Xavion was a rock band from

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

who were active in the 1980s. They had the distinction of being the first African-American rock group to appear on MTV. They are known for the singles "Get Me Hot" and "Eat Your Heart Out".

Background

The band was founded by Michael "Slugger" Tucker and later discovered by Jim Delehart of

Mirage Records Mirage Records is the name of multiple music business entities, the most notable of which was an American record label founded by Jerry and Bob Greenberg in 1980. The label, also known as Mirage Music or simply Mirage, was distributed first by A ...

. It was fronted by Dexter Haygood and at one stage they toured with

Hall & Oates Daryl Hall and John Oates, commonly known as Hall & Oates, are an American pop rock duo formed in Philadelphia in 1970. Daryl Hall is generally the lead vocalist; John Oates primarily plays electric guitar and provides backing vocals. The two ...

. The also toured with The Bar Kays,

The Romantics The Romantics are an American rock band formed in 1977 in Detroit. The band is often put under the banner of new wave and power pop. They were influenced by 1950s American rock and roll, Detroit's MC5, the Stooges, early Bob Seger, Motown R&B, ...

and

Sly & the Family Stone Sly and the Family Stone was an American band from San Francisco. Active from 1966 to 1983, it was pivotal in the development of funk, soul, rock, and psychedelic music. Its core line-up was led by singer-songwriter, record producer, and multi-i ...

. They were managed by

Tommy Mottola Thomas Daniel Mottola (born July 14, 1948) is an American music executive, producer and author. Mottola is currently the Chairman of Mottola Media Group and was previously the Chairman and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment, parent of the Columb ...

. They also had a degree of success with "Get Me Hot" and "Eat Your Heart Out". They were around four years before

Living Color Living Colour is an American rock music, rock band from New York City, formed in 1984. The band currently consists of guitarist Vernon Reid, lead vocalist Corey Glover, drummer Will Calhoun and bassist Doug Wimbish (who replaced Muzz Skillings ...

arrived on the scene and a little over a year before

Mazarati Mazarati was an American R&B, rock and funk band, formed in the mid-1980s and was active until 1989. The band was seven pieces and included the former Prince and The Revolution bassist Brownmark. Originally hailing from Minneapolis, they beca ...

, and in spite of being the first African-American rock band to be featured on MTV, they never found the success that Living Color achieved. They performed their single "Eat Your Heart Out" on MTV. In early December 1984, their album ''Burnin' Hot'' was Bubbling Under the Top 200 Albums chart at no 205. They were pictured in the January 25, 1985 issue of ''

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 ...

'' with

Mirage A mirage is a naturally-occurring optical phenomenon in which light rays bend via refraction to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky. The word comes to English via the French ''(se) mirer'', from the Latin ''mirari'', meanin ...

Asylum Asylum may refer to: Types of asylum * Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome * Benevolent Asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute * Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea ...

Nonesuch Records Nonesuch Records is an American record company and label owned by Warner Music Group, distributed by Warner Records (formerly called Warner Bros. Records), and based in New York City. Founded by Jac Holzman in 1964 as a budget classical label, Non ...

staff members Mike Bone and Lisa Frank who was being held up by one of the band members.

Later years

Around October 2011, Haygood was looking to reform the group. After appearing on X Factor, he was noticed by some of his former bandmates. Today Haygood appears also as a solo performer.Resource Entertainment Grou
Entertainers > Dexter Haygood
/ref> Michael "Slugger" Tucker has a solo album entitled ''2 Times Ten''. The Xavion group has new management with Donald Askew Jr., the CEO of Soul Star Entertainment.

Discography

Album

Singles

References

{{Authority control African-American rock musical groups Rock music groups from Tennessee Musical groups from Memphis, Tennessee Asylum Records artists