More recently, Calhoun and Pettis went back to the future, reforming the Kinsman Dazz Band along with a number of new members, and recording solid, enjoyable new soul and funk music songs. In the 21 st century, individual members continued to have their own projects (particularly Martin and Calhoun), while versions of the group toured sporadically in multi-artist funk shows. Find album reviews, songs, credits and award information for Greatest Hits by Dazz Band on AllMusic - 1986 - Whats not to like about the Dazz Bands highly. The group split for a period in the early 90s, but reunited for a couple albums on Intersound Records in 1997-8 (which barely charted) and independently released their last album, Time Traveller, in 2001. Despite switching from Motown to to Geffen and then to RCA, as well as attempting to move to more of a rock feel in their music, the Dazz Band never again achieved the level of success they hit during the peak years of 1982-85. It also began a half decade of chart strength, mostly consisting of upbeat hits that followed the template of "Let It Whip." "Joystick," "On the One for Fun" and "Let It All Blow" all hit the top ten and the accompanying albums were equally successful.īy 1986 the group's sound began to sound predictable and lose its appeal. But that all changed with 1982's Keep It Live, a funkier, club friendly album that included the uber-infectious dance hit "Let It Whip." That single instantly turned the group into stars, topping the R&B and Dance charts and winning for The Dazz Band a Grammy for Best R&B Performance. The Dazz Band's first two Motown albums didn't do much better than their earlier releases, hitting the middle of the R&B charts. In 1980 the group, then consisting of leader Bobby Harris, Mike Calhoun, Michael Wiley and his brother Isaac Wiley, singer/trumpeter Skip Martin, Eric Fearman, Ken Pettus, Kevin Frederick and Pierre DeMudd, shortened its name to The Dazz Band and signed with Motown Records. Their first two albums, on 20 th Century Fox Records, resulted in a couple minor hits and began to gather a small following for the group. The group failed to have another hit and quietly faded away.With a name derived from the 1977 hit song by Brick ("Dazz" or disco-jazz), Kinsman Dazz burst onto the scene in 1978 with their own brand of Ohio funk.
Soon after its release, the band switched to RCA. That year they had their final charting album, Wild and Free. The Dazz Band switched labels to Geffen in 1986. While they never reached those heights again, the Dazz Band had a string of six consecutive Top 100 albums that ran until 1986 during that time, they scored two other Top 100 singles, "Joystick" and "Let It All Blow." In 1985, Fearman and Frederick left the band they were replaced by Marlon McClain and Keith Harrison, respectively. "Let It Whip," taken from their second album Keep It Live (1982), reached number five and won a Grammy Award for Best Performance by an R&B Vocal Duo or Group. Once the group veered away from the more melodic, pop-oriented dance music that dominated their debut and started playing a tougher, more groove-oriented funk, the Dazz Band began racking up the hits. Invitation to Love, the band's first release for the record label, was released in 1980. After Calhoun left they changed their name to the Dazz Band in 1980 and signed to Motown. Under that name, the group had two small hits in the U.S.A. Harris and lead songwriter/guitarist Mike Calhoun's concept for the group was "danceable jazz" he shortened the description to "dazz" and called the group Kinsman Dazz. After myriad lineup changes, the end result was an eight-piece band featuring Harris, Skip Martin III, Pierre DeMudd on horns and vocals, guitarist Eric Fearman, bassist Michael Wiley, drummer Isaac Wiley, keyboardist Kevin Frederick, and percussionist Kenny Pettus. Bobby Harris formed the group in the late '70s, merging two Cleveland funk bands, Bell Telefunk and Mother Braintree. The Cleveland-based Dazz Band was one of the more popular funk groups of the early '80s.
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