They still tour to this day in different incarnations.įormed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the original name was the Charlemagnes, but under the production of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff at Philadelphia International they became seminal hitmakers in the 1970s. Disco overshadowed The Stylistic’s previous sound and record sales slumped in the US, but the change in sound made them huge stars in the UK. When Thom Bell left in ’74, producer duties fell to the record label owners who brought in Van McCoy as arranger. 1971 – “You’re a Big Girl Now” (#7 on the charts), “Stop, Look, Listen” (#6 on the charts), “You Are Everything” (#10) 1972 – “Betcha By Golly Wow” (#2), “I’m Stone in Love with You” (#4), “People Make the World Go Round” (#6) 1973 – “Break Up to Make Up” (#5), “You’ll Never Get to Heaven”(#8), “Rock n Roll Baby” (#3) 1974 – “You Make Me Feel Brand New” (#5), Let’s Put it All Together” (#8) and “Heavy Fallin’ Out” (#4). (the group’s signature falsetto singer), Herb Murrell, Airrion Love, James Smith and James Dunn with producer Thom Bell accomplished a feat in music that remains unparalleled – 12 consecutive Top 10 R&B hits. Vierra (12/10/41), Arthur Paul (11/12/42), Antone Lee (6/2/44), Feliciano Vierra Jr (5/18/48) and Perry Lee (10/23/49), were originally called Chubby and the Turnpikes, but that named changed in 1973, the year the hits began.įormed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1968, from members of The Monarchs and The Percussions -The Stylistics, consisting of Russell Tompkins, Jr. The quintet of Cape Verdean descent, consisted of Ralph Edw. The 5 Tavares brothers bounced back and forth from Providence, Rhode island to New Bedford, Massachusetts, but in 1959 they stayed still long enough to form the group, Tavares. 2021 is the year The Chi Lites are scheduled to be honored with stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Their material burned in the 2008 Universal Studio fire. In 2004 Beyonce remade some of their hits.
In 1973 the group shattered but kept touring. Next was the million selling Gold record, “Have You Seen Her” and “Oh Girl” that went #1, sold a million and went gold. In 1968 they had the hit “Give it Away” on the Brunswick label. They were spawned from 4 high school friends from Chicago: Eugene Record, Marshall Thompson, Robert “Squirrel” Lester and Creadell Jones (Bass). They also had hits in Australia, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada. From 1969-1974, The Chi-Lites scotred 11 Top Ten R&B hits.