Tavares (also known as The Tavares Brothers) is an American R&B, funk, and soul music group, composed of five Cape Verdean-American brothers. Born and raised in Providence, Rhode Island, they would later move to New Bedford, Massachusetts. They were inducted into the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame in 2014.
- Ralph — Ralph Edward Vierra Tavares (December 10, 1941)
- Pooch — Arthur Paul Tavares (November 12, 1942)
- Chubby — Antone Lee Tavares (June 2, 1944)
- Butch — Feliciano Vierra Tavares, Jr. (May 18, 1948)
- Tiny — Perry Lee Tavares (October 23, 1949)
Biography and career[]
The Tavares brothers, whose parents were of Cape Verdean descent, started performing in 1959 as Chubby and the Turnpikes when the youngest brother was 9. P-Funk keyboardist/architect Bernie Worrell briefly joined the group in 1968 while attending the New England Conservatory of Music. Future Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer appeared as the "token white-guy drummer" in a later incarnation called The Turnpikes from the fall of 1969 until September 1970, when he was invited to join Aerosmith. Chubby and The Turnpikes signed with Capitol Records in 1967 and had a couple of local hit records including "I Know The Inside Story" in 1967 and "Nothing But Promises" in 1968. By 1973, they had changed their name to Tavares and scored their first R&B Top 10 (Pop Top 40) hit with "Check it Out", and soon began charting regularly on the R&B and pop-charts. Their first album included their brother Victor, who sang lead on "Check it Out", but dropped out of the group shortly afterward. In 1974 Tavares had a #1 R&B hit with Hall & Oates's "She's Gone", (which became a hit for Hall & Oates as well two years later).
1975 turned out to be their most successful year chart-wise, with a Top 40 Pop album (In the City), the #25 hit "Remember What I Told You to Forget", and their biggest hit, the Top 10 Pop/#1 R&B smash "It Only Takes a Minute", which was later successfully covered by both Jonathan King and Take That, and sampled by Jennifer Lopez. They parlayed this success into a spot as an opening act for The Jackson 5. KC and The Sunshine Band was also on this tour. "Minute" was followed by a string of hits: "Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel" (1976), "Don't Take Away the Music" (1976), and "Whodunit" (1977, another #1 R&B hit). In 1977 they also recorded "I Wanna See You Soon", a duet with Capitol label mate Freda Payne which received airplay on BBC Radio 1 but failed to chart.
Many of their hits, however, underplayed their R&B background and gave the group the image of being a disco act. This perception was reinforced by their appearance on the soundtrack to the film Saturday Night Feverin 1977. Tavares recorded the Bee Gees song "More Than a Woman", and their version reached the Pop Top 40 that year. The soundtrack became one of the most successful in history, giving Tavares their only Grammy.
Later albums, such as Madam Butterfly and Supercharged, strayed from the disco format and were less successful on the pop chart (although they continued to have Top 10 R&B hits such as "Never Had a Love Like This Before" and the popular sociopolitical "Bad Times" written by British singer-songwriter Gerard McMahon). At the start of the 1980s, Tavares left Capitol Records, signing with RCA. They had one last major hit, the ballad "A Penny for Your Thoughts", for which they were nominated for a Grammy in 1982; their last major release was Words and Music in 1983.
In 1984, Ralph stepped down from the group. Pooch took over as the noncommissioned business/booking agent for TAVARES from 1984-2014. Tiny left in the mid-1990s to pursue his solo career while the other three brothers continued to tour. Tiny rejoined the group in 2009. In 2014 Pooch suffered a devastating stroke and the business/booking for TAVARES was turned over to Oriola Mngmt LLC. Pooch believed in the family business TAVARES and loyally stayed true to it throughout his singing career. He thanks his brother Ralph for stepping in during his illness. Pooch has regained his health and opts for retirement leaving the fans with the image of his last performance.
"It Only Takes a Minute" was later covered by British boy band Take That, becoming a Top 10 UK hit, and is featured in the soundtrack of Konami's dancing game Dance Dance Revolution 3rd Mix.
"Out of the Picture" was sampled by 50 Cent in his 2003 song "Many Men (Wish Death)".
Musician Feliciano "Flash" Vierra Tavares, the family patriarch and father of all members of Tavares, died in 2008.[2]
Chubby Tavares released his first solo album, Jealousy, on July 17, 2012, a few months after Tavares, the Four Tops (who recorded the original version of "Remember What I Told You To Forget"), and the Temptations toured the UK together. Preceding the album a digital-only single was released called "It's Christmas". On December 17, it reached #5 on Amazon's Acid Jazz chart. Both the album and the single were produced by Carla Olson, and the album was released by Fuel Records/Universal.
Discography[]
Studio albums[]
| Year | Album | Peak chart positions | Record Label | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [3] |
US R&B [3] |
AUS [4] |
CAN [5] |
NLD [6] |
UK [7] | |||||||||
| 1974 | Check It Out | 160 | 20 | — | — | — | — | Capitol | ||||||
| Hard Core Poetry | 121 | 11 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| 1975 | In the City | 26 | 8 | — | 93 | — | — | |||||||
| 1976 | Sky High! | 24 | 20 | 36 | 7 | 2 | 22 | |||||||
| 1977 | Love Storm | 59 | 15 | 99 | 67 | — | — | |||||||
| 1978 | Future Bound | 115 | 55 | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| 1979 | Madam Butterfly | 92 | 13 | — | 90 | — | — | |||||||
| 1980 | Supercharged | 75 | 20 | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| Love Uprising | 205 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| 1981 | Loveline | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| 1982 | New Directions | 137 | 30 | — | — | — | — | RCA | ||||||
| 1983 | Words and Music | 208 | 48 | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||||
Compilation albums[]
| Year | Album | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Record Label | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [3] |
US R&B [3] |
NLD [6] |
UK [7] | |||||||||||
| 1977 | The Best of Tavares | 72 | 42 | — | 39 |
|
Capitol | |||||||
| 1993 | Capitol Gold: The Best of Tavares | — | — | 28 | — | |||||||||
| 1996 | The Greatest Hits | — | — | — | — | EMI | ||||||||
| 1997 | It Only Takes a Minute: A Lifetime with Tavares | — | — | — | — | |||||||||
| 2001 | The Best of Tavares | — | — | — | — | EMI-Capitol | ||||||||
| 2002 | Classic Masters | — | — | — | — | Capitol | ||||||||
| 2004 | Anthology | — | — | — | — | |||||||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||||
Singles[]
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [3] |
US R&B [3] |
US Dan [3] |
US A/C [3] |
AUS [4] |
CAN [5] |
IRE [9] |
NLD [6] |
NZ [10] |
UK [7] | |||||
| 1973 | "Check It Out" | 35 | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1974 | "That's the Sound That Lonely Makes" | 70 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Too Late" | 59 | 10 | — | — | — | 67 | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "She's Gone" | 50 | 1 | — | — | — | 96 | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1975 | "Remember What I Told You to Forget" (A-side) | 25 | 4 | — | — | — | 46 | — | — | — | — | |||
| "My Ship" (B-side) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "It Only Takes a Minute" | 10 | 1 | 2 | — | — | 17 | — | — | — | 46 | ||||
| "Free Ride" | 52 | 8 | — | — | — | 71 | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1976 | "The Love I Never Had" | — | 11 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel (Part 1)" | 15 | 3 | 1 | 18 | 30 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 30 | 4 |
| |||
| "Don't Take Away the Music" | 34 | 14 | — | — | 48 | 7 | 5 | — | 4 |
| ||||
| 1977 | "The Mighty Power of Love" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 25 | |||
| "Whodunit" | 22 | 1 | — | 31 | 32 | 15 | — | 7 | 3 | 5 | ||||
| "One Step Away" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 16 | ||||
| "Goodnight My Love" | — | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "More Than a Woman" | 32 | 36 | — | — | — | 29 | — | 34 | — | 7 | ||||
| "I Wanna See You Soon" (with Freda Payne) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1978 | "The Ghost of Love (Part 1)" | — | 48 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 29 | |||
| "Timber" | — | 94 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Slow Train to Paradise" | — | — | — | — | — | — | 18 | — | — | 62 | ||||
| "Never Had a Love Like This Before" | — | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1979 | "Straight from Your Heart" | — | 77 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Bad Times" | 47 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1980 | "I Can't Go on Living Without You" | — | 42 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Love Uprising" | — | 17 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1981 | "Loneliness" | — | 64 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Turn Out the Nightlight" | — | 45 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Loveline" | — | 47 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1982 | "A Penny for Your Thoughts" | 33 | 16 | — | 15 | 60 | — | — | 45 | 17 | — | |||
| 1983 | "Got to Find My Way Back to You" | — | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Deeper in Love" | — | 10 | 41 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Words and Music" | — | 29 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1985 | "Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel (Remix by Ben Liebrand)" | — | — | — | — | — | — | 8 | 11 | — | 12 | |||
| "Don't Take Away the Music (Hands off the Music Mix)" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 48 | — | — | ||||
| 1986 | "It Only Takes a Minute (Remix by Ben Liebrand)" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 46 | |||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||||
Awards[]
The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States for outstanding achievements in the music industry. Often considered the highest music honor, the awards were established in 1958.[12] Tavares has won one award from one nomination.
Tavares was inducted into the RI Music Hall of Fame in 2014.
| Year | Nominated work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack | Album of the Year | Won |
Rayman Raving Rabbids: TV Party[]
In 2008, Ubisoft revised Tavres' hit single "Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel" using Part 2 for "Rayman Raving Rabbids: TV Party"
Gallery[]
