Shirley & Company was an American
disco
Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...
group
A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together.
Groups of people
* Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity
* Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...
, consisting of
Shirley Goodman
Shirley Mae Goodman (June 19, 1936 – July 5, 2005) was an American R&B singer, best known as one half of Shirley and Lee, a 1950s duo. Later in her career, she had a resurgence with the disco hit " Shame, Shame, Shame" in the 1970s. Career ...
(1936–2005),
Jason Alvarez (now a pastor), Walter Morris, Bernadette Randle, Seldon Powell, Jonathan Williams, Kenny Jeremiah, and Clarence Oliver.
They topped the
U.S. Dance chart
A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...
in 1975 with "
Shame, Shame, Shame" (
U.S. Pop #12), and did extremely well in Europe: the song reached #6 in 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 ...
and #1 in Austria, Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands. The follow-up, "Cry Cry Cry", made it to #91 on the Hot 100 later that year.
History
"Shame, Shame, Shame" was written and produced by
Sylvia Robinson
Sylvia Robinson (née Vanderpool; May 29, 1935 – September 29, 2011) was an American singer, record producer, and record label executive. Robinson achieved success as a performer on two R&B chart toppers: as half of Mickey & Sylvia with ...
, who was a co-owner of the All Platinum record label. It was intended for All Platinum artist Donnie Elbert. It was Robinson who paired veteran blues vocalist Shirley Goodman with All Platinum artist Jesus Alvarez. The track, with its prominent use of the
Bo Diddley beat
The Bo Diddley beat is a syncopated musical rhythm that is widely used in rock and roll and pop music. The beat is named after rhythm and blues musician Bo Diddley, who introduced and popularized the beat with his self-titled debut single, "Bo D ...
, was one of the first international disco hits and reached number 12 on the Billboard charts. It also hit number one on the soul singles chart for one week. "Shame, Shame, Shame" also went number one on the disco/dance chart for four weeks. The full-length LP ''Shame, Shame, Shame'' was recorded subsequently and came out in 1975.
The lead singer Shirley Goodman, was one half of the duo Shirley and Lee who had a mega hit 18 years earlier, in 1956, writing and recording the song "Let The Good Times Roll" for
Aladdin Records
Aladdin Records was a record company and label founded in Los Angeles in 1945 by brothers Eddie and Leo Mesner. It was originally called Philo Records before changing its name in 1946.
Aladdin was known for jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock mus ...
. Jesus Alvarez changed his name to Jason Alvarez and became a pastor for the Love of Jesus Family Church.
He recorded several gospel albums.
Discography
Singles
1974 "
Shame, Shame, Shame" (Austria #1 / Belgium #1 / Germany #1 / Netherlands #1 / Norway #9 / Switzerland #2 / US #12 / US Dance #1 / US Soul #1)
1975 More Shame
1975 I Like to Dance
1975 Cry, Cry, Cry (US #91)
1975 Disco Shirley (Belgium #27 / Germany #41 / Netherlands #12)
1975 Mr. Frenchman
Albums
1975 Shame, Shame, Shame
See also
*
List of number-one dance hits (United States)
This is a list of number-one dance hits as recorded by ''Billboard'' magazine's Dance Club Songs chart – a weekly national survey of popular songs in U.S. dance clubs. It began on October 26, 1974, under the title ''Disco Action'' chart. It is c ...
*
List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
This is a list of recording artists who have reached number one on ''Billboard magazine's'' Dance Club Songs chart. ''Billboard'' began ranking dance music on the week ending October 26, 1974, and this is the standard music popularity chart in t ...
*
List of 1970s one-hit wonders in the United States
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
*
List of disco artists (S-Z)
This is a list of artists primarily associated with the disco era of the 1970s and some of their most noteworthy disco hits. Numerous artists, not usually considered disco artists, implemented some of the styles and sounds of disco music, and are ...
*
One-hit wonders in the UK
This is a list of artists who have achieved one number-one hit on the UK Singles Chart and no other entry on the chart. The list uses the strict ''The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles'' definition of " one-hit wonder", a term also commonly use ...
*
List of performers on Top of the Pops
__NOTOC__
This list of performers on ''Top of the Pops'' includes popular music recording artists and musical ensembles who have performed on ''Top of the Pops'', a weekly BBC television programme that featured artists from the UK Singles Char ...
References
American disco groups
American dance music groups
All Platinum artists
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