The GAP Band
The GAP band was an American R & B - Soul - and disco - radio - tape , in 1967 by brothers Charlie, Ronnie and Robert Wilson in Tulsa was founded.
Band history
The Wilson brothers grew up in Tulsa and began singing and making music in their father's Pentecostal Church . There they also received music lessons and learned to play various instruments, including the piano. At the age of 14, Ronnie Wilson, the oldest brother, formed his first band. Charlie joined a rival group a few years later. When the two formations were performing on the same street one day, Ronnie asked his brother to join his band for $ 50 more than his previous band had paid him. Although the other group also increased their offer, Charlie followed his brother.
When the bass player of the band that was now together left the band a short time later, the two Wilsons brought their younger brother Robert, who was just 14 years old at the time, into the group as their successor. At first the band had no name, but was later called "Greenwood, Archer & Pine Street Band" - Greenwood, Archer and Pine are street names in the hometown of Tulsa. Because the name was too long for posters and other advertisements, the brothers shortened it to "GAP Street Band". The final group name "The GAP Band" was created through a typo.
Initially, the group played in country and western bars as well as tennis and rock clubs , until the mid-1970s, however, without having any notable success. Charlie moved from Tulsa to Los Angeles to explore new opportunities. Ronnie and Robert followed him a short time later. Through their friend, singer and songwriter DJ Rogers, the Wilsons met music producer and businessman Lonnie Simmons, who owned a nightclub and recording studio , both called Total Experience. The brothers signed a record deal with their nine band members .
The first albums , Magicians Holiday (1974) and The Gap Band (1977), went largely unnoticed, although guest contributions by DJ Rogers, Reverend James Cleveland, Chaka Khan , Leon Russell and Les McCann can be heard on the long player named after the band . Only the out of the blue (Can You Feel It) and Little Bit of Love were listed on the lower ranks of the R&B charts.
It was only when the formation received a contract with Mercury Records that the desired success came about. The album, also called The Gap Band , which contains a completely different track list than its predecessor of the same name, brought the Gap Band a place under the Billboard 200 (# 77) in 1979 and even reached # 10 on the R&B charts. The accompanying singles Shake reached number 4 on the R&B charts, their successor Open Up Your Mind came to number 13.
The album The Gap Band II , released at the end of that year, rose to number 42 on the Billboard 200 and number three on the R&B charts in early 1980. As a result, the record was awarded a gold record . The first release, Steppin '(Out) , took 10th place on the R&B charts. With the song I Do not Believe You Want to Get Up and Dance , which in Europe under the title Oops Up Side Your Head appeared, the Gap Band had the first international hit - in Germany occupied the single Place 18, in the UK court 6 and number four on the US R&B charts. Prince called Oops Up Side Your Head one of 55 songs that inspired him musically. The track Party Lights , which can be heard on the B-side of Oops Up Side Your Head in Germany , placed 30th in the UK and 36th on the R&B charts.
With the album The Gap Band III , the group achieved their first number one success in the R&B charts and a top 20 placement on the Billboard 200 (number 16) at the beginning of 1981. For this, the formation was awarded platinum . The single Burn Rubber (Why You Wanna Hurt Me) climbed to the top of the R&B charts and was able to place itself in the international charts - in Germany the song reached number 24, in Great Britain number 22. Other successful 1981 releases are Humpin ' and the Ballad Yearning for Your Love .
The Gap Band received another platinum record for the album Gap Band IV , which reached number 1 on the R&B charts and number 14 on the Billboard 200 in 1982. The singles Early in the Morning and Outstanding also made it to the top of the R&B charts, You Dropped a Bomb on Me reached number 2. The following long player Gap Band V - Jammin ' rose to number 2 on the R&B charts and on 28th place on the Billboard 200 - that was enough for a gold record this time. The decoupled track Party Train came in fourth on the R&B hit list. I'm Ready (If You're Ready) and Jam the Motha ' were smaller hits.
In 1985 the album Gap Band VI once again made it to the top of the R&B charts. The most successful releases are Beep a Freak (R&B place 2) and I Found My Baby (R&B place 8). The group's success then subsided and the album Gap Volume VII only made it to number 6 on the R&B charts in 1986, the only significant release, Going in Circles , came to number 2. Gap Volume 8 was released in 1987 and is the first album since 1980, which missed a top 10 position in the R&B charts and was only at number 29. But the record was successful in Europe, which is mainly due to the release Big Fun , which rose to number 24 in Germany and even to number 4 in the United Kingdom. A 1987 remix of Oops Upside Your Head , which is not included on the album, hit number 20 on the UK charts.
From 1988 the Gap Band moved away from the system of numbered albums and called the next long-playing record Straight from the Heart . At this point in time, the group had already left the height of its success behind, which was reflected in the continued decline in sales. Only with the single All of My Love from the album Round Trip could the formation again reach number 1 in the R&B charts in 1989, Addicted to Your Love then became the last R&B top 10 hit of the gap band at number 8.
Three studio albums were released in the 1990s: Testimony (1994), Ain't Nothin 'but a Party (1995) and Y2K: Funkin' Till 2000 Comz (1999). During this time, Charlie Wilson concentrated on his solo career, which he began in 1992 with the album You Turn My Life Around . He tried to open up a younger target group and realized a feature with Snoop Dogg . The two musicians covered the gap band classic Oops Upside Your Head under the title Snoop's Upside Ya Head . The Gap Band's last studio album was released in 2001 and is entitled Love at Your Fingatips .
Robert Wilson died of a heart attack in August 2010 , which led to the group breaking up.
Members
- Charles Kent Wilson (born January 29, 1953 in Tulsa, Oklahoma) - lead vocals , keyboard instruments , percussion
- Ronnie James Wilson (* 1954 or 1955 in Tulsa, Oklahoma) - vocals , keyboard instruments, brass instruments , percussion
- Robert Lynn Wilson (born 1957 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, † August 15, 2010 in California) - vocals, bass , guitar , percussion
- Malvin “Dino” Vice (actually Malvin Vice, Jr .; born May 10, 1953 in Tulsa, Oklahoma) - brass instruments, strings , vocals
- Raymond James Calhoun - drums , percussion, vocals
- Oliver A. Scott - keyboard instruments, trombone , vocals
- Tim Fenderson - bass
- Fred “Locksmith” Jenkins - guitar
- Billy Young - keyboard instruments
- Ronnie Kaufman - drums
- Alvin Jones - Trombone (1974)
- O'Dell Stokes - guitar (1974)
- Carl Scoggins - Congas , Percussion (1974)
- Roscoe Smith - drums (1974)
- Tommy Lokey - trumpet (1974-1983)
- Chris Clayton - saxophone , vocals (1974-1983)
- James Macon - guitar (1977–1986)
- LaSalle Gabriel - guitar (1994–1997)
- Valaria Marie “Val” Young - vocals
Discography
Studio albums
| year | Title music label |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 UK
|
 US
|
R&B
|
|||
| 1979 | The Gap Band Mercury Records |
- | - |
US77 (18 weeks) US |
R&B10 (25 weeks) R&B |
Producer: Lonnie Simmons
|
| 1980 | The Gap Band II Mercury Records |
- | - |
US42  (28 weeks)US |
R&B3 (21 weeks) R&B |
Producer: Lonnie Simmons
|
| 1981 | The Gap Band III Mercury Records |
- | - |
US16  (37 weeks)US |
R&B1 (37 weeks) R&B |
Producer: Lonnie Simmons
|
| 1982 | Gap Volume IV Total Experience Records |
- | - |
US14th (52 weeks)US |
R&B1 (55 weeks) R&B |
Producer: Lonnie Simmons
|
| 1983 | Gap Band V - Jammin ' Total Experience Records |
- | - |
US28 (43 weeks)US |
R&B2 (39 weeks) R&B |
Producer: Lonnie Simmons
|
| 1985 | Gap Band VI Total Experience Records |
- | - |
US58 (23 weeks) US |
R&B1 (40 weeks) R&B |
Producer: Lonnie Simmons
|
| 1986 | Gap Volume VII Total Experience Records |
- | - |
US159 (15 weeks) US |
R&B6 (32 weeks) R&B |
Producers: Charlie Wilson , Jonah Ellis, Lonnie Simmons
|
| 1987 | Gap Volume 8 Total Experience Records |
DE65 (1 week) DE |
UK47 (3 weeks) UK |
- |
R&B29 (23 weeks) R&B |
Producers: Charlie Wilson, Jimmy Hamilton ,
Lonnie Simmons, Oliver Scott, Rudy Taylor |
| 1988 | Straight from the Heart Total Experience Records |
- | - | - |
R&B74 (6 weeks) R&B |
Producer: Ronnie Wilson
|
| 1989 | Round Trip Capitol Records |
- | - |
US189 (7 weeks) US |
R&B20 (37 weeks) R&B |
Producers: Charlie Wilson, Ronnie Wilson, Jon Gass
|
More studio albums
- 1974: Magicians Holiday (Shelter Records)
- 1977: The Gap Band (Tattoo Records, RCA Victor )
- 1983: Strike a Groove (Passport Records)
- 1994: Testimony ( Rhino Records )
- 1995: Ain't Nothin 'but a Party (Raging Bull Records)
- 1999: Y2K: Funkin 'Till 2000 Comz (Eagle Records)
- 2001: Love at Your Fingatips (9th Floor Recordz)
Live albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
UK
|
US
|
R&B
|
|||
| 1996 | Live & Well | - | - | - |
R&B54 (8 weeks) R&B |
Recording: February 29th, 1996, Fox Theater , Atlanta
|
Compilations
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
UK
|
US
|
R&B
|
|||
| 1985 | Gap Gold: Best of the Gap Band | - | - |
US103 (16 weeks)US |
R&B46 (10 weeks) R&B |
|
| 1986 | The 12 "Collection | - | - | - |
R&B61 (8 weeks) R&B |
|
| 2009 | Playlist Your Way | - | - | - |
R&B70 (1 week) R&B |
|
More compilations
|
|
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | [↑]: treated together with the previous entry; [←]: placed in both charts |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
UK
|
US
|
R&B
|
Dance
|
||||
| 1977 | Out of the Blue (Can You Feel It) The Gap Band (1977) |
- | - | - |
R&B42 (11 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: February 1977
|
|
| Little Bit of Love The Gap Band (1977) |
- | - | - |
R&B95 (2 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: June 1977
|
||
| 1979 | Shake The Gap Band (1979) |
- | - | - |
R&B4 (18 weeks) R&B |
Dance48 (9 weeks) Dance |
First published: February 1979
|
|
| Baby Baba Boogie The Gap Band (1979) |
- | - | - | -[Dance: ↑] |
First published: April 1979
|
|||
| Open Up Your Mind (Wide) The Gap Band (1979) |
- | - | - |
R&B13 (14 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: June 1979
|
||
| 1980 | Steppin '(Out) The Gap Volume II |
- | - | - |
R&B10 (14 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: November 1979
|
|
| I Don't Believe You Want to Get Up and Dance (Oops, Up Side Your Head) The Gap Band II |
DE18 (20 weeks) DE |
UK6th  (14 weeks)UK |
- |
R&B4 (18 weeks) R&B |
Dance52 (16 weeks) Dance |
First published: January 1980
|
||
| Party Lights The Gap Band II |
- |
UK30 (8 weeks) UK |
- |
R&B36 (11 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: May 1980
|
||
| 1981 | Burn Rubber (Why You Wanna Hurt Me) The Gap Band III |
DE24 (17 weeks) DE |
UK22 (11 weeks) UK |
US84 (8 weeks) US |
R&B1 (23 weeks) R&B |
Dance19 (26 weeks) Dance |
First published: November 1980
|
|
| Humpin ' The Gap Volume III |
- |
UK36 (6 weeks) UK |
- |
R&B60 (6 weeks) R&B[Dance: ↑] |
First published: March 1981
|
|||
| Yearning for Your Love The Gap Band III |
- |
UK47 (4 weeks) UK |
US60 (7 weeks) US |
R&B5 (18 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: March 1981
|
||
| 1982 | Early in the Morning Gap Volume IV |
- |
UK55 (3 weeks) UK |
US24 (14 weeks) US |
R&B1 (24 weeks) R&B |
Dance13 (16 weeks) Dance |
First published: April 1982
|
|
| You Dropped a Bomb on Me Gap Volume IV |
- | - |
US31 (13 weeks) US |
R&B2 (15 weeks) R&B |
Dance39 (10 weeks) Dance |
First published: July 1982
|
||
| 1983 | Outstanding Gap Volume IV |
- |
UK68 (4 weeks) UK |
US51 (8 weeks) US |
R&B1 (24 weeks) R&B |
Dance24 (9 weeks) Dance |
First published: November 1982
|
|
| Party Train Gap Band V - Jammin ' |
- | - | - |
R&B3 (19 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: August 1983
|
||
| I'm Ready (If You're Ready) Gap Band V - Jammin ' |
- |
UK87 (1 week) UK |
- | - | - |
First published: October 1983
|
||
| Jam the Motha ' Gap Band V - Jammin' |
- | - | - |
R&B16 (15 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: November 1983
|
||
| 1984 | No guilty |
- | - | - |
R&B77 (6 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: March 1984
|
|
| I'm Ready (If You're Ready) Gap Band V - Jammin ' |
- | - | - |
R&B74 (5 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: April 1984
|
||
| Beep a Freak Gap Volume VI |
- | - | - |
R&B2 (18 weeks) R&B |
Dance66 (4 weeks) Dance |
First published: November 1984
|
||
| Someday Gap Band V - Jammin ' |
- |
UK17 (9 weeks) UK |
- | - | - |
First published: March 1984
|
||
| Jammin 'in America Gap Volume V - Jammin' |
- |
UK64 (4 weeks) UK |
- | - | - |
First published: June 1984
|
||
| 1985 | I Found My Baby Gap Volume VI |
- | - | - |
R&B8 (16 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: February 1985
|
|
| Disrespect Gap Volume VI |
- | - | - |
R&B18 (14 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: June 1985
|
||
| Desire Gap Volume VII |
- | - | - |
R&B46 (9 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: December 1985
|
||
| 1986 | Going in Circles Gap Volume VII |
- | - | - |
R&B2 (17 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: January 1986
|
|
| Automatic Brain Gap Volume VII |
- | - | - |
R&B78 (4 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: June 1986
|
||
| Big Fun Gap Volume 8 |
DE24 (13 weeks) DE |
UK4 (12 weeks) UK |
- |
R&B8 (18 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: November 1986
|
||
| 1987 | How Music Came About (Bop B Da B Da Da) Gap Band 8 |
- |
UK61 (2 weeks) UK |
- | - | - |
First published: March 1987
|
|
| Zibble, Zibble (Get the Money) (AKA: Get Loose, Get Funky) Gap Volume 8 |
- | - | - |
R&B15 (12 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: March 1987
|
||
| Oops Upside Your Head ('87 Mix) |
- |
UK20 (8 weeks) UK |
- | - | - |
First published: June 1987
Remix: Lonnie Simmons, Rudy Taylor |
||
| Sweeter Than Candy Straight from the Heart |
- | - | - |
R&B40 (14 weeks) R&B |
- |
First release: September 1987
from the soundtrack of the film Penetentiary III |
||
| 1988 | Straight from the Heart Straight from the Heart |
- | - | - |
R&B36 (13 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: June 1988
|
|
| I'm gonna git you sucka |
- | - | - |
R&B14 (15 weeks) R&B |
Dance35 (4 weeks) Dance |
First release: December 1988
from the soundtrack of the movie Ghettobusters |
||
| 1989 | All of My Love Round Trip |
- |
UK88 (1 week) UK |
- |
R&B1 (17 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: October 1989
|
|
| 1990 | Addicted to Your Love Round Trip |
- | - | - |
R&B8 (13 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: January 1990
|
|
| We Can Make It Alright Round Trip |
- | - | - |
R&B18 (13 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: April 1990
|
||
| 1995 | First Lover Ain't Nothin 'but a Party |
- | - | - |
R&B59 (12 weeks) R&B |
Dance36 (5 weeks) Dance |
First published: April 1995
|
|
| Got It Goin 'On Ain't Nothin' but a Party |
- | - | - |
R&B75 (10 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: November 1995
|
||
| 2004 | Oops upside your head |
- |
UK16 (7 weeks) UK |
- | - | - |
First release: October 2004
DJ Casper feat. The Gap Band |
|
More singles
|
|
swell
- ↑ a b c d Chart sources: Singles albums UK US
- ^ The Billboard Albums by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .
- ↑ a b c d gold / platinum databases: UK US
- ^ Joel Whitburn : Top R&B Albums 1965–1998, ISBN 0-89820-134-9 .
- ^ Joel Whitburn : Hot R&B Songs 1942–2010: 6th Edition, ISBN 978-0898201864 .
- ^ Joel Whitburn : Hot Dance / Disco 1974-2003, ISBN 978-0-89820-156-7 .
Web links
- Website of the band (English) ( Memento of 24 July 2012 at the Internet Archive )
- The GAP Band at Allmusic (English)
- The GAP band at Discogs (English)