The Valadiers are an American vocal group from

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, who became notable as the first white vocal group signed to

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 ...

in the early 1960s. The group was formed in 1959 by Stuart Avig (born 1943, lead vocals), Marty Coleman (lead, bass, baritone), and Art Glasser (second tenor), who had all attended Oak Park High School, and Jerry Light (bass, baritone), from Detroit Mumford High School. After auditioning for Motown, they received a contract and made recordings which went unreleased, before recording a song they had written, " Greetings (This Is Uncle Sam)." The song was worked up by Motown staffers Robert Bateman, Brian Holland, and Ronnie Dunbar, who received co-writing credits, and was issued on the Miracle label, a Motown subsidiary for which this was its only hit record. The record reached #89 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 ...

'' pop chart in 1961.Biography by Andrew Hamilton, ''Allmusic.com''
Retrieved 3 September 2014 The song also became a minor hit for the Monitors in 1966. The Valadiers toured widely in packages with R&B stars including Marv Johnson, the Isley Brothers and Wilbert Harrison, and continued to release occasional singles with little success until 1964, when they split up. Stuart Avig spent time in the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

, later recorded as a solo singer under the name Stuart Ames, and occasionally performed with backup singers as The Valadiers. Coleman worked as a staff songwriter for Motown under the name Martin Cohen, placing songs with The Spinners, Gladys Knight and the Pips, and others. His biggest hit as a songwriter was

The Precisions The Precisions was an American, Detroit-based, 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 ...

' "If This Is Love (I'd Rather Be Lonely)", which was issued on Drew Records. Avig later worked in the precious metals business. In the 1980s, English record producer Ian Levine recorded him with other singers, as The Valadiers, issuing two singles on his

Motorcity ''Motorcity'' is an American animated television series created by Chris Prynoski. It is produced by Titmouse, Inc. and Disney Television Animation. The series ran from April 30, 2012 to January 7, 2013 on Disney XD. On November 5, 2012, the ser ...

label. In 2003, Avig reformed the group with new members Andy Alonzo, Donald Revels, and Nick Marinelli. Marinelli was an original member of

The Shades of Blue The Shades of Blue were an American blue-eyed soul vocal group from Livonia, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The band started in high school as the Domingos. Original group members included Nick Marinelli, Ernie Dernai, Linda Allen and Bob Kerr. By ...

, and the quartet began performing together under both names. The current group, consisting of Avig, Revels, Charlie Valverde, and Charles Davis, continues to perform together as the Valadiers and The Shades of Blue.The Valadiers official website
Valadiers.com Retrieved 4 September 2014

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valadiers, The Musical groups from Detroit Motown artists Musical quartets Musical groups established in 1959 1959 establishments in Michigan Musical groups disestablished in 1964 1964 disestablishments in the United States