Band members
- Ralph - Ralph Viera Tavares (born December 10, 1941)Pooch - Arthur Paul Tavares (born November 12, 1943)
- Chubby - Antone Lee Tavares (born June 2, 1945)
- Butch - Feliciano Tavares (born May 18, 1947)
- Tiny - Perry Lee Tavares (born October 24, 1949)
Biography and career
The Tavares brothers from New Bedford, Massachusetts and whose parents were of Cape Verde descent, started performing in 1959 as Chubby and the Turnpikes when the youngest brother was 9 years old. Future Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer honed his funk chops as the "token white-guy drummer" in an early incarnation of Tavares. Chubby and The Turnpikes signed with Capitol records in 1967 and had a couple of local hit records including "I Know The Inside Story" in 1967 and "Nothing But Promises" in 1968. By 1973, they had changed their name to Tavares and scored their first R&B Top 10 (Pop Top 40) hit with "Check it Out" that same year, and soon began charting regularly on the R&B and pop charts. Their first album included their brother Victor, who sang lead on "Check it Out", but dropped out of the group shortly after. In 1974 Tavares had a #1 R&B hit with Hall & Oates' "She's Gone," (which became a hit for Hall & Oates as well two years later). Tavares followed up that success with "Remember What I Told You to Forget."1975 turned out to be their most successful year chart-wise, chalking up a Top 40 Pop album (In the City) and their biggest hit, the Top 10 Pop/#1 R&B smash "It Only Takes a Minute", which was later successfully covered by Jonathan King, Take That and recently sampled by Jennifer Lopez.They parlayed this success into a spot as an opening act for the Jackson 5. KC and The Sunshine Band was also on this tour. This was followed by a string of hits: "Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel" (1976), "Don't Take Away the Music" (1976), and "Whodunit" (1977, another #1 R&B hit), among others. In 1977 they also recorded "I Wanna See You Soon", a duet with Capitol label mate Freda Payne which received airplay on BBC Radio 1 but failed to chart.
Many of their hits, however, underplayed their R&B background and gave the group the image of being a disco act. This perception was reinforced by their appearance on the soundtrack to the film Saturday Night Fever in 1977. Tavares recorded the Bee Gees track "More Than a Woman," and their version reached the Pop Top 40 that year. The soundtrack became one of the most successful in history, giving Tavares their only Grammy.
Later albums, such as Madam Butterfly and Supercharged, strayed from the disco format and were less successful on the Pop chart (although they continued to have Top 10 R&B hits such as "Never Had a Love Like This Before" and the popular socio-political "Bad Times" written by British singer-songwriter Gerard McMahon). At the start of the 1980s, Tavares left Capitol Records, signing with RCA. They had one last major hit, the ballad "A Penny for Your Thoughts", for which they were nominated for a Grammy in 1982, and their last major release was Words and Music in 1983.
In 1984, Ralph Tavares stepped down from the group, and Tiny left in the mid 1990s, but the other three brothers continue to tour. In early 2009, Tiny Tavares rejoined and is currently touring with the group.
"It Only Takes a Minute" was later covered by British boy band Take That, becoming a Top 10 UK hit, and is featured in the soundtrack of Konami's dancing game Dance Dance Revolution 3rd Mix.
Musician Feliciano "Flash" Vierra Tavares, the family patriarch and father of all five members of Tavares, died in 2008.[2]
Discography
Studio albums
| Year | Album | Chart Positions[3] | Record Label | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B | UK[4] | |||
| 1973 | Check It Out | 160 | 20 | — | Capitol |
| 1974 | Hard Core Poetry | 121 | 11 | — | |
| 1975 | In the City | 26 | 8 | — | |
| 1976 | Sky High! | 24 | 20 | 22 | |
| 1977 | Love Storm | 59 | 15 | — | |
| 1978 | Future Bound | 115 | 55 | — | |
| 1979 | Madam Butterfly | 92 | 13 | — | |
| 1980 | Supercharged | 75 | 20 | — | |
| 1980 | Love Uprising | 205 | — | — | |
| 1982 | New Directions | 137 | 30 | — | RCA |
| 1983 | Words and Music | 208 | 48 | — | |
| "—" denotes the album failed to chart | |||||
Compilation albums
| Year | Album | Chart Positions[3] | Record Label | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B | UK[4] | |||
| 1977 | The Best of Tavares | 72 | 42 | 39 | Capitol |
| 1996 | Capitol Gold: The Best of Tavares | — | — | — | |
| 1997 | It Only Takes a Minute: A Lifetime with Tavares | — | — | — | |
| 1999 | The Hits | — | — | — | |
| 2002 | Classic Masters | — | — | — | |
| 2003 | The Best of Tavares | — | — | — | Collectables |
| 2004 | Anthology | — | — | — | Capitol |
| "—" denotes the album failed to chart | |||||
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart Positions[5] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B | US Dance | UK[4] | ||
| 1973 | "Check It Out" | 35 | 5 | — | — |
| 1974 | "That's the Sound That Lonely Makes" | 70 | 10 | — | — |
| "Too Late" | 59 | 10 | — | — | |
| "She's Gone" | 50 | 1 | — | — | |
| 1975 | "Remember What I Told You to Forget" (A-side) | 25 | 4 | — | — |
| "My Ship"(B-side) | — | — | — | ||
| "It Only Takes a Minute" | 10 | 1 | 3 | — | |
| "Free Ride" | 52 | 8 | — | — | |
| 1976 | "The Love I Never Had" | — | 11 | — | — |
| "Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel (Part 1)" | 15 | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
| "Don't Take Away the Music" | 34 | 15 | 4 | ||
| 1977 | "Mighty Power of Love" | — | — | — | 25 |
| "Whodunit" | 22 | 1 | — | 5 | |
| "One Step Away" | — | — | — | 16 | |
| "Goodnight My Love" | — | 14 | — | — | |
| "More Than a Woman" | 32 | 36 | — | 7 | |
| 1978 | "The Ghost of Love (Part 1)" | — | 48 | — | 29 |
| "Timber" | — | 94 | — | — | |
| "Slow Train to Paradise" | — | — | — | 62 | |
| "Never Had a Love Like This Before" | — | 5 | — | — | |
| 1979 | "Straight from Your Heart" | — | 77 | — | — |
| "Bad Times" | 47 | 10 | — | — | |
| 1980 | "I Can't Go on Living Without You" | — | 42 | — | — |
| "Love Uprising" | — | 17 | — | — | |
| 1981 | "Loneliness" | — | 64 | — | — |
| "Turn Out the Nightlight" | — | 45 | — | — | |
| "Loveline" | — | 47 | — | — | |
| 1982 | "A Penny for Your Thoughts" | 33 | 16 | — | — |
| 1983 | "Got to Find My Way Back to You" | — | 24 | — | — |
| "Deeper in Love" | — | 10 | 41 | — | |
| "Words and Music" | — | 29 | — | — | |
| 1986 | "Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel" (Ben Liebrand Remix) | — | — | — | 12 |
| "It Only Takes a Minute" (Ben Liebrand Remix) | — | — | — | 46 | |
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