Shalmar 'This Is For The Lover In You'

Shalamar l m r is an American R B and soul music vocal group active in the mid-1970s and throughout the 1980s that was originally a disco-driven vehicle created by Soul Train booking agent Dick Griffey and show creator and producer Don Cornelius They went on to be an influential dance trio masterminded by Cornelius As noted in the British Hit Singles Albums they were regarded as fashion icons and trendsetters and helped to introduce body-popping to the United Kingdom Their collective name Shalamar was picked by Griffey Career Their first hit was Uptown Festival 1977 released on Soul Train Records Its success inspired Griffey and Don Cornelius to replace session singers with popular Soul Train dancers Jody Watley and Jeffrey Daniel to join original Shalamar lead singer Gary Mumford Gerald Brown took over the spot vacated by Mumford for the group's second album Disco Gardens 1978 which featured the hit Take That To The Bank After conflicts over lack of payment from Griffey and SOLAR short for Sound of Los Angeles Records Brown left the group Howard Hewett replaced Brown in 1979 The group was joined up with producer Leon Sylvers III in 1979 signed with SOLAR and scored a US million seller with The Second Time Around 1979 In the UK the group had a string of hits with songs such as Take That To The Bank 1978 I Owe You One 1980 and songs from the Friends 1982 album I Can Make You Feel Good 1982 A Night To Remember There It Is and the title track Friends The album which crossed the genres of pop disco and soul was also a big seller in the UK in 1982 The band's record sales in the UK increased when Daniel demonstrated his body-popping dancing skills on BBC Television's music programme Top of the Pops which had premiered the Moonwalk on television for the first time Michael Jackson was a fan of Shalamar's in particular Daniel and his dance moves after watching him on Soul Train citation needed Jackson and Daniel met afterward and Jackson took his then 12-year-old sister Janet to see Shalamar perform at Disneyland Daniel and Jackson co-choreographed Jackson's Bad and Smooth Criminal videos from the album Bad 1987 The classic lineup of Shalamar Hewett Watley and Daniel scored a total of three gold albums in the US with Big Fun 1979 Three for Love 1980 - which eventually went platinum - and Friends 1982 The group took a knock when Watley and Daniel separately left the band over conflicts within the group and other issues with Dick Griffey and SOLAR Adding to Watley's impetus to depart was her increasing frustration with Griffey and SOLAR shortly after the release of their next album The Look 1983 Nonetheless the album yielded a number of UK hit singles including Disappearing Act Dead Giveaway and Over and Over The album itself moved Shalamar into a more new wave synthpop direction with rock guitars to the fore But The Look generally was not the success that Friends had been the previous year With a mid 1980s line-up change adding Micki Free and Delisa Davis Shalamar returned to the US Top 20 in 1984 with Dancing in the Sheets 1984 from the Footloose soundtrack The song peaked at 17 and the group won a Grammy for Don't Get Stopped In Beverly Hills from Beverly Hills Cop 1984 in 1984 In 1985 Kool the Gang Midnight Star Shalamar and Klymaxx performed at the Marriott Convention Center in Oklahoma City That year Hewett departed to begin his solo career and was replaced by Sydney Justin Following Hewett's departure the band began to lose popularity Circumstantial Evidence 1987 did not sell well and the band broke up shortly after Wake Up 1990 was released

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