Gonzalez were a British R&B and

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

band. They became well known as a backing band for touring R&B, funk, and

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

stars A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by self-gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night; their immense distances from Earth make them appear as fixed points of ...

. Their eponymous album was released in 1974 and they recorded a total of six albums before disbanding in 1986. They are best known for their 1979 single success with their worldwide disco hit "Haven't Stopped Dancing Yet."

History

The original band was formed in 1970 by Godfrey McLean and Bobby Tench who were members of Gassand included other members of that band. It had the line-up of Tench as vocalist and guitarist, drummer Godfrey McLean, bassist Delisle Harper, and percussionist Lennox Langton. At the end of May 1970, Tench left Gonzalez to become a member of

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and the band formed a new core membership, with saxophonists Michael "Mick" Eve, Chris Mercer, Steve Gregory, Geoffrey "Bud" Beadle, keyboardist Roy Davies, and guitarist Gordon Hunte. Later

George Chandler George Chandler (June 30, 1898 – June 10, 1985) was an American actor who starred in over 140 feature films, usually in smaller supporting roles, and he is perhaps best known for playing the character of Uncle Petrie Martin on the television ...

, Glen LeFleur, Cliff Lake, and Delisle Harper were included whilst simultaneously members of Olympic Runners. Vocalist

Lenny Zakatek Lenny Zakatek (born Lenny du Platel, 29 July 1947) is a British singer and musician. Born in Karachi just prior to it becoming a part of Pakistan, he has lived in London since the age of thirteen. Zakatek is best known for his work with the Bri ...

joined in 1974 and they released their first album ''Gonzalez'' (1974), which featured a heavy funk sound. This album made them

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

bassist

John Deacon John Richard Deacon (born 19 August 1951) is an English retired musician who was the bass guitarist for the rock band Queen. He wrote several songs for the group, including Top 10 hits " You're My Best Friend", "Another One Bites the Dust" a ...

's favourite band in the mid 1970s. ''Our Only Weapon Is Our Music'' (1975) followed, released on

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

's sister label, Capitol. In 1976, drummer Preston Heyman joined the band and alongside

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they appeared as the support band for

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at his Hammersmith Odeon Shows. In 1977, at Air Studios London they recorded Jones' song "Haven't Stopped Dancing Yet" which reached No. 26 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and established a following amongst

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

enthusiasts. A

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

of the same song reached No. 7 on the US Club Play

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...

and No. 15 in the UK Singles Chart. The band's third and fourth albums, ''Shipwrecked'' and ''Move It to the Music'', were produced by Jones. Waller joined

Manfred Mann's Earth Band Manfred Mann's Earth Band are an English rock band formed by South African musician Manfred Mann (musician), Manfred Mann. Their hits include covers of Bruce Springsteen's "For You (Bruce Springsteen song), For You", "Blinded by the Light" an ...

, while Eve, Lake, and Hunte left before their single "Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady" (1979) was released. In 1980, after five years with the band,

left to sing vocals with the Alan Parsons Project. The band's follow-up singles and their fifth album ''Watch Your Step'', were not successful and the group lost its major label status. Gonzalez then worked with

Pye Records PYE or Pye Records is an independent British record label. It was first established in 1955 and played a major role in shaping rock 'n' roll and pop music history. The Pye name was dropped in 1980 due to trademark issues, after which it produced ...

and concentrated on live performances, usually backing R&B, funk and soul stars, such as

Freddie King Freddie King (born Fred Christian; September 3, 1934December 28, 1976), also billed as Freddy King, was an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with Albert King a ...

. Roy Davies died in 1986 and Gonzalez disbanded. Guitarist Cliff Lake appeared with other artists such as

Doris Troy Doris Troy (born Doris Elaine Higginsen; January 6, 1937 – February 16, 2004) was an American R&B singer and songwriter, known to her fans as "Mama Soul". Her biggest hit was " Just One Look", a top 10 hit in 1963. Life and career She was ...

Edwin Starr Charles Edwin Hatcher (January 21, 1942 – April 2, 2003), known by his stage name Edwin Starr, was an American singer and songwriter. He is best remembered for his Norman Whitfield-produced Motown singles of the 1970s, most notably the num ...

, and

Chris Rea Christopher Anton Rea ( ; born 4 March 1951) is a British Rock music, rock and blues singer-songwriter and guitarist from Middlesbrough. Known for his distinctive voice and his slide guitar playing, Rea has recorded twenty-five studio albums, ...

. More recently Mick Eve, Kuma Harada, Bud Beadle, Cliff Lake, Preston Heyman, and Bobby Stignac have appeared on the London music circuit.

Former members

* Steve Waller – guitar and vocals *Roy Davies – keyboards * Viola Wills – vocals *Sergio Castillo – drums

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzalez British disco groups Musical groups established in 1970 Musical groups disestablished in 1986 English funk musical groups British soul musical groups British rhythm and blues musical groups