ENTERTAINMENT: TAVARES
R&B Group
The story of the Grammy Award-winning group Tavares is the inspirational tale of a band of young brothers bound not only by blood, prodigious talent, and a rich musical legacy, but by a fierce determination to succeed in the music business. Over two decades, the Tavares Brothers placed eight singles on Billboard's Top 40, 12 Singles on the R&B Top 10 Chart (Including three #1 records), three Dance Chart hits, 10 hit albums, and won a Grammy Award for their work on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, which has been certified 15 times Platinum. Although most resources refer to Tavares as a New Bedford, Massachusetts band, they also spent much of their early years in Providence, Rhode Island.
The Tavares Brothers started performing in 1959 as Chubby and The Turnpikes. In 1967 the band signed with Capitol Records and had a couple of local hit records including “I Know The Inside Story” and “Nothing But Promises.” 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” featuring their brother Victor, who left the band soon after. In 1974, Tavares had a #1 R&B Hit with Hall & Oates's “She's Gone,” and they followed that success with “Remember What I Told You to Forget.”
1975 was their most successful year chart-wise, with a Top 40 pop album (In The City) and their biggest hit, the Top 10 Pop/#1 R&B smash “It Only Takes a Minute.” That was followed by a string of hits: “Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel,” “Don't Take Away The Music,” and “Whodunnit.” Their appearance on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack featured their Grammy Award-winning recording of the Bee Gees song “More Than a Woman.” At the start of the 1980's, Tavares had their last major hit, the ballad “A Penny for Your Thoughts,” for which they were nominated for a Grammy. Their last major release was “Words and Music” in 1983.
In 2014, Tavares was inducted into the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame. Along with Ralph, Chubby, Pooch, Butch and Tiny, brothers John and Victor were also honored for their contributions during the group's formative years. Today, brothers Chubby, Tiny and Butch carry on the Tavares family tradition, performing sold-out concerts around the world with no end in sight! For more information, visit TAVARESBROTHERS.com.
