Chart entered : 14 May 1977
Chart peak : 30
Number of hits : 17
Few acts on here have made a less auspicious debut with a single that's both dire and unrepresentative.
Shalamar was originally a studio-only vehicle for the creator of the Soul Train programme in the US Don Cornelius and his booking agent Dick Griffey. The project was dollar-driven; the show would be more lucrative for them if the studio dancers were strutting their stuff to the duo's own music. They recorded an album with session singers with the leads usually handled by Gary Mumford, the centre piece of which was a near nine minute medley of old Motown hits named "Uptown Festival".
The single is a clumsy four minute edit featuring discofied snatches of Going To A Go Go , I Can't Help Myself , Uptight , Stop In The Name of Love, and It's The Same Old Song set to an unyielding and monotonous beat. It sounds like a sampler for one of those awful Top of the Pops albums . Nevertheless when aired on the programme it was a big success and reached number 25 on the main chart despite being on the duo's own small label. It was also a hit internationally. The party medley - dormant since The Dave Clark Five - was back and the road to Starsound and Jive Bunny starts here.
The success of the record meant of course a demand for Shalamar in person and so Don and Dick drafted in two of Soul Train's most photogenic dancers Jody Watley and Jeffrey Daniel to flank ( briefly ) Gary in performance.
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