The Unifics were an American

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group from

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History

In 1966 a group of students at

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

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formed the group Al & the Vikings. Consisting of singer/songwriter Al Johnson, Robert Hayes, George Roland, Marvin Brown and Thomas Fauntleroy. The group changed its name during its first year to the Unique Five and later to the Unifics. Known for their smooth harmonies and their dapper attire (including their trademark white gloves, black light effects and strobe light excitement), the Unifics soon gathered a large following in the D.C. area and began to attract attention elsewhere. The group, with Johnson as lead singer, scored three hits on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1968 and 1969 for the

Kapp Records Kapp Records was an independent record label started in 1954 by David Kapp, brother of Jack Kapp (who set up American Decca Records in 1934). David Kapp founded his own label after stints with Decca and RCA Victor. Kapp licensed its records to L ...

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. The first, "Court of Love" climbed to #25, but reached #3 on the US ''

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'' R&B

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. The follow-up, "The Beginning of My End" got to #36 on the Hot 100 and #9 R&B. Two further releases in 1969 reached the R&B chart. The group's debut album was issued in 1968. Michael Ward and Hal Worthington sang on the original album, replacing Marvin Brown and Thomas Fauntleroy, then left the group in 1970. They were briefly replaced by the original members Marvin Brown and Tom Fauntleroy. By 1972, the group has disbanded. In 2005, three decades after the Unifics called it quits, Johnson and Fauntleroy decided to resurrect the group and recruited

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veteran singers Charlie Lockhart and Garrett Hall to complete the quartet. Then, at the end of 2005, they self-released ''Unifics Return'', with Marvin Brown filling in for Garrett Hall and the first Unifics album in over three decades. Member Al Johnson had a briefly successful solo career in the 1980s and worked with

Norman Connors Norman Connors (born March 1, 1947) is an American jazz drummer, composer, arranger, and producer who has led a number of influential jazz and R&B groups. He also achieved several big R&B hits of the day, especially with love ballads. He is poss ...

Jean Carn Jean Carn, also spelled Jean Carne (born Sarah Jean Perkins; March 15, 1947) is an American R&B/soul and jazz singer. In mid-career, she added a final ''e'' to her name. Carn is a vocalist credited with a five-octave vocal range. Biography Carn ...

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 ...

, Sharon Redd, Gayle Adams and Special Delivery. Al Johnson died on October 26, 2013, at the age of 65. After Johnson's death, Fauntleroy opted to retire from performing and work as the band's choreographer/manager. He later went into full retirement. The band announced that Hall and Lockhart would be joined in a new line-up by tenor Ned Harris and baritone Bruce Justice. Greg Cook died from pancreatic cancer on July 8, 2023, at the age of 72.

Discography

Albums

* ''Sittin' in at the Court of Love'' (Kapp Records, 1968) * ''Unifics Return'' (Somodo Records, 2005)

Singles

References

External links