ORIGINAL MEMBERS STILL ON BOARD
Midnight Star has returned from a brief hiatus with six of its star-studded members. Vocalists Belinda Lipscomb, Melvin Gentry and Bo Watson have been with the group since it was formed in 1976, along with bass guitarist Kenneth Gant, and drummer Bobby Lovelace, who joined the group in late 1982. Original member Bill Simmons (keyboards), appears as often as he can (when he is not being a college professor).
THE 411 ON MIDNIGHT STAR from the beginning to now -
Band History:
The group was formed in 1976 at Kentucky State University by then students trumpeter Reginald Calloway, vocalist Belinda Lipscomb, saxophonist/keyboardist Bill Simmons, drummer/vocalist/guitarist Melvin Gentry, keyboardist/vocalist Boaz Watson, bass guitarist Kenneth Gant and guitarist Jeffrey Cooper. They would later add Reggie's younger brother Vincent Calloway on trombone. With its members coming from their hometowns of Cincinnati, Ohio; Louisville, Kentucky; Flint, Michigan and Indianapolis, Indiana. After making some demos, they ventured to NYC and performed at a nightclub where in attendance was music industry veteran Richard Aaron, who referred the group to Solar Records chieftain Dick Griffey (whom had just inked a label deal with RCA Records). This led to a showcase for Griffey, whom was so impressed he had the group do it one more time as he brought several friends with him to the Palm Room in Cincinnati, Ohio to see this to believe it. Their group was then signed to his label and they released their first album, THE BEGINNING in 1980 with production mostly by Harvey Mason, except for the first single "Make It Last", which was produced by Leon Sylvers. In 1981 , their second album, STANDING TOGETHER reached position 54 on the Top R&B charts (aided by the single "I've Been Watching You"). In 1982 they released a third album, VICTORY, which had a cameo appearance by funk star Bootsy Collins on the track "Hot Spot". After building a steady following of loyal fans from their first three albums and a sense of belief in their talents by Griffey, the group went into the studio to produced their fourth album in 1983. The results were incredible, sort of re-writing the old adage of the third time is the charm, as this was their fourth project. Released in 1983, the album NO PARKING ON THE DANCE FLOOR propelled Midnight Star to the top of the album charts, immediately going gold, then platinum and ultimately double platinum. To date the album is still a strong seller as it approaches three million sales in the US. The first single, "Freak-A-Zoid" which went to number two on the Billboard R&B chart with its funky galactic vocoder laced spacey groove. The album also contained the ballad gem "Slow Jam" (which was co-written by Kenny 'Babyface' Edmonds, whom also guested on guitar on the recording session of this classic number, which to date has been consistently voted one of the best soul ballads of all-time). By now, Atlanta, Georgia native son, - Drummer Bobby Lovelace (formerly of Cameo's protégée group Mantra) had joined the group to free up Melvin Gentry to totally concentrate on singing and playing guitar. Their fifth album, PLANETARY INVASION was a big hit as well, going gold, (just 50k units shy of platinum certification) and making the pop Top 20 and also contained the number one R&B single "Operator" in addition to the wildly popular mid-tempo ballad album track "Curious". In 1986, they came out with their fifth album, HEADLINES and it went on to become their third gold album in a row. It featured the hit singles "Midas Touch" and the title cut - "Headlines". Shortly after the release of the album, the group had internal strife with management and one of its members - trumpeter Reginald Calloway, the leader and member credited as producer of three of their albums. With the departure of the Calloway brothers, Midnight Star re-energized, and now free of internal strife , the other members, Lipscomb, Cooper, Gant, Gentry, Lovelace, Simmons and Watson continued and released the self-titled album MIDNIGHT STAR in 1988. The album contained two hit singles, "Don't Rock The Boat" (which featured a guest rap from Ecstasy of Whodini) and "Snake In The Grass". The group continued to tour all over America, Europe and Japan. In 1990 they released their final album for Solar Records entitled WORK IT OUT. The seven member group enjoyed a mild hit from this album in the single "Do It (One More Time)". Group members took a brief hiatus to do individual projects for a short while. Belinda Lipscomb did plays and musicals, cut jingles and commercials; bassist Kenneth Gant performed with the late great Billy Preston; Melvin Gentry (called MacArthur) and Bo Watson did production chores on Shanice, Toni Braxton and others. MacArthur, recorded a here-to-fore unreleased album on Laface Records and also did a track “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” on the Arista album A LAFACE FAMILY CHRISTMAS. Watson also did several major tours with Babyface serving as the musical director, and performed the same chores with Toni Braxton. In 2000, charter member Jeffrey Cooper left the group to spend more time with his family. In 2002 the group, now a sextet formed their own indie label Reel Star Records and released the album 15th AVENUE. Sideman keyboardist Dave Stewart of Cincinnati, Ohio, augments the group's sound on live dates when keyboardist Bill Simmons is unable to attend. The group returned to Kentucky State University in October of 2006 for a concert to celebrate their 30 year anniversary. EMI Record recently re-released NO PARKING ON THE DANCE FLOOR with bonus cuts as well as the ULTIMATE COLLECTION cd.
Midnight Star of 2007 continues to perform all across America and other parts of the world. Recently having played Jamaica and Tokyo, Japan to sold oud enthusiastic audiences. They have been tracking new material for a new album release. Additionally negotiations are underway for dates in Europe for later in the year. The group has a website: [www.midnightstarband.com]
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