Gary Byrd and the GB Experience was an

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male/female vocal/instrumental

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History

The group released a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

, "The Crown" on 23 July 1983 written by Gary Byrd and Stevie Wonder. According to Byrd, it was the only release on

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

's short-lived

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-based Wondirection

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(part of

Motown Records Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmant ...

) that celebrated African heritage in a motivational rap featuring both Byrd and Wonder. Due to lack of sufficient promotion, it only reached number 69 on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart. In the UK, it was released on the Motown label, entered the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

on 23 July 1983 at number 21, and rose to a high of number 6; it remained in the chart for 9 weeks. It also reached number 7 in the

Swiss Hitparade The Swiss Hitparade (german: link=no, Schweizer Hitparade) is Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland. The Swiss charts include: * Singles Top ...

, number 14 in the German

GfK Entertainment charts The GfK Entertainment charts are the official music charts in Germany and are gathered and published by GfK Entertainment (formerly Media Control and Media Control GfK International), a subsidiary of GfK, on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindust ...

and number 21 in the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...

. The 12" version of "The Crown" ran for 10 minutes 35 seconds, making it one of the longest tracks ever to chart in the UK. It was written by Gary Byrd and Stevie Wonder, and presented a wide-ranging historical narrative of human progress (beginning with the ancient Egyptians and continuing to the present day) with an emphasis on African heritage. It featured spoken/ rapped verses by Byrd, an American DJ, with one verse sung by Wonder and Crystal Blake. Byrd described the song at the time thus: "The idea is not that black, white or anyone is better, but that we all have our place. We've all made contributions - and mistakes too. Wearing the crown is reaching the top of your potential. You could be a writer or you could be a mechanic, but you can still wear the crown."

Gary Byrd

Gary Byrd Imhotep Gary Byrd (born March 14, 1949) is an American, New York City-based radio talk show host and executive producer, radio DJ, poet, songwriter, music recording artist and producer, rapper, writer and community advocate/activist. Byrd began h ...

(born 1954,

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

) also worked as a DJ in the UK and presented a gospel music programme on BBC Radio 1 called "Sweet Inspirations". He often played the more obscure gospel sounds from groups such as

Earth, Wind and Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (EW&F or EWF) is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, big band, Latin, and Afro pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million ...

of whom he was a big fan. It was broadcast on Sunday evenings (11 pm to midnight) in the early 1980s on MW and stereo FM using the BBC Radio 2 transmitters. Prior to this, Gary Byrd released the single "Every Brother Ain't A Brother", the album ''The Gary Byrd Experience'' and the single "Soul Travelin' (Inside the G.B.E.)" on RCA, whose intro was sampled by Soul to Soul on the song "Jazzie's Groove". He also collaborated with Wonder on the songs "Black Man", "Village Ghetto Land", "Dark and Lovely" and "Misrepresented People."

References

{{Reflist American pop music groups Motown artists