Steve Arrington
Encyclopedia
Steve Arrington is an American
singer, songwriter
, drummer
, record producer
, engineer
and minister
, who grew up in Dayton
, Ohio
.
, in 1975. Approximately a year later, Arrington relocated from Ohio
to San Francisco
, California
where he learned Latin percussion and drumming as well as played with Coke Escovedo and Pete Escovedo
and Sheila E.
He joined the funk
group Slave
(founded 1975) on their third LP called, The Concept
in 1978 originally to play percussion, then later becoming the drummer
and a backing vocalist
. Eventually Arrington took over the lead vocals on the hit single
s "Just a Touch of Love", "Watching You" (which has been sampled
by Snoop Dog) and "Wait for Me".
Arrington left Slave in 1982, forming Steve Arrington's Hall of Fame, and had hit singles such as "Weak At The Knees" (which was sampled by Jay-Z
, Jermaine Dupri
, N.W.A, and others), and "Nobody Can Be You But You".
His most successful album
was his 1985 solo work, Dancin' in the Key of Life, whose title track became a Top Ten R&B
hit
. The single also spent three weeks at number two on the dance charts. Another single from the album, "Feel So Real" reached #6 in the UK Singles Chart
in May that year. He was nominated for the NAACP Image Award for Best Male Artist of 1986.
In 1984, Arrington experienced a religious conversion, later becoming a minister and, in 1990, he left pop music
until his re-emergence in October 2009, when he released the R&B, Funk, spiritual album Pure Thang.
In September 2010, Stones Throw Records
announced that Arrington was working with producer Dâm-Funk
on a new album, by making "I Be Trippin" available for listening. In February, Arrington did an interview with The Revivalist and told them his new album, "Love, Peace and Funky Beatz" was due out late summer early fall 2011.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer, songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, 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...
, record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
and minister
Minister of religion
In Christian churches, a minister is someone who is authorized by a church or religious organization to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guidance to the community...
, who grew up in Dayton
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
.
Biography
Arrington played in various local bands before joining and touring with The Murphy's, a lounge band out of Toledo, OhioToledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
, in 1975. Approximately a year later, Arrington relocated from Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
to San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, 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...
where he learned Latin percussion and drumming as well as played with Coke Escovedo and Pete Escovedo
Pete Escovedo
Peter "Pete" Michael Escovedo is a Mexican-American musician percussionist.-Biography:With his two brothers, Pete formed Escovedo Bros Latin Jazz Sextet, before Santana hired Pete and Coke Escovedo for his group.He led the 14-24 piece Latin Big band Azteca.Father to musician Sheila Escovedo, aka...
and Sheila E.
He joined the funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
group Slave
Slave (band)
Slave was an Ohio funk band popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Trumpeter Steve Washington and Mark Hicks formed the group in Dayton, Ohio in 1975.-Career:Trombonist Floyd Miller teamed with Tom Lockett Jr...
(founded 1975) on their third LP called, The Concept
The Concept
The Concept is the third album by American funk band Slave.-Reception:Released in 1978 the album would chart at number eleven on Billboard's Top Soul Albums chart.- Track listing :#"Stellar Fungk" #"The Way You Love Is Heaven"...
in 1978 originally to play percussion, then later becoming the 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...
and a backing vocalist
Backing vocalist
A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
. Eventually Arrington took over the lead vocals on the hit single
Hit single
A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...
s "Just a Touch of Love", "Watching You" (which has been sampled
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
by Snoop Dog) and "Wait for Me".
Arrington left Slave in 1982, forming Steve Arrington's Hall of Fame, and had hit singles such as "Weak At The Knees" (which was sampled by Jay-Z
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
, Jermaine Dupri
Jermaine Dupri
Jermaine Dupri Mauldin , known as Jermaine Dupri or JD, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper.- Early life and career :...
, N.W.A, and others), and "Nobody Can Be You But You".
His most successful 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...
was his 1985 solo work, Dancin' in the Key of Life, whose title track became a Top Ten R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
hit
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
. The single also spent three weeks at number two on the dance charts. Another single from the album, "Feel So Real" reached #6 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
in May that year. He was nominated for the NAACP Image Award for Best Male Artist of 1986.
In 1984, Arrington experienced a religious conversion, later becoming a minister and, in 1990, he left pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
until his re-emergence in October 2009, when he released the R&B, Funk, spiritual album Pure Thang.
In September 2010, Stones Throw Records
Stones Throw Records
Stones Throw Records is an independent hip hop record label based in Los Angeles, California. It was started in 1996 by DJ/Producer Peanut Butter Wolf in part to release the music he made with Charizma who was killed at the age of 20....
announced that Arrington was working with producer Dâm-Funk
Dâm-Funk
Dâm-Funk is an American Modern Funk singer, DJ and producer from Pasadena, California. In 2009 he debuted his five LPs of new material, which were edited and released on two discs as Toeachizown late in the year on Stones Throw Records...
on a new album, by making "I Be Trippin" available for listening. In February, Arrington did an interview with The Revivalist and told them his new album, "Love, Peace and Funky Beatz" was due out late summer early fall 2011.
Solo albums
- 2009: Pure Thang - (God Factor Records)
- 1987: Jam Packed (Manhattan) - (aka Stone Love)
- 1986: The Jammin' National Anthem (Atlantic)
- 1985: Dancin' In The Key Of Life (Atlantic)
- 1984: Steve Arrington's Hall Of Fame: Positive Power (Atlantic)
- 1983: Steve Arrington's Hall Of Fame, Vol.1Steve Arrington's Hall Of Fame, Vol.1Steve Arrington's Hall Of Fame, Vol.1 is the debut album by Steve Arrington and his band.-Reception:By 1982, Steve had been in Slave for almost five years and was ready to go solo. He formed his band simpled called"Steve Arrington's Hall of Fame" and went to work on their debut album...
(Atlantic)
Solo singles
- 2011: "Goin Hard" maxi-single (Stones Throw Records)
- 1990: "No Reason" (RCA)
- 1988: "Lost and Found (You Can Find Me Present)" (Nubian)
- 1986: "Homeboy" (Atlantic)
- 1985: "She Just Don't Know" (Atlantic)
- 1985: "Turn Up The Love" (Atlantic)
- 1985: "Dancin' in the Key of Life" (Atlantic)
- 1985: "Feel So Real" (Atlantic)
- 1984: "Mellow as a Cello" (Atlantic)
- 1983: "Nobody Can Be You" (Atlantic)
- 1983: "Way Out" (Atlantic)
- 1983: "You Meet My Approval" (Atlantic)
- 1983: "Weak at the Knees" (Atlantic)
- 1980: "Summertime Lovin'" / "Special Effects From Mars" (Salsoul)
Compilation albums
- 2006: Slave: The Definitive Collection" -
- 2003: Party Lights - Rhino / Atlantic - Rhino - Atlantic
- 1994: Stellar Fungk : The Best Of Slave Featuring Steve Arrington - Atlantic Rhino Entertainment Company
Albums with Steve Arrington's Hall of Fame
- 1984: Positive Power (Atlantic)
- 1983: I (Atlantic)
Singles with Steve Arrington's Hall of Fame
- 1984: "Hump to the Bump" (Atlantic)
- 1984: "15 Rounds" (Atlantic)
- 1983: "Weak at the Knees" (Atlantic)
- 1983: "Nobody Can Be You" (Atlantic)
- 1982: "Pocket Full of Air" (Konglather)
- 1982: "Way Out" (Konglather)
Albums with Slave
- 1981: ShowtimeShow Time (Slave album)Show Time is the sixth album by American funk band Slave.-Reception:Released in 1981, Show Time was the last album that singer/drummer Steve Arrington recorded with the band...
(Cotillion) - 1980: Stone JamStone JamStone Jam is the fifth album by American funk band Slave. It was released in 1980 on Cotillion Records and reissued in 1997 on Rhino Records. It was produced by Jimmy Douglass and Steve Washington. The album was listed on the Billboard 200, Billboard's 1981 Year-End Chart and was certified Gold by...
(Cotillion) - 1979: Just a Touch of Love (Cotillion)
- 1978: The ConceptThe ConceptThe Concept is the third album by American funk band Slave.-Reception:Released in 1978 the album would chart at number eleven on Billboard's Top Soul Albums chart.- Track listing :#"Stellar Fungk" #"The Way You Love Is Heaven"...
(Cotillion)
External links
- Godfactorrecords.com
- Stones Throw Records
- Myspace.com
- Cdbaby.com
- Soul Bible - Feel so good
- Steve Arrington @ Discogs
- Steve Arrington's Hall Of Fame @ Discogs
- Official Site of Wayne "Buddy" Hankerson (bass-player for Steve Arrington's Hall Of Fame)
- Steve Arrington 2011 Interview on Soulinterviews.com