The Whispers are an American vocal group from

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Scoring hit records since the late 1960s, they are best known for their two number-one R&B singles, " And the Beat Goes On" in 1979 and " Rock Steady" in 1987. The Whispers scored 15 top-ten R&B singles, and 8 top-ten R&B albums with two of them, ''

The Whispers The Whispers are an American vocal group from Los Angeles, California. Scoring hit records since the late 1960s, they are best known for their two number-one R&B singles, " And the Beat Goes On" in 1979 and " Rock Steady" in 1987. The Whispers ...

'' and '' Love Is Where You Find It'', reaching the 1 spot. They have earned two platinum and five gold albums by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

Career

The Whispers formed in 1963 in

Watts, California Watts is a neighborhood in southern Los Angeles, California. It is located within the South Los Angeles region, bordering the cities of Lynwood, Huntington Park and South Gate to the east and southeast, respectively, and the unincorporated comm ...

. The original members included

identical twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two ...

brothers Wallace "Scotty" and Walter Scott, along with Gordy Harmon, Marcus Hutson, and Nicholas Caldwell. After being invited to the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

in 1966 by

Sly Stone Sylvester Stewart (March 15, 1943 – June 9, 2025), better known by his stage name Sly Stone, was an American musician, songwriter and record producer. He was the frontman of Sly and the Family Stone, playing a critical role in the development ...

, the group relocated to that area where they began developing a reputation as a show-stopping live act. Walter Scott was drafted to serve in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

during that period for eighteen months, returning to the group in 1969 after discharge. After Harmon injured his

larynx The larynx (), commonly called the voice box, is an organ (anatomy), organ in the top of the neck involved in breathing, producing sound and protecting the trachea against food aspiration. The opening of larynx into pharynx known as the laryngeal ...

in a driving accident in 1973, he was replaced by former

Friends of Distinction The Friends of Distinction were an American vocal group founded by Harry Elston and Floyd Butler, best known for their 1969 RIAA-certified Gold hits "Grazing in the Grass" and "Going in Circles" and the 1970 hit " Love or Let Me Be Lonely", with ...

member Leaveil Degree. After a series of singles on Los Angeles label, Dore, the group signed to a small L.A. label, Soul Clock, run by producer Ron Carson, who was responsible for their breakthrough hit, "Seems Like I Got to Do Wrong" in 1970. Moving to the larger New York-based Janus label, they continued to be produced by Carson, before he sold all of his recordings to Janus with the group then recording mainly in Philadelphia in the mid-1970s. In 1978, the group signed to

Dick Griffey Richard Gilbert Griffey (November 16, 1938 – September 24, 2010) was an American record producer and music promoter who founded SOLAR Records, an acronym for "Sound of Los Angeles Records". The label played a major role in developing a funk ...

SOLAR Records SOLAR (acronym for Sound of Los Angeles Records) was an American record label founded in 1978 by Dick Griffey, reconstituted out of Soul Train Records only three years after it was founded with ''Soul Train'' television show host and creator Do ...

. They hit #1 on the

Hot Dance Club Play The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

chart in 1979-80 with " And the Beat Goes On" / "Can You Do the Boogie" / "Out the Box". In the UK, "And the Beat Goes On" peaked at #2 and "It's a Love Thing" became their second top 10 in 1981 peaking at #9. In 1987, their song " Rock Steady" reached #7 on the US Billboard Hot 100, #10 on the US ''Cash Box Top 100'' and #1 on the R&B chart. The Whispers later established their own production company, Satin Tie Productions, through which they released their independent 2006 album ''For Your Ears Only''. The group opened Game 2 of the

1989 World Series The 1989 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1989 season. The 86th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Oakland Athletics and the ...

Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, often shortened to the Oakland Coliseum, is a multi-purpose stadium in Oakland, California, United States. It serves as part of the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Complex, located next to Oakland Arena. In 2 ...

with their rendition of the National Anthem. Marcus Hutson left the group in 1992 due to prostate cancer. According to the Whispers' website, when Hutson succumbed to it on May 23, 2000, they vowed to never replace him, and started performing as a quartet. Jerry McNeil resigned from his position as the keyboardist in the latter part of 1993 in order to spend more time with his family. In 2014, the Whispers were inducted into the

National Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame The National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame is an independent organization whose mission is to educate and to celebrate, preserve, promote, and present rhythm and blues music globally. History The National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame was founde ...

. The Philadelphia soul songwriter team

Allan Felder Allan Wayne Felder (May 26, 1943 – November 7, 1999) was an American songwriter. He had many successes with songs created during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s – frequently collaborating with Norman Harris, Bunny Sigler Walter "Bunny" Si ...

, Norman Harris,

Bunny Sigler Walter "Bunny" Sigler (March 27, 1941 – October 6, 2017) was an American R&B singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer who did extensive work with the team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, and was instrumental in creating t ...

, and Ronnie Baker provided several of the Whispers' songs, including "A Mother for My Children" and "Bingo". Nicholas Caldwell died of congestive heart failure at his San Francisco home, on January 5, 2016, at the age of 71. Founding member Gordy Harmon died at his home in

on January 5, 2023, at the age of 79.

Awards and recognition

*March 18, 1980 – RIAA Gold Record for the single "And the Beat Goes On". *March 18, 1980 – The Whispers earned RIAA Gold & Platinum status for their album, "The Whispers". *March 12, 1981 – The Whispers earned a RIAA Gold Album for their recording of "

Imagination Imagination is the production of sensations, feelings and thoughts informing oneself. These experiences can be re-creations of past experiences, such as vivid memories with imagined changes, or completely invented and possibly fantastic scenes ...

". *November 9, 1982 – The album " Love Is Where You Find It" became their third RIAA Gold Album. *July 20, 1987 – The Whispers received a RIAA Gold Album for their recording of, " Just Gets Better with Time". *February 9, 1988 – The Whispers received a RIAA Platinum Album for their recording of " Just Gets Better with Time". *May 24, 1991 – The Whispers received a RIAA Gold Album for their recording of " More of the Night". *2002 – The Whispers were honored with an

NAACP Image Award The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. The over 40 ...

. *2003 – The Whispers were inducted into the

Vocal Group Hall of Fame The Vocal Group Hall of Fame & Museum Company Inc. was an American-based hall of fame that honored vocal groups throughout the United States. James E. Winner Jr. was the financial and managing partner of the For-profit corporation. Winner and ...

. *2005 – Th
San Francisco Chapter of the Grammy Awards
presented the Whispers with the prestigious Governors Award, the highest honor bestowed by an Academy Chapter. *2007 – The Whispers were presented with an American Black Music Award in Las Vegas. *2008 – The Whispers were winners of the

Rhythm and Blues Foundation The Rhythm and Blues Foundation is an independent American nonprofit organization dedicated to the historical and cultural preservation of rhythm and blues music. The idea for the foundation came in 1987 during discussions about royalties with ...

's prestigious Pioneer Award. *2012 – Soul Music Hall Of Fame Award. *2013 – Presented a Lifetime Achievement Award for their 50 years in the Music Industry on the Soul Train Cruise. *2014 – The Whispers were inducted into the

Band members and directors

Current members

* Walter Scott (born September 23, 1943, Fort Worth, Texas) (1963–present) * Wallace "Scotty" Scott (born September 23, 1943 , Fort Worth, Texas) (1963–present) * Leaveil Degree (born July 31, 1948,

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

) (1973–present)

Former members

* Marcus Hutson (born January 8, 1943,

St Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

; died 23 May 2000) (1963–1992) * Gordy Harmon (born 1943; died January 5, 2023,

, California) (1963–1973) * Nicholas Caldwell (born April 5, 1944,

Loma Linda Loma Linda (Spanish language, Spanish for "Beautiful Hill") is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States, that was incorporated in 1970. The population was 24,791 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, up from 23,261 a ...

, California; died January 5, 2016,

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, California) (1963–2016)

Former musical directors

* Grady "G" Wilkins, Jr. – musician, writer, producer, vocalist, keyboardist and musical director of the Whispers. Born December 30, 1955 in

, California, and died December 19, 2013. * Fulton L. Tashombe – musician, vocalist, composer, arranger, producer, sound engineer, music educator, actor, keyboardist and musical director of ''

Headlights A headlamp is a lamp attached to the front of a vehicle to illuminate the road ahead. Headlamps are also often called headlights, but in the most precise usage, ''headlamp'' is the term for the device itself and ''headlight'' is the term for t ...

''. Born January 7, 1950 in San Francisco, California, and died October 14, 2017.Tashombe: Celebrating the Life of Fulton L. Tashombe – YouTube Video – Facebook, R.I.P

Supporting musicians

* Emilio Conesa – guitar * John Valentino – saxophone * Dewayne Sweet – keyboards * Richard Aguon – drums * Magic Mendez – producer, bass, keyboards, background vocals * Harmony Blackwell – programming, background vocals, interpretive dance * Aya Iwata – keyboards

Discography

References

External links

* * *
The Whispers 2009 Audio Interview at Soulinterviews.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whispers, The Vocal quartets Vocal quintets Vocal trios American soul musical groups SOLAR Records artists Musical groups from the San Francisco Bay Area Musical groups from Los Angeles American funk musical groups American dance music groups American boogie musicians African-American musical groups Musical groups established in 1963 Sibling musical groups American rhythm and blues musical groups American disco groups 1963 establishments in California Unidisc artists American contemporary R&B musical groups