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Slave was an American
Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
-based funk band popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Trumpeter and multi-instrumentalist Steve Washington, born in New Jersey, attended East Orange High School, and was one of the first users of the "electric trumpet". He and Trombonist Floyd Miller formed the group in
Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...
, in 1975.


History

During late 1975 and spring of 1976, trombonist Floyd Miller teamed with trumpeter Steve Washington to form Slave. The original line-up included Tom Lockett Jr. (tenor and alto sax), Carter Bradley (keyboards), Mark Adams (bass), Mark "Drac" Hicks (lead and rhythm guitar, background vocals), Danny Webster (rhythm and lead guitar, lead and background vocals), Orion "Bimmy" Wilhoite (alto and tenor sax), and Tim "Tiny" Dozier (drums). They scored their first big hit with the single "Slide" in 1977 for Cotillion Records, which is the label they remained with until 1984. In 1978 Slave's sound changed slightly when drummer/percussionist Steve Arrington, along with vocalists Starleana Young, Curt Jones,and keyboardist Ray Turner joined the band. Arrington ultimately replaced Miller and Webster as lead vocalist. Other top ten R&B hits were "Just a Touch of Love" in 1979, "Watching You" in 1980, and "Snap Shot" in 1981. They added Charles Carter on sax and brother Sam Carter on keyboards. Starleana Young, Steve Washington, Curt Jones and Lockett departed to form Aurra in 1981. Slave added Roger Parker, Delbert Taylor Jr., and Kevin Johnson as replacements. Arrington left in 1982 after the ''Showtime'' album to start his own band Steve Arrington's Hall of Fame in which Charles and Sam Carter would also play. The band continued on, though not as successfully, into the mid-1990s. The group moved to
Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...
for one LP (''New Plateau'') in 1984, then switched to the
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
-based Ichiban Records the following year, releasing ''Unchained at Last'' in late 1985. Despite scoring a couple of minor hits on the R&B chart from this album the following year and another minor hit from their 1987 follow-up album, ''Make Believe'', Slave could not recapture the commercial success they had enjoyed in their heyday. Rhino issued ''Stellar Fungk: The Best of Slave Featuring Steve Arrington'', an anthology of their finest cuts, in 1994.


Deaths

Bass player Mark Leslie Adams Sr., a native of Dayton, died on March 5, 2011, at age 51 in Columbus, Ohio.'' Dayton Daily News''. Guitar player Mark ("Drac") Hicks, a native of Dayton, died on June 14, 2011, at the age of 52 in Dayton, Ohio. Singer and guitarist Danny Webster, a native of Dayton, died on September 10, 2020, at the age of 61 in Dayton, Ohio. Saxophone player Orion Wilhoite, a native of Dayton, died on March 20, 2020, at the age of 63 in Dayton, Ohio. Drummer Roger Parker, a native of Dayton, died March 5, 2023, at the age of 67 in Dayton, Ohio Keyboardist Carter Bradley, a native of Dayton, died February 21, 2023, at the age of 73.


Discography


Studio albums


Compilation albums


Singles


References


External links

*
Slave
at Soulwalking
Slave Legacy, LLC
at Slave Legacy, LLC * {{DEFAULTSORT:Slave American soul musical groups American boogie musicians Musical groups established in 1975 Musical groups established in 1996 Atlantic Records artists Atco Records artists Cotillion Records artists Funk musical groups from Dayton, Ohio