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Kleeer was an American funk band from New York that had a dozen hits on the Billboard R&B singles chart between 1979 and 1985.

Band history

The group was formed in 1972 under the direction of drummer , arranger , songwriter and singer Woody Cunningham backing of Disco - Quartet "The Choice Four". In addition to Cunningham, the cast included singer and drummer Paul Crutchfield, bassist Norman Durham and guitarist Richard Lee. After two years, the formation separated from "The Choice Four" and initially called itself "The Jam Band". She toured temporarily with Disco-Tex and His Sex-O-Lettes and thus had her first television appearance on the NBC music show The Midnight Special .

From 1975 the group called itself "Pipeline" and played funk - rock . In 1976 Columbia Records released the single Gypsy Rider , which had no commercial success. A new opportunity arose for Pipeline in 1976 when underground disco legends Patrick Adams and Greg Carmichael released song material under the name "The Universal Robot Band" but did not have a live band. So the group toured under that name until 1978.

The quartet's desire for independence led to another name change to "Kleeer". Stylistically now as a funk band with a dance floor focus, the song Keep Your Body Workin 'emerged , which was released on a compilation by Atlantic Records . When the track got positive feedback from DJs, the group received a recording contract with the label and released seven studio albums there by 1985 . The most successful of the total of 12 chart singles are Tonight's the Night (Good Time) (1979), Winners (1980) and Get Tough (1981). Kleeer disappeared from the public in 1985 after the release of the album Seeekret .

In the 1990s there was a brief revival of the band. Most of the members remained active as session musicians. Cunningham devoted himself to his solo career in the 2000s and died in 2010. Durham died a year later of carbon monoxide poisoning caused by a defective generator in his home in Chestnut Ridge , New York.

occupation

Founding members

Woodrow "Woody" Cunningham († January 10, 2010) - lead vocals , drums
Paul Crutchfield - percussion , keyboard
Richard Lee - guitar
Norman Durham († November 4, 2011) - bass

Later members

Eric Rohrbaugh - keyboard instruments
Terry Dolphin - keyboard instruments
Isabelle Coles - vocals
Melanie Moore - vocals
Yvette Flowers - vocals

Discography

Studio albums

year	Title music label	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
year	Title music label	UK	US	R&B	Remarks
1979	I Love to Dance Atlantic 19237	-	-	R&B53 (4 weeks) R&B	First published: June 1979 Producer: Dennis King
1980	Winners Atlantic 19262	-	US140 (10 weeks) US	R&B24 (22 weeks) R&B	First published: December 1979 Producers: Dennis King, Kleeer
1981	License to Dream Atlantic 19288	-	US81 (16 weeks) US	R&B13 (24 weeks) R&B	First published: February 1981 Producers: Dennis King, Kleeer
1982	Taste the Music Atlantic 19334	-	US139 (8 weeks) US	R&B31 (15 weeks) R&B	First published: February 1982 Producers: Dennis King, Kleeer
1984	Intimate Connection Atlantic 80145	-	-	R&B49 (27 weeks) R&B	First published: April 1984 Producers: Eumir Deodato , Kleeer
1985	Seeekret Atlantic 81254	UK96 (1 week) UK	-	-	First published: May 1985 Producers: Eumir Deodato, Kleeer

More studio albums

1982: Get Ready (Atlantic 80038)

Compilations

year	Title music label	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
year	Title music label	UK	US	R&B	Remarks
1985	The Artists Volume III (Soundtrack) Street Sounds 3	UK87 (2 weeks) UK	-	-	First published: September 30, 1985 with Womack & Womack , The O'Jays and SOS Band

More compilations

1986: Kleeer Winners: The Best of Kleeer (Atlantic 80210)
1998: The Very Best of Kleeer ( Rhino 75218)
2015: Intimate Connection / Seeekret (Expansion 44; release: June 9th)
2016: Get Tough: The Kleeer Anthology 1978–1985 (2 CDs; Big Break 0326; release: March 25th)

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
year	Title album	UK	R&B	Dance	Remarks
1979	Keeep Your Body Workin ' I Love to Dance	UK51 (6 weeks) UK	R&B60 (13 weeks) R&B	Dance54 (5 weeks) Dance	First published: February 1979 Author: Norman Durham
1979	Tonight's the Night (Good Time) I Love to Dance	-	R&B33 (12 weeks) R&B	-	First published: June 1979 Author: Woody Cunningham
1980	Winners Winners	-	R&B23 (13 weeks) R&B	Dance37 (13 weeks) Dance	First published: March 1980 Authors: Norman Durham, Woody Cunningham
1980	Open Your Mind Winners	-	R&B86 (2 weeks) R&B	-	First published: July 1980 Authors: Norman Durham, Woody Cunningham
1981	Get Tough License to Dream	UK49 (4 weeks) UK	R&B15 (17 weeks) R&B	Dance5 (21 weeks) Dance	First published: January 1981 as an album track in the dance charts. Authors: Norman Durham, Woody Cunningham
	License to Dream License to Dream	-	-[Dance: ↑]		as an album track in the dance charts Authors: Norman Durham, Woody Cunningham
	De Kleeer Ting License to Dream	-	-[Dance: ↑]		as an album track in the dance charts Authors: Norman Durham, Woody Cunningham
	Running Back to You License to Dream	-	R&B69 (4 weeks) R&B	-	First published: June 1981 Author: Woody Cunningham
1982	Taste the Music Taste the Music	-	R&B55 (8 weeks) R&B	Dance31 (8 weeks) Dance	First published: March 1982 Authors: Norman Durham, Woody Cunningham
	De Ting Continues Taste the Music	-	R&B74 (5 weeks) R&B	-	First published: May 1982 Authors: Norman Durham, Woody Cunningham, Richard Lee, Paul Crutchfield, Terry Dolphin, Eric Rohrbaugh
	She Said She Loves Me Get Ready	-	R&B84 (5 weeks) R&B	-	First published: December 1982 Author: Woody Cunningham
1984	Next Time It's for Real Intimate Connection	-	R&B79 (5 weeks) R&B	-	First published: February 1984 Authors: Norman Durham, Woody Cunningham, Richard Lee
1984	Intimate Connection Intimate Connection	-	R&B48 (12 weeks) R&B	-	First published: June 1984 Authors: Norman Durham, Woody Cunningham
1985	Take Your Heart Away Sea Secret	UK86 (2 weeks) UK	R&B62 (10 weeks) R&B	-	First published: June 1985 Author: Woody Cunningham

More singles

1984: You Did It Again (release: September)
1985: Say You'll Stay
1985: Never Cry Again (released September)
1990: Untitled
1993: Oooh with You

statistics

	UK	US	R&B
Number one albums	UK-UK	US-US	R&B-R&B
Top 10 albums	UK-UK	US-US	R&B-R&B
Albums in the charts	UK2UK	US3US	R&B5R&B

	UK	R&B	Dance
Number one singles	UK-UK	R&B-R&B	Dance-Dance
Top 10 singles	UK-UK	R&B-R&B	Dance1Dance
Singles in the charts	UK3UK	R&B12R&B	Dance4thDance

swell

↑ ^a ^b ^c Chart sources: UK Billboard 200
^ Joel Whitburn : Top R&B Albums 1965–1998, ISBN 0-89820-134-9 .
^ Joel Whitburn : Hot R&B Songs 1942–2010: 6th Edition, ISBN 978-0-89820-186-4 .
^ Joel Whitburn : Hot Dance / Disco 1974-2003, ISBN 978-0-89820-156-7 .

Web links

Kleeer at Allmusic (English)
Kleeer at Discogs (English)
Kleeer at 45cat.com

[charts-1] Chart sources: UK Billboard 200

[2] Joel Whitburn : Top R&B Albums 1965–1998, ISBN 0-89820-134-9 .

[3] Joel Whitburn : Hot R&B Songs 1942–2010: 6th Edition, ISBN 978-0-89820-186-4 .

[4] Joel Whitburn : Hot Dance / Disco 1974-2003, ISBN 978-0-89820-156-7 .