The Hues Corporation was an American
pop and
soul
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
trio, formed in
Santa Monica
Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
in 1969. They are best known for their 1974 single "
Rock the Boat", which sold over 2 million copies.
Group name and background
Before achieving mainstream success they were the opening act for a list of headliners that included
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...
,
Milton Berle
Milton Berle (born Mendel Berlinger; ; July 12, 1908 – March 27, 2002) was an American actor and comedian. His career as an entertainer spanned over 80 years, first in silent films and on stage as a child actor, then in radio, movies and tel ...
,
Nancy Sinatra
Nancy Sandra Sinatra (born June 8, 1940) is an American singer and actress. She is the elder daughter of Frank Sinatra and Nancy Sinatra ( Barbato), and is best known for her 1966 signature hit "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'.
Nancy Sinatra ...
, and
Glen Campbell
Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, actor and television host. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodt ...
. The original band had a lineup of three singers and three sidemen. The sidemen were Joey Rivera from the Checkmates; Monti Lawston; and Bob "Bullet" Bailey, formerly of the Leaves. Bailey, Rivera, and Lawston left the band to form Goodstuff.
The group's name was a
pun
A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophoni ...
on the
Howard Hughes Corporation, with the 'hue' (a synonym of '
color
Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...
'). The band's members at the time of their first album were St. Clair Lee (born Bernard St. Clair Lee, April 24, 1944,
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, California; died March 8, 2011), Fleming Williams (born December 26, 1943,
Flint
Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...
,
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
; died February 15, 1998)
and Hubert Ann Kelley (born April 24, 1947,
Fairfield,
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
). The original choice for the group's name was The Children of
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in th ...
, which their
record label
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...
turned down.
Career
The group was formed in 1969.
Songwriter
Wally Holmes founded the group with his friend Bernard St. Clair Lee. Female singer H. Ann Kelley was found at a talent show in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. As a result of notices placed in southern California record stores, Karl Russell turned up.
They recorded a single "Goodfootin'" / "We're Keepin' Our Business" that was released by
Liberty Records
Liberty Records was a record label founded in the United States by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revival ...
in 1970. It did not chart.
Still with Karl Russell, the group's first big break came in 1972, when they were invited to appear in the
blaxploitation
Blaxploitation is an ethnic subgenre of the exploitation film that emerged in the United States during the early 1970s. The term, a portmanteau of the words "black" and "exploitation", was coined in August 1972 by Junius Griffin, the president o ...
film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
, ''
Blacula
''Blacula'' is a 1972 American blaxploitation horror film directed by William Crain. It stars William Marshall in the title role about an 18th-century African prince named Mamuwalde, who is turned into a vampire (and later locked in a coffin) b ...
'', starring
William Marshall. They were also asked to record three songs for the film's
soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...
: "There He Is Again", "What The World Knows", and "I'm Gonna Catch You". After their participation in the ''Blacula''-project Karl Russell was replaced by Fleming Williams and the group signed with
RCA Records
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...
; their second
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 ...
for the label, "Freedom For The Stallion", from the
album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
of the same name, became a moderate hit, reaching #63 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 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 ...
. The third single from the album, "
Rock the Boat", became a
#1 hit on the ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' chart and the group's
signature song. The bass player on the session for "Rock the Boat" was Wilton Felder, not
James Jamerson
James Lee Jamerson (January 29, 1936 – August 2, 1983) was an American bass player. He was the uncredited bassist on most of the Motown Records hits in the 1960s and early 1970s (Motown did not list session musician credits on their releases ...
as previously reported. "Rock the Boat" was
written
Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically inscribed, mechanically transferred, or digitally represented symbols.
Writing systems do not themselves constitute h ...
by Holmes, who also wrote the Blacula songs, and was released in the
U.S.
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
in February 1974 and in the
UK in July of that year.
It went to #1 for one week in the U.S. and #6 for two weeks in the UK, staying for 18 weeks in the U.S. chart with a
gold disc
Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
awarded by the
RIAA
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
on 24 June 1974.
The track sold well over two million copies.
The
song
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...
is considered one of the earliest
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 ...
songs. Some authorities proclaim it to be the first disco song to hit #1, while others give that distinction to "
Love's Theme
"Love's Theme" is an instrumental piece written by Barry White in around 1965, and recorded and released as a single by White's The Love Unlimited Orchestra in 1973. It is one of the few instrumental and purely orchestral singles to reach No. 1 o ...
" by
the Love Unlimited Orchestra
The Love Unlimited Orchestra was a 40-piece string-laden orchestra formed by American singer Barry White, and serving as a backing unit for White and for female vocal trio Love Unlimited. From the early 1970s on, they also recorded several sing ...
, a chart-topper from earlier in 1974.
After the success of "Rock the Boat", the Hues Corporation's other charted singles on the Billboard Hot 100 included "Rockin' Soul" (1974, #18), "Love Corporation" (1975, #62), and "I Caught Your Act" (1977, #92).
The group was unable to duplicate the success of their earlier hits and disbanded sometime around 1980. Whereas some sources claim the year of disbanding as early as 1978, archive footage of a television special for the Chilean TV in 1979 promoting their performance at the
Viña del Mar International Song Festival
, image =
, caption =Overture to the closing night of LI Viña del Mar International Song Festival (2010)
, location =Viña del Mar, Chile
, years_active =1960-present
, founders =
, dates =3rd week of February
, ...
proves the opposite. Furthermore, in 1980 the Hues Corporation released one last single in the US and a sixth album in at least New Zealand, Argentina and South Africa. With the renewed popularity of disco music in the 1990s, the group reunited for tour dates and special events, including the
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
special ''
Get Down Tonight: The Disco Explosion''.
Group members
Karl Russell was replaced by Fleming Williams who sang the male lead part on "Rock the Boat". Williams left not long after its recording.
Williams was initially replaced by Tommy Brown.
In an interview with Gary James, St. Clair Lee said that after some time Williams was brought back into the group and in turn replaced Tommy Brown.
Around 1975, Karl Russell rejoined the band taking over the role of lead singer after Fleming Williams had left for good.
Around 1979, Kenny James took over as lead singer from Karl Russell. James can be seen in the Chilean TV-footage from 1979 promoting their performance at the Viña del Mar International Song Festival and is also shown on the cover of the group's last album ''Boogie Me, Move Me'' from 1980.
Hubert Ann Kelley later left the group to become a minister.
In later years, circa the 1990s St. Clair Lee revived the group and recruited Bruce Glover and Elaine Woodard as the new members.
Fleming Wiliams died in the 1990s. Many sources claim the date of his death was September 1992, but other sources claim he died in February 1998.
According to the Social Security Death Index, Fleming Williams died on February 15, 1998. His death has been attributed to a "long illness", although many others have also alluded to a long struggle with drugs.
According to The New McCree Theatre in Williams' home town
Flint
Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...
, which in 2011 put on the play "Rock The Boat: The Fleming Williams Story" co-written by Williams' mother, Fleming Williams actually committed suicide in 1998.
Founding member St. Clair Lee died on March 8, 2011, in
Lake Elsinore, California. He is said to have died from natural causes at the age of 66, as written in the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' obituaries in March. He was survived by his mother, sons, and sister.
Discography
Albums
Studio albums
Compilation albums
* ''Best of the Hues Corporation'' – RCA Victor (1977)
* ''Rock the Boat'' –
Collectables
A collectable (collectible or collector's item) is any object regarded as being of value or interest to a collector. Collectable items are not necessarily monetarily valuable or uncommon. There are numerous types of collectables and terms t ...
(1991)
* ''Rock the Boat – The Best of the Hues Corporation'' – RCA (1993)
* ''The Masters'' –
Eagle
Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...
(1997)
* ''The Very Best of the Hues Corporation'' –
Camden (1998)
Singles
See also
*
List of ''Billboard'' number-one singles
*
List of artists who reached number one in the United States
This is a list of recording artists who have reached number one on '' Billboard'' magazine's weekly singles chart(s). This list spans from the issue dated January 1, 1955 to the present. Prior to the creation of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, ''Bil ...
*
List of Billboard number-one dance club songs
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 ...
*
Notes
References
External links
Hues Corporation discography featured in book: ''Goldmine Standard Catalog of American Records 1948-1991'' by Martin PopoffN.Z. Broadcaster Peter Williams with St Clair Lee, Hubert Ann Kelly and Karl Russell.*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hues Corporation, The
American pop music groups
American musical trios
Musical groups established in 1969
Musical groups disestablished in 1978
American disco groups
1969 establishments in California
1978 disestablishments in the United States
Musical groups from Los Angeles