The Manhattans are an American popular R&B

vocal group A vocal group is a performing ensemble of vocalists who sing and harmonize together. The first well-known vocals groups emerged in the 19th century, and the style had reached widespread popularity by the 1940s. Types Vocal groups can come in se ...

. Their work "

Kiss and Say Goodbye "Kiss and Say Goodbye" is a 1976 song by American R&B vocal group The Manhattans. It was written by group member Winfred Lovett, the bass singer and songwriter of the group, who did the song's spoken introduction. The song was recorded for the ...

", recorded in 1976, and 1980's " Shining Star", both sold millions of copies. The Manhattans have recorded 45 hits on the ''Billboard'' R&B Chart, including twelve top-10 R&B hits in the United States, starting in 1965. Sixteen of their songs have reached the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, including two top 10s and a number-one hit with their song "Kiss and Say Goodbye". They also charted eight U.S. R&B top 20 Albums, three of which were

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 ...

certified gold.

Early history

The Manhattans, originally from

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark. with members George "Smitty" Smith (December 28, 1939 – December 16, 1970), Edward "Sonny" Bivins (January 15, 1936 – December 3, 2014), Winfred "Blue" Lovett (November 16, 1936 – December 9, 2014), Kenny "Wally" Kelly (January 9, 1941 – February 17, 2015), and Richard "Ricky" Taylor (1940 – December 7, 1987). Bivins, Lovett, and Kelly graduated from Lincoln High School, while Taylor and Smith graduated from Snyder High School. All five enlisted in the armed forces and came together as a group following their discharges from their respective branches. The group's first single was "For the Very First Time", released in 1964 by Carnival Records. The Manhattans continued

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

successfully with songs written by various members of the group. In 1968, the group received the "Most Promising Group" award by NATRA (the National Association of Television and Radio Announcers). In 1969, the group moved to the De Luxe record label, a subsidiary of King Records, and subsequently embarked on a college tour. While playing at Kittrell College in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, the group met another group, the New Imperials, featuring

Gerald Alston Gerald Alston (born November 8, 1951) is an American soul/R&B singer, and the lead singer of the Grammy Award winning group The Manhattans between late 1970 and 1988, recording 25 top 40 R&B and 12 Hot 100 Pop Singles. Alston was lead singer on ...

, nephew of

The Shirelles The Shirelles were an American girl group formed in Passaic, New Jersey in 1957. They consisted of schoolmates Shirley Owens (later Shirley Alston Reeves), Doris Coley (later Doris Kenner-Jackson), Addie "Micki" Harris (later Addie Harris McFadd ...

' lead singer, Shirley Alston-Reeves. They were so impressed with Alston that they asked him to join the group, but he declined. Misfortune hit the group late in 1970 when Smith fell ill. With him unable to perform, the group began to search for a new lead. First they attempted to woo The Cymbals' lead, Lee Williams, but he was unwilling to leave his current group. The group then renewed their request to Gerald Alston (born November 8, 1951), who accepted and took over the lead spot. Smith died of a

brain tumor A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and seconda ...

on December 16, 1970, 12 days before his 31st birthday. The Manhattans continued recording throughout the 1970s with Alston singing lead vocals. They struck chart gold in 1973 with the Bivins-written song "There's No Me Without You". Then their biggest song was their March 1976 release "

", written by Blue Lovett and arranged/co-produced with the group by the Philadelphia-based record producer Bobby Martin, a former member of the

MFSB MFSB, officially standing for "Mother Father Sister Brother", was a pool of more than 30 studio musicians based at Philadelphia's Sigma Sound Studios. They worked closely with the production team of Gamble and Huff and producer/arranger Thom Bel ...

band of

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

s. The song quickly became a number-1 chart-topper on both the US ''

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 ...

'' Pop and R&B

charts 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 tab ...

. It also became the second ever single to go

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

, after the

introduced that certification level in 1976. Taylor left in 1976 to concentrate on his conversion to

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

. He died in 1987 after a long illness. The group continued as a quartet, and found further success in March 1980 with the release of "Shining Star", which reached number 5 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 4 on the R&B Chart. Produced and co-written by the Chicago-based record producer, Leo Graham, it received a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

the following spring. In 1983, The Manhattans released the album '' Forever by Your Side'', by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

, which had two singles that year. The first was the song "

Crazy Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors performed by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can be manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or t ...

", the great success of this album, peaked at number 4 on the

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

. The second single was the title track " Forever by Your Side", which had moderate success in the United States, peaked at number 30 on the

, but has become a great success and a romantic classic in Brazil two years later, when it was included as part of the soundtrack of a soap opera in the country. The success led to a

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version the following year, called "Pra Sempre Vou Te Amar", which also was successful in Brazil, and has been recorded by several Brazilian artists. Another highlight of this album '' Forever by Your Side'' was the song "Just the Lonely Talking Again", written by the American singer and songwriter

Sam Dees Sam Dees (born December 17, 1945) is an American soul singer, songwriter and record producer. He has released several albums throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and the 1990s; as a composer, he has written hundreds of songs for many music artists. Ea ...

, which was originally recorded by The Manhattans for this 1983 album and was later re-recorded by

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston in ...

on her second studio album, ''

Whitney Whitney may refer to: Film and television * ''Whitney'' (2015 film), a Whitney Houston biopic starring Yaya DaCosta * ''Whitney'' (2018 film), a documentary about Whitney Houston * ''Whitney'' (TV series), an American sitcom that premiered i ...

'', in 1987. The group celebrated its 20th anniversary in 1985 with the release of ''Too Hot to Stop It''. It included the Evans/Smith -penned "When We're Made as One", originally recorded in 1966 but covered in an

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

doo wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

style to emphasize the group's doo wop roots. The album was also dedicated to George Smith. The group continued until 1988. That year, Alston left to record as a solo artist, scoring with several major R&B hits in the late 1980s and early 1990s for

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

. Roger Harris was recruited as the new lead singer for the group, which moved to the new label,

Valley Vue A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...

, when their Columbia recording contract expired.

Later history

The group's largest shake-up was in December 1990, when Blue Lovett left the group, upon his doctor's request, for health reasons. Kenny Kelly left to return to college to pursue his PhD. Bivins continued along with lead singer Roger Harris who had replaced Gerald Alston in 1988–89 along with new members. He recruited new members Charles Hardy and Harsey Hemphill, who in October 1990 had auditioned for Bivins but didn't come aboard until after Lovett and Kelly left at the end of 1990. In early 1991 Bivins added Alvin Pazant, bringing the group back to a quintet. Harris proved to be only a short-term lead, and in April 1991 he was replaced by Wade Taylor. Taylor was replaced in July 1991 when Bivins recruited Lee Williams, the person whom they had originally wanted to replace George Smith. In the 2000s, there were two versions of The Manhattans. One version featured original founding member Bivins, plus Hardy, Hemphill, Pazant and Williams. They released the CD ''Manhattans Now'' in 1994. In 1996, the group formed their own full-service music corporation company called Manhattan Entertainment Inc. In 2003 and 2007, they were featured artists in two theater plays, ''Girl He Aint Worth It'' and ''The Chicken Shack''. In June 2013, the group released a single called "Just for Tonite" written by Bivins and Pazant and produced and arranged by

Leroy Burgess Leroy O'Neil Jackson Jr. (born August 20, 1953), known by his stage name Leroy Burgess, is an American singer, songwriter, keyboard player, recording artist, arranger and record producer. Burgess was a member of Black Ivory and lead vocalist o ...

. In 2015, Lee Williams retired and was replaced by Keni Jackson as the new lead singer. And they still continue to perform, with the same line up in 2018. The other version of The Manhattans featured original member Blue Lovett, plus Gerald Alston, the lead singer on the group's biggest hits. Other members include Troy May and David Tyson (died 2022), brother of

The Temptations The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top ...

Ron Tyson The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top 1 ...

. In the past, the group also featured Eban Brown, who later spent 18 years as lead vocalist for

The Stylistics The Stylistics are an American, Philadelphia soul group that achieved their greatest chart success in the 1970s. They formed in 1968, with a lineup of singers Russell Thompkins Jr., Herb Murrell, Airrion Love, James Smith and James Dunn. All of ...

. This group has also released some CDs, including ''Even Now''. This version of the group was featured in two

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specials and performed at casinos and theaters across the United States. Alston appeared on

Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop group formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its original members include RZA, GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, and Masta Killa. Close affili ...

's album, ''

8 Diagrams ''8 Diagrams'' is the fifth studio album by American hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, released December 11, 2007, on SRC/Universal Motown Records. The album was released three years after the death of Ol' Dirty Bastard, and six years after the group ...

'', on the song "Stick Me for My Riches" in 2007. Edward "Sonny" Bivins, founding member of the Manhattans, died on December 3, 2014, at the age of 78. He sang on every Manhattans hit since the group's inception, and wrote many of their hit songs. He led the Manhattans up until his death. Winfred "Blue" Lovett, the group's original bass singer and songwriter, died on December 9, 2014, at the age of 78. His bass voice was heard on many Manhattans hits, including the spoken word intro to "Kiss and Say Goodbye". Kenneth "Wally" Kelly, the last surviving original member of the group, died on February 17, 2015, at the age of 74. Lead singer

is the only member alive of the group's heyday lineup.

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

*''Live from South Africa'' (1999, Classic World)

Compilation albums

Singles

Notes

References

External links

*
Official website The Manhattans of Sonny BivinsThe Manhattans Legacy

Website of The Manhattans featuring Gerald Alston and Blue Lovett
a
Wenig-LaMonica Associates
* ttps://themanhattans.wixsite.com/themanhattans In Memory of The Manhattansbr>Gerald Alston talks about the CD, The Legacy Continues
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manhattans, The 1962 establishments in New Jersey African-American musical groups American soul musical groups Ballad music groups Columbia Records artists Culture of Jersey City, New Jersey Grammy Award winners Musical groups established in 1962 Musical groups from New Jersey Vocal quintets