COVERSTORY: "SOS BAND"
SOS
stands for "Sounds Of Succes".
The SOS Band was formed in Atlanta, Georgia, USA and originally
consisted of Mary Davis, Jason Bryant, Abdul Raoof and Billy Ellis.
Earlier they performed regularly, as Sounds Of Santa Monica, at Lamar's
Regal Room in Atlanta where they were discovered by Milton Lamar, the
club's owner, who later became their manager.
The group was signed to the independent Tabu Records and soon added new
members Willie Killebrew, John Simpson and Bruno Speight to the group.
The group then changed its name to the SOS Band. Performing in the then
popular funk style, the band began to create numerous of US hits in the
early '80s and maintained making R&B chart hits through 1987,
returning to the Top 10 four more times. Five SOS Band albums also
charted in the USA.
From 1983 Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis produced many songs of succes. The
use of the TR
808
drum composer made most of their songs really memorable.
There were a number of personnel changes throughout the decade, with
vocalist Davis leaving for a solo career in 1987. However Mary and Abdul
both appeared as the SOS Band on a United We Funk Allstar concert in 2000.
View some of our 12inch labels and album covers below. Some of the labels are attached to the respective audio file. [Windows Media Player required] Try them by clicking on the labels.
We produced a SOS Band remix for "Back To The Old School" at Dutch national radio. You're able to listen to it here or check out more at our remix page [Windows Media Player required]
