b. Colonel Abrams, 25th May 1949, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A.
d. 25th November 2016, New York City, U.S.A.
Colonel Abrams is a singer and songwriter from Detroit, Michigan.
He was called Colonel at birth, which is his real name.
At ten years of age Colonel and his family relocated to New York during the late Sixties.
Colonel then joined the group Conservative Manor which featured his brother Morris Abrams.
By 1976, he was singing lead vocals for the group 94 East (a band whose line-up featured Prince on guitar) before joining the New Jersey group Surprise Package.
In 1984, he recorded a ballad 'Leave The Message Behind The Door', released on New York's Streetwise label.
The highly popular dancer, 'Music Is The Answer', a forerunner to the later 'house music' sound, was also featured on the same 12".
In 1985 he signed to MCA Records for a debut album 'Colonel Abrams', including 'Trapped' (U.K. Top 5) and 'The Truth' (U.K. Top 75).
The line-up of producers on the album included Cerrone and Sam Dees.
A second album, 'You And Me Equal Us', including 'I'm Not Gonna Let You' (U.K. Top 30) and 'How Soon We Forget' (U.K. Top 75), was released in 1987.
Leaving MCA for the independent Horus label, Colonel released a single, 'Bad Timing', in 1990, produced by Larry Blackmon of Cameo.
Two years later, he recorded a third album entitled 'About Romance' for the Acid Jazz / Scotti Brothers Record label.
The album highlighted a more soulful sound epitomised by the stepper 'Good Things' (a track later to feature on an Expansion Records compilation in the U.K.).
colonel at the happy days show in surrey in 2012 (he became unwell on stage and was treated by medics at the event)
Colonel Abrams died in November 2016.
He had been homeless and had been, additionally, suffering from diabetes.
Albums:
Colonel Abrams (MCA Records 1986)
You And Me Equals Us (MCA Records 1987)
About Romance (RCA Records 1992)
Victim of Loving You (Strictly Records 1995)
Make a Difference (Dancefloor Records 1996)
