Crown Heights Affair
Crown Heights Affair was an American disco and funk band from Brooklyn , New York that had a number of hits during the 1970s. The band consisted of Phillip “Flip” Thomas (lead vocals), William “Bubba” Anderson (guitar), Howard Young (keyboard), Lorenzo “Muki” Wilson (bass), Raymond Rock (drums), James “Ajax” Baynard (trumpet) ) and the brothers Bert (saxophone) and Raymond Reid (trombone).
history
The band was founded in 1967 under the name Ben Iverson and the Nue Dey Express as a collaboration between musicians and producers Ben Iverson, Mark Lipetz, Donnie Linton and Britt Britton. Linton added more musicians to the band in the early 1970s. They received their first record deal with Britne Records , where they released the moderately successful single I Tried My Best . After Iverson's departure and further personnel changes, the band was renamed Crown Heights Affair in 1973 (after the Brooklyn district of Crown Heights and the then successful film The Thomas Crown Affair ).
Crown Heights Affair's first major successes were in 1974 with the singles (You Can't Bend My) Super Rod and Leave The Kids Alone with the RCA record company . Under the impression that RCA would not be properly marketed in the entire country, the band signed a contract with the De-Lite label the following year , with which they should have their greatest hits. The biggest, Dreaming A Dream, climbed to number 5 on the American R&B charts and number 43 on the pop charts in 1975. By 1982 it was able to place a total of eleven titles in the R&B charts. In the United Kingdom , Crown Heights Affair reached the charts five times between 1978 and 1980, with the excellent You Gave Me Love selling the best (10th place).
The band continued to play and release singles through the 1980s, but success waned dramatically. William Anderson and the Reid brothers left the group in 1986 to pursue other interests.
style
Although many of their recordings contain distinct funk elements, the majority of their records are in the disco genre. However, the band members never wanted to be committed to this categorization.
Discography
Albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 UK
|
 US
|
R&B
|
|||
| 1975 | Dreaming a dream | - |
US121 (17 weeks) US |
R&B28 (7 weeks) R&B |
De-Lite
|
| 1976 | Foxy lady | - | - |
R&B59 (2 weeks) R&B |
De-Lite
|
| 1977 | Do It Your Way | - | - |
R&B41 (20 weeks) R&B |
De-Lite
|
| 1978 | Dream World |
UK40 (3 weeks) UK |
- |
R&B56 (3 weeks) R&B |
De-Lite
|
| 1979 | Dance Lady Dance | - | - |
R&B40 (6 weeks) R&B |
De-Lite
|
| 1980 | Sure shot | - |
US148 (12 weeks) US |
R&B50 (10 weeks) R&B |
De-Lite
|
More albums
- 1974: Crown Heights Affair (RCA)
- 1982: Think Positive! (De-Lite)
- 1983: Struck Gold (De-Lite)
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
UK
|
US
|
R&B
|
Dance
|
|||
| 1974 | Leave the Kids Alone Crown Heights Affair |
- | - |
R&B96 (3 weeks) R&B |
- | |
| 1975 | Dreaming a Dream Dreaming a Dream |
- |
US43 (13 weeks) US |
R&B5 (18 weeks) R&B |
- | |
| Every Beat of My Heart Dreaming a Dream |
- |
US83 (8 weeks) US |
R&B20 (13 weeks) R&B |
- | ||
| 1976 | Foxy Lady Foxy Lady |
- |
US49 (12 weeks) US |
R&B17 (15 weeks) R&B |
- | |
| 1977 | Dancin ' Do It Your Way |
- |
US42 (13 weeks) US |
R&B16 (14 weeks) R&B |
Dance6 (25 weeks) Dance |
|
| Do It the French Way Do It Your Way |
- | - |
R&B60 (8 weeks) R&B |
- | ||
| 1978 | Galaxy of Love Dream World |
UK24 (10 weeks) UK |
- | - | - | |
| Say a Prayer for Two Dream World |
- | - |
R&B41 (11 weeks) R&B |
- | ||
| I'm Gonna Love You Forever Dream World |
UK47 (4 weeks) UK |
- | - | - | ||
| 1979 | Dance Lady Dance Dance Lady Dance |
UK24 (4 weeks) UK |
- |
R&B20 (12 weeks) R&B |
- | |
| 1980 | You Gave Me Love Sure Shot |
UK10 (12 weeks) UK |
- |
R&B74 (7 weeks) R&B |
Dance12 (23 weeks) Dance |
|
| Sure Shot Sure Shot |
- | - |
R&B72 (5 weeks) R&B |
- | ||
| You've Been Gone Sure Shot |
UK44 (4 weeks) UK |
- | - | - | ||
| 1982 | Somebody Tell Me What to Do Think Positive! |
- | - |
R&B31 (9 weeks) R&B |
- | |
| 1983 | Rock the World Struck Gold |
UK76 (2 weeks) UK |
- | - | - | |
| 1989 | I'll do anything |
UK83 (1 week) UK |
- | - |
Dance43 (4 weeks) Dance |
|
Web links
- Crown Heights Affair at Allmusic (English)
- Crown Heights Affair at Discogs (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c James Arena: Legends of Disco: Forty Stars Discuss Their Careers, 2016 ISBN 978-1-4766-6496-5 , pp. 28-36
- ↑ https://www.soultracks.com/crown-heights-affair
- ^ Joel Whitburn: Top R&B Singles 1942-1995, 1996 ISBN 0-89820-115-2
- ↑ a b Chart sources: UK US