Booker Newberry III is a singer

Singing

Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...

 and keyboardist

Keyboardist

A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...

, who was a member of the mid 1970s soul groups Sweet Thunder ("Baby I Need Your Love Today"), and Impact, before pursuing a solo

Solo (music)

In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...

 career.

Career

Newberry began his professional singing career in the group Mystic Nights around 1971. Moving to Philadelphia he became the lead singer of Sweet Thunder, which also included drummer

Drummer

A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...

 John Aaron, bassist

Bassist

A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...

 Rudell Alexander, and guitarist

Guitarist

A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...

 Charles Buie. Signing with the Philly-based record label

Record label

In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

 WMOT Records

WMOT Records

WMOT Records, an independent recording company in Philadelphia, produced a number of singles in the "Philadelphia sound" soul tradition...

, the group's single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

, "Baby I Need Your Love Today" b/w "I Don't Care What You Say," stirred interest and was picked up for distribution by Berkeley

Berkeley, California

Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 based Fantasy Records

Fantasy Records

Fantasy Records is a United States-based record label that was founded by Max and Sol Weiss in 1949 in San Francisco, California. They had previously operated a record-pressing plant called Circle Record Company before forming the Fantasy label...

.

The group recorded three album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

s, Above The Clouds (1976), Sweet Thunder (1978), and Horizons (1979), the latter of which saw the single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 "I Leave You Stronger," go to #63 Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

R&B

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...

 chart

Record chart

A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....

 in late 1979. Newberry joined another WMOT Records group, Impact, who was best known for the dance

Dance music

Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...

 hits "Give a Broken Heart a Break" and "Rainy Days Stormy Nights."

Newberry signed with Neil Bogart

Neil Bogart

Neil Bogart was an American record executive. He is perhaps best known as the founder of Casablanca Records, with Peter Guber....

's Casablanca Records

Casablanca Records

Casablanca Records was an American record label started by Neil Bogart, who partnered with Cecil Holmes, Larry Harris, and Buck Reingold in 1973, and based in Los Angeles. The label was formed after all of them had left Buddah Records and secured financing by Warner Bros. Records to start the venture...

 in 1983, and his solo

Solo (music)

In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...

 single "Love Town

Love Town

"Love Town" is a solo single released by the former Sweet Thunder and Impact member, Booker Newberry III in 1983. It was taken from the same-titled album released later that year....

" originally released on the Boardwalk label, was a Top 10 UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 hit. The Love Town album was issued the same year. He has also recorded for Malaco Records

Malaco Records

Malaco Records is an independent record label based in Jackson, Mississippi. Malaco is and has been the home of various major soul, blues and gospel acts, such as Johnnie Taylor, Bobby Bland, ZZ Hill, Denise LaSalle, Benny Latimore, Dorothy Moore, Little Milton, Shirley Brown, Marvin Sease, and the...

 and Omni Records - (the LP

Gramophone record

A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...

Take a Piece of Me).

External links

• [ Booker Newberry III biography at Allmusic]