The floaters

The Floaters were an American soul singing group from Detroit .

The members were:

James Mitchell (* 1949 in Perry , Florida)
Paul Mitchell (brother of James Mitchell)
Larry Cunningham (1951-2019)
Charles Clark
Ralph Mitchell (not related to the two brothers)

The group was founded in 1976. Three of the musicians had performed together as part of a quartet since the early 1970s. James Mitchell, who co-founded the Detroit Emeralds in the mid-1960s , only joined in 1976.

Their first single Float On was an instant hit in 1977, but remained the group's only hit. It reached number 1 in the British and New Zealand charts, and number 2 in the USA and the Netherlands. In it, the band members introduce themselves with their names, zodiac signs and their ideal type of romantic partnership. The play was written by James Mitchell, along with Arnold Ingram and Marvin Willis. On the original LP it was almost twelve minutes long, for the single it was shortened to a good four minutes. Ralph Mitchell was not involved in the recording of Float On for reasons unknown , but was involved in the rest of the LP.

The two following albums had little commercial success. In 1980 there were disputes, including about the band name, and the musicians separated. Two of the Floaters released a fourth album in 1981, together with a local singer. This, too, was unsuccessful, and in 1982 the rest of the group also disbanded.

From 1990 onwards some Floaters performed together again, and in 2005 an EP was produced as a trio. Larry Cunningham died in January 2019.

Discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
year	title	DE	AT	CH	UK	US	Remarks
1977	Floaters	-	-	-	UK17 (8 weeks) UK	US10 platinum (25 weeks)US	First published: 1977
1978	Magic	-	-	-	-	US131 (8 weeks) US	First published: 1978