Tavares (band)

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For other uses, see Tavares (disambiguation).

Tavares (also known as The Tavares Brothers) is a successful American R&B, disco, and soul music band, composed of five Cape Verdean-American brothers from New Bedford, Massachusetts.

Contents

[edit] Band members

[edit] Biography and Career

The Tavares brothers, whose parents were of Cape Verde descent, started performing in 1964 as Chubby and the Turnpikes when the youngest brother was 13 years old. By 1973 they signed with Capitol Records, scoring their first R&B Top 10 (Pop Top 40) hit with "Check it Out" that same year, and soon began charting regularly on the R&B and pop charts. Their first album included their brother Victor, who sang lead on "Check it Out", but dropped out of the group shortly after. In 1974 Tavares had a #1 R&B hit with Hall & Oates' "She's Gone" (which became a hit for Hall & Oates as well the following year). Tavares followed up that success with "Remember What I Told You To Forget."

1975 turned out to be their most successful year chart-wise, chalking up a Top 40 Pop album (In the City) and their biggest hit, the Top 10 Pop/#1 R&B smash "It Only Takes a Minute", which was later successfully covered by Jonathan King, Take That and recently sampled by Jennifer Lopez. This was followed by a string of hits: "Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel" (1976), "Don't Take Away the Music" (1976), and "Whodunit" (1977), among others.

Many of their hits, however, underplayed their R&B background and gave the group the image of being a disco act. This perception was reinforced by their appearance on the soundtrack to the film Saturday Night Fever in 1977. Tavares recorded the Bee Gees track "More Than a Woman," and their version reached the Pop Top 40 that year. The soundtrack became one of the most successful in history, giving Tavares their only Grammy.

Later albums, such as Madame Butterfly and Supercharged, strayed from the disco format and were less successful on the Pop chart (although they continued to have Top 10 R&B hits such as "Never Had a Love Like This Before" and the popular socio-political "Bad Times" written by British singer-songwriter Gerard McMahon). At the start of the 1980s, Tavares left Capitol Records, signing with RCA. They had one last major hit, the ballad "A Penny for Your Thoughts", in 1982, but subsequent releases failed to match this success.

In 1983, Ralph Tavares stepped down from the group, and Tiny left in the mid 1990s, but the other three brothers continue to tour. Butch Tavares is now a local producer residing in New Hampshire where he is happily married to his wife Elizabeth.

"It Only Takes a Minute" was later covered by British boy band Take That, becoming a Top 10 UK hit, and is featured in the soundtrack of Konami's dancing game Dance Dance Revolution 3rd Mix.

[edit] Chart singles

Month/Year Single US label U.S. R&B U.S. UK
Aug 1973 Check It Out Capitol 5 35 -
Jan 1974 That’s The Sound That Lonely Makes Capitol 10 70 -
May 1974 Too Late Capitol 10 59 -
Sept 1974 She’s Gone Capitol 1 50 -
Jan 1975 Remember What I Told You To Forget Capitol 4 25 -
July 1975 It Only Takes a Minute Capitol 1 10 -
Nov 1975 Free Ride Capitol 8 52 -
Feb 1976 The Love I Never Had Capitol 11 - -
May 1976 Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel Capitol 3 15 4
Oct 1976 Don’t Take Away The Music Capitol 14 34 4
Feb 1977 Mighty Power Of Love Capitol - - 25
Mar 1977 Whodunit Capitol 1 22 5
July 1977 Goodnight My Love Capitol 14 - -
July 1977 One Step Away Capitol - - 16
Nov 1977 More Than A Woman Capitol 36 34 7
Feb 1978 The Ghost of Love Capitol 48 - 29
July 1978 Timber Capitol 94 - -
Aug 1978 Slow Train To Paradise Capitol - - 62
Nov 1978 Never Had A Love Like This Before Capitol 5 - -
May 1979 Straight From The Heart Capitol 77 - -
Dec 1979 Bad Times Capitol 10 47 -
Apr 1980 I Can’t Go On Living Without You Capitol 42 - -
Oct 1980 Love Uprising Capitol 17 - -
Feb 1981 Loneliness Capitol 64 - -
July 1981 Turn Out The Nightlight Capitol 45 - -
Oct 1981 Loveline Capitol 47 - -
Aug 1982 A Penny For Your Thoughts RCA 16 33 -
Feb 1983 Got To Find My Way Back To You RCA 24 - -
Sept 1983 Deeper In Love RCA 10 - -
Nov 1983 Words And Music RCA 29 - -
Feb 1986 Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel (Ben Liebrand remix) Capitol - - 12
Apr 1986 It Only Takes A Minute Capitol - - 46

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ The birth years set out here, included in most sources, do not tally with those stated in Frank Laufenberg Rock and Pop Day By Day, ISBN 0-7137-2319-X - as follows:- Ralph b.1945, Pooch b.1946, Chubby b.1947, Butch b.1948, Tiny b.1951

[edit] External links

[edit] See also