Atlantic Starr

Atlantic Starr is an American band that had various chart successes in Great Britain and the USA between 1978 and 1994. Started as a funk band , Atlantic Starr developed into an R&B and pop group with a focus on adult contemporary in the 1980s . The single Always was the biggest hit, reaching number three on the UK charts and number one on the US charts in 1987 . Other great successes in these styles were Secret Lovers (1986) and Masterpiece (1992).

history

The group was formed in 1976, initially under the name Newban, in White Plains , New York . The first two albums , Newban and Newban 2 , were released in 1977 and were a mixture of soul and funk. The brothers David Lewis ( vocals , guitar ), Wayne Lewis (vocals, keyboards ) and Jonathan Lewis ( trombone , percussion ) changed the band name to Atlantic Starr. The line-up was expanded to include Sharon Bryant (vocals), William Sudderth ( trumpet ), Damon Rentie ( saxophone ), Clifford Archer ( bass ), Porter Carroll Jr. ( drums ) and Joseph Phillips (percussion, flute ).

Influenced by bands like Earth, Wind & Fire , The Commodores , New Birth and LTD played Atlantic Starr concerts in the northeastern United States , signed a contract with the label A & M Records and worked with Bobby Eli, a producer and songwriter from Philadelphia . The jointly created album Atlantic Starr was released in 1978 and was a success in the US charts , the song Stand Up contained on it reached number 16 on the R&B charts, the release Gimmie Your Lovin ' rose to number 66 on the UK charts.

The second album, Straight to the Point , was also produced by Eli, but was less successful than its predecessor. Then James Carmichael was won over as producer for the third album Radiant , which was released in 1980. The record was a great success, the single When Love Calls reached number 5 on the R&B charts and brought the final breakthrough in the United States. Sharon Bryant had meanwhile developed into a charismatic singer, which was an important building block in the success of Atlantic Starr.

Carmichael was hired again to produce the 1981 album Brilliance . In the R&B charts it reached number 1, the single Circles number 2. With Circles it was also possible for the first time to enter the Billboard Hot 100. For the completion of the third long player , the collaboration with Carmichael remained. Yours Forever was released in 1983 and, like the single Touch a Four Leaf Clover , continued seamlessly from previous successes.

Bryant, who had a great influence on the success of the group, but was only one of three singers next to Wayne and David Lewis, left the group disappointed and devoted himself to a solo career. Then the singer Barbara Weathers joined Atlantic Starr and was already heard on the 1985 album As the Band Turns . The band's line-up at the time consisted of Weathers, the Lewis brothers and Phillips. Sudderth, Daniels, Archer and Carroll left the group.

As the Band Turns , which was to be the final album on A&M Records, rose to number 3 on the R&B album charts and number 17 on the Billboard 200. The single Secret Lovers became the biggest hit to date, rising to number 10 in December 1985 in the UK and 3rd in the US. After a label change to Warner Bros. , the hit album All in the Name of Love was created , which reached number 4 on the R&B charts and number 18 on the Billboard album charts. The release Always became the band's biggest hit, ranked number 1 in the USA in the spring and number 3 in England in the summer.

Despite the success of All in the Name of Love , Weathers left the band to start a solo career and was replaced by Porscha Martin. With her came the 1989 album We're Movin 'up . In the early 1990s she was again replaced by Rachel Oliver, who is now the fourth singer. After the album Love Crazy and the single of the same name did not meet the high expectations of the record company, Masterpiece (No. 3) rose one last time to the American Top 10. Then Atlantic Starr switched to Arista Records , but the album Time and the single I'll Remember You couldn't build on old successes.

After Time , David Lewis left the band and changed the singer again. The new female voice belonged to Aisha Tanner. The albums All Because of You (1998) and Legacy (1999) received little attention. Still, Atlantic Starr performed live well into the 21st century.

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		UK	US
1978	Atlantic Starr	-	US67 (13 weeks) US
1979	Straight to the point	-	US142 (7 weeks) US
1981	Radians	-	US47 (30 weeks) US
1982	Brilliance	-	US18 (29 weeks) US
1983	Yours Forever	-	US91 (28 weeks) US
1985	As the band turns	UK64 (3 weeks) UK	US17th gold (68 weeks)US
1987	All in the name of love	UK48 (12 weeks) UK	US18th platinum (31 weeks)US
1989	We're moving up	-	US125 (6 weeks) US
1992	Love Crazy	-	US134 (14 weeks) US

More albums

• 1977: Newban (as Newban)
• 1977: Newban 2 (as Newban)
• 1986: Budweiser Concert Hour
• 1994: Time
• 1998: All Because of You
• 1999: Legacy

Compilations

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		UK	US
1985	The Artists Volume 2	UK45 (2 weeks) UK	-	with 5 tracks each by Luther Vandross , Change Teddy Pendergrass and Atlantic Starr

More compilations

• 1986: Secret Lovers… The Best of Atlantic Starr
• 1987: Classics Volume 10
• 1997: Greatest Hits
• 2000: Ultimate Collection
• 2006: All-Time Greatest Hits
• 2011: Newban & Newban 2 Deluxe Edition (as Newban)

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		UK	US
1978	Gimmie Your Lovin ' Atlantic Starr	UK66 (3 weeks) UK	-
1982	Circles Brilliance	-	US38 (11 weeks) US
1983	Touch a Four Leaf Clover Yours Forever	-	US87 (7 weeks) US
1985	Freak-a-Ristic As the Band Turns	-	US90 (6 weeks) US
	Silver Shadow As the Band Turns	UK41 (8 weeks) UK	-
	One Love As the Band Turns	UK58 (4 weeks) UK	-
	Secret Lovers As the Band Turns	UK10 (13 weeks) UK	US3 (23 weeks) US
1986	If Your Heart Isn't in It As the Band Turns	UK48 (4 weeks) UK	US57 (12 weeks) US
1987	Always All in the Name of Love	UK3 silver (16 weeks)UK	US1 (22 weeks) US
	One Lover at a Time All in the Name of Love	UK57 (3 weeks) UK	US58 (13 weeks) US
1988	Let the Sun In All in the Name of Love	UK79 (2 weeks) UK	-
1991	Love Crazy Love Crazy	-	US75 (8 weeks) US
1992	Masterpiece Love Crazy	-	US3 gold (20 weeks)US
1994	I'll remember you time	-	US55 (13 weeks) US
	Everybody's Got Summer Time	UK36 (2 weeks) UK	-

More singles

• 1978: Keep It Comin '
• 1978: Stand Up
• 1978: Visions
• 1979: Kissin 'Power
• 1979: (Let's) Rock and Roll
• 1980: When Love Calls
• 1980: Send for Me
• 1980: Think About That
• 1982: Your Love Finally Ran Out
• 1982: Love Me Down
• 1983: More, More, More
• 1985: Cool, Calm, Collected
• 1985: In the Heat of Passion
• 1986: Armed and Dangerous
• 1987: All in the Name of Love
• 1987: Thankful
• 1988: Compact Hits (4 tracks, limited)
• 1989: My Sugar
• 1989: Bring It Back Home Again
• 1989: My First Love
• 1991: Unconditional Love
• 1999: Legacy (4 tracks, album sampler)

Awards for music sales

Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.

Country / Region	silver	gold	platinum	Sales	swell
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources)
United States (RIAA)	-	2 × gold2	platinum1	2,000,000	riaa.com
United Kingdom (BPI)	silver1	-	-	250,000	bpi.co.uk
All in all	silver1	2 × gold2	platinum1

Web links

• Atlantic Starr at Allmusic (English)
• Atlantic Starr at Discogs (English)
• Newban at Allmusic (English)
• Newban at Discogs (English)

swell

1. ↑ Chart history on Musicvf.com
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Chart sources: Singles Albums UK US
3. ↑ ^{a b c} The Billboard Albums by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .
4. ↑ ^{a b c} gold / platinum databases: UK US