Record buyers accepted the вЂњinvitationвЂќ on a modest scale, giving the Dazz Band a couple of minor R&B chart entries before вЂњLet It Whip,вЂќ from their third album, blew the doors off. HarrisвЂ™ combo came to MotownвЂ™s attention in 1980, signing up and spending almost six months rehearsing their first album for the company, Invitation To Love, before hitting the 24-track Recording Connection studio in Cleveland to put the results on tape. вЂњBut to expand our audience, we started playing Top 40 songs and developed our live set into more of an entertaining show, as opposed to just musicians standing on a stage.вЂќ вЂњWeвЂ™d been playing an intricate jazz/fusion kind of music,вЂќ he said of his pre-Dazz days. Bobby Harris, the singer and saxman who led the Dazz Band, continued the tradition, gigging at LeoвЂ™s behind Lou Rawls in the 1970s, then forming the first group of musicians through which he gained experience, an audience and, eventually, chart success. SONGWRITERS: Reggie Andrews, Leon вЂњNduguвЂќ ChanclerД«ACKSTORY: LeoвЂ™s Casino in Cleveland was a music venue with strong links to any number of top Motown artists who performed there during the 1960s. More recently, Calhoun and Pettis went back to the future, reforming the Kinsman Dazz Band along with a number of new members, and recording solid, enjoyable new soul and funk music songs.DAY & DATE: Number One on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart in the week ending Saturday, May 29, 1982. In the 21 st century, individual members continued to have their own projects (particularly Martin and Calhoun), while versions of the group toured sporadically in multi-artist funk shows.

The group split for a period in the early 90s, but reunited for a couple albums on Intersound Records in 1997-8 (which barely charted) and independently released their last album, Time Traveller,В in 2001.

Despite switching from Motown to to Geffen and then to RCA, as well as attempting to move to more of a rock feel in their music, the Dazz Band never again achieved the level of success they hit during the peak years of 1982-85. It also began a half decade of chart strength, mostly consisting of upbeat hits that followed the template of 'Let It Whip.' 'Joystick,' 'On the One for Fun' and 'Let It All Blow' all hit the top ten and the accompanying albums were equally successful.Д«y 1986 the group's sound began to sound predictable and lose its appeal. But that all changed with 1982's Keep It Live,В a funkier, club friendly album that included the uber-infectious dance hit 'Let It Whip.' That single instantly turned the group into stars, topping the R&B and Dance charts and winning for The Dazz Band a Grammy for Best R&B Performance. The Dazz Band's first two Motown albums didn't do much better than their earlier releases, hitting the middle of the R&B charts. In 1980 the group, then consisting of leader Bobby Harris, Mike Calhoun, Michael Wiley and his brother Isaac Wiley, singer/trumpeter Skip Martin, Eric Fearman, Ken Pettus, Kevin Frederick and Pierre DeMudd, shortened its name to The Dazz Band and signed with Motown Records. Their first two albums, on 20 thВ Century Fox Records, resulted in a couple minor hits and began to gather a small following for the group. With a name derived from the 1977 hit song by Brick ('Dazz' or disco-jazz), Kinsman Dazz burst onto the scene in 1978 with their own brand of Ohio funk.

What year dazz band let it whip