhattans hit the R&B Top Ten again in 1974 with "Don't Take Your Love" and 1975 with "Hurt," but their biggest success was still to come.
In early 1975, the Manhattans had recorded a Blue Lovett composition called "Kiss and Say Goodbye," which was released as a single almost a full year later. It became the second platinum single in history (after Johnnie Taylor's "Disco Lady") and their first number one hit in the spring of 1976, not just on the R&B charts, but the pop side as well � a remarkable feat, considering that they'd never had a single peak higher than number 37 on that survey. While it proved difficult to match the crossover success of "Kiss and Say Goodbye," the Manhattans reeled off a string of Top Ten R&B hits � "I Kinda Miss You," "It Feels So Good to Be Loved So Bad," "We Never Danced to a Love Song," and "Am I Losing You" � that lasted into early 1978 and made them staples on the newly emerging quiet storm radio format. Their momentum slowed over the next couple of years, but they came back strong in 1980 with "Shining Star" � not a cover of the Earth, Wind & Fire hit, but a co-write by their new producer Leo Graham. "Shining Star" reached the Top Five on both the pop and R&B charts, went gold, and won a Grammy � overall, not a bad haul.
The Manhattans' last major hit came with 1983's "Crazy," which put them in the R&B Top Five for the final time; they bade farewell to the Top 40 in 1985 with a cover of Sam Cooke's "You Send Me." That year Richard Taylor left the group, which carried on as a quartet for a few years; Taylor passed away in December 1987. Gerald Alston signed with Motown as a solo artist in 1988, upon which point the group finally parted ways with Columbia and recorded an album for the small Valley Vue label before disbanding. Alston and Lovett reunited in 1993; with new members Troy May and David Tyson, they toured regularly into the new millennium, with the occasional recording appearing on a small label.
Steve Huey -- All Music Guide
01. Can I 02. Follow Your Heart 03. Searching For My Baby 04. Baby I'm Sorry 05. I Wanna Be (your everything) |
06. Baby I Need You 07. Call Somebody Please 08. Sweet Little Girl 09. I Betcha (couldn't love me) 10. Teach Me (the philly dog) |
01. Searching For Love 02. We'll Have Forever To Love 03. Take It Or Leave It 04. Reasons 05. How Can Anything So Good Be So Bad For You |
06. Hurt 07. Wonderful World Of Love 08. If You're Ever Gonna Love Me 09. La-La-La Wish Upon A Star 10. Kiss And Say Goodbye |
01. I Kinda Miss You 02. Up On The Street (where I live) 03. Let's Start All Over Again 04. It's You 05. I'll See You Tomorrow |
06. It Feels So Good To Be Loved So Bad 07. I Just Can't Stay This Way 08. We Never Danced To A Love Song 09. Mind Your Business 10. Too Much For Me To Bear |
01. There's No Good In Goodbye 02. Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye 03. Tomorrow 04. Share My Life 05. Am I Losing You |
06. Happiness 07. You're My Life 08. Goodbye Is The Saddest Word 09. Movin' 10. Everybody Has A Dream |
01. After You 02. Love Talk 03. Right Feeling At The Wrong 04. Devil In The Dark 05. Here Comes The Hurt Again 06. I Just Wanna Be The One |
07. New York City 08. That's Not Part Of The Show 09. The Way We Were 10. Memories 11. We Tried |
01. Shining Star 02. It's Not The Same 03. Girl Of My Dreams 04. Cloudy, With A Chance Of Tears 05. The Closer You Are |
06. If My Heart Could Speak/One Life To Live 07. Just As Long As I Have You 08. It Couldn't Hurt 09. Tired Of The Single Life 10. I'll Never Run Away From Love Again |
01. I'll Never Find Another (like you) 02. Shining Star 03. Kiss And Say Goodbye 04. Hurt 05. There's No Me Without You |
06. Did You Really Mean Goodbye 07. We Never Danced To A Love song 08. It Feels So Good To Be Loved So Bad 09. I Kinda Miss You 10. Don't Take Your Love |
01. Just One Moment Away 02. You Stand Out 03. Let Your Love Come Down 04. Honey, Honey 05. When You See Me Laughing |
06. I Wanta Thank You 07. Deep Water 08. Just Can't Seem To Get Next To You 09. I Was Made For You 10. When I Leave Tomorrow |
01. Crazy 02. Start Off Over Again 03. Forever By Your Side 04. Just The Lonely Talking Again |
05. Locked Up In Your Love 06. Lover's Paradise 07. Love Is Gonna Find You 08. I'm Ready To Love You Again |
01. Change Of Heart 02. Where Did We Go Wrong? 03. All I Need 04. I'm Through Trying To Prove My Love To You 05. Mr. D. J. |
06. Back In The Night 07. Just Like You 08. Maybe Tomorrow 09. Don't Look In My Eyes 10. Neither One Of Us |
01. Sweet Talk 02. No One But You 03. Don't Let Go 04. This Love Is Real 05. Hot Like An Oven |
06. Why You Wanna Love Me Like That 07. I Won't Stop 08. Lady I've Been Waiting For 09. Try Love Again 10. Just A Matter Of Time |
01. Shining Star 02. Wish That You Were Mine 03. Don't Take Your Love 04. Kiss And Say Goodbye 05. Just The Lonely Talking Again |
06. Crazy 07. I Kinda Miss You 08. It Feels So Good To Be Loved So Bad 09. Am I Losing You 10. You'd Better Believe It |
01. One Life To Live 02. Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye 03. Don't Say No 04. The Way We Were/Memories 05. Fever |
06. A Change Is Gonna Come 07. I'm Through Trying To Prove My Love To You 08. Just The Lonely Talking Again 09. There's No Me Without You 10. Where Did We Go Wrong |
01. Kiss And Say Goodbye 02. Don't Take Your Love 03. There's No Me Without You 04. Wish That You Were Mine 05. The Day The Robin Sang To Me 06. That's How Much I Love You 07. Hurt 08. La-La-La Wish Upon A Star 09. It Feels So Good To Be Loved So Bad 10. Am I Loving You |
11. Everybody Has A Dream 12. I Kinda Miss You 13. Shining Star 14. I'll Never Find Another(like you) 15. Just One Moment Away 16. I Was Made For You 17. Just The Lonely Talking Again 18. You Send Me 19. Goodbye Is The Saddest Word |
01. There's No Me Without You 02. Wish That You Were Mine 03. Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye 04. Don't Say No 05. Shining Star |
06. Kiss And Say Goodbye 07. Neither One Of Us 08. Don't Take Your Love 09. Just the Lonely Talking Again 10. Where Did We Go Wrong |
01. Good Enough 02. I'll Never Find Another 03. We Never Danced To A Love Song 04. It Feels So Good To Be Loved So Bad 05. There's No Good In Goodbye 06. Am I Losing You 07. Sara Smile 06. I Kinda Miss You 09. Tomorrow 10. Slow Motion 11. Send For Me 12. Wish That You Were Mine |
13. Hurt 14. Crazy 15. There's No Me Without You 16. When We Are Made As One 17. Heaven 18. One Life To Live 19. Don't Take Your Love 20. Love Don't Love Nobody 21. End Of The Road 22. Shining Star 23. Kiss And Say Goodbye |
01. Shining Star 02. Kiss And Say Goodbye 03. It Feels So Good To Be Loved So Bad 04. Wish That You Were Mine 05. Girl Of My Dreams 06. Cloudy, With A Chance Of Tears 07. I'll Never Find Another |
08. Just One Moment Away 09. A Million To One 10. We Never Danced To A Love Song 11. Am I Losing You 12. The Way We Were/Memories 13. You're My Life |
01. Love Me Right 02. Turn Out The Stars 03. Nites Like This 04. Even Now 05. Everyday People 06. Let's Try Love |
07. Any Other Way 08. How Much More 09. I Got It Right 10. Lover's Lullaby 11. Can You Take It |
01. Good Enough 02. I'll Never Find Another 03. We Never Danced To A Love Song 04. It Feels So Good To Be Loved So Bad 05. There's No Good In Goodbye 06. Am I Losing You 07. Sara Smile 06. I Kinda Miss You 09. Tomorrow 10. Slow Motion 11. Send For Me 12. Wish That You Were Mine |
13. Hurt 14. Crazy 15. There's No Me Without You 16. When We Are Made As One 17. Heaven 18. One Life To Live 19. Don't Take Your Love 20. Love Don't Love Nobody 21. End Of The Road 22. Shining Star 23. Kiss And Say Goodbye |
01. Kiss And Say Goodbye 02. C'est la Vie 03. Cloudy, With A Chance Of Tears 04. Do You Really Mean Goodbye 05. Shining Star |
06. The Way We Were/Memories 07. La-La-La Wish Upon A star 08. There's No Me Without You 09. We Never Danced To A Love Song 10. A Change Is Gonna Come |
01. Shining Star 02. Wish That You Were Mine 03. Don't Take Your Love 04. Kiss And Say Goodbye 05. Just The Lonely Talking Again |
06. Crazy 07. I Kinda Miss You 08. It Feels To Good To Be Loved So Bad 09. Am I Losing You 10. You'd Better Believe It |
01. Men Cry Too 02. Turn Out The Stars 03. Lover's Lullaby 04. Even Now 05. Any Other Way 06. I Got It Right 07. Nites Like This 08. Shorty(R&B version |
09. How Much More 10. Can You Take It 11. Let's Try Love 12. Everyday People 13. Love Me Right 14. Shorty(reggae version) 15. Shorty(house mix) |