New York Skyy are an eight-piece soul / funk band who were formed in New York.
Known as Skyy in America, they were led by Randy Muller (Brass Construction).
The other members were:
Denise Dunning Crawford (vocals)
Delores Dunning-Milligan (vocals)
Bonnie Dunning (vocals)
Anibal Anthony (guitar)
Gerald Le Bon (bass)
Tommy McConnell (drums) (d. 2022)
and
Larry Greenberg (keyboards)
Skyy were and R&B and Funk band from New York.
The group were active between 1979 and 1992.
The group started out during 1973 in Brooklyn.
Three sisters namely, Denise, Delores, and Bonne Dunning joined ranks with a musician by the name of Solomon Roberts, Jr.
The quartet were brought under the wing of the keyboard player and producer, Randy Muller, who was the man at the helm of the funk band Brass Construction.
Tommy McConnell
By 1976, Randy had recruited Anibal Anthony Sierra, Larry Greenberg, Gerald Lebon and Tommy McConnell to the quartet to form the group.
skyy - 1979 / skyyport - 1980 / skyway - 1980 / skyy line - 1981
Sky signed to the Salsoul imprint, and released their self titled debut album in 1979.
Two albums followed in 1980, which were, ’Skyyport’ (featuring ‘Here's To You’) and ’Skyyway’ (featuring ‘High’).
In 1981, the group released ‘Skyy Line’, which brought the group some immediate success, with the single ‘Call Me’.
‘Call Me’ was the group’s first top 40 hit on the pop charts, reaching number 26 in 1982.
The album also featured the dancer ‘Let's Celebrate’.
skyyjammer - 1982 / skyylight - 1983 / inner city - 1984 / from the left side - 1986
Further successful albums followed, including ‘Skyyjammer’ (in 1982 and featuring ‘Let Love Shine’), ’Skyylight’ (in 1983 and featuring ’Show Me The Way’) and ‘Inner City’ (in 1984).
Salsoul Records folded in 1985, so Skyy relocated to Capitol Records, in 1986, for the album ‘From the Left Side’.‘From the Left Side’ featured the single ‘Givin' It (to You)’, which reached the top ten on the R&B charts.
Skyy switched labels again for their follow up album, this time to the Atlantic Records imprint.
start of a romance - 1989 / nearer to you - 1992
1989 saw the release of ‘Start of a Romance’ , which featured two number 1 R&B singles.
The singles ‘Start of a Romance’ and ‘Real Love’ both topped the charts.
‘Real Love’ reached number 47 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1990.
In 1992, Skyy released the, Randy Muller produced, album ‘Nearer to You’, which turned out to be the group’s final album outing.
Tommy McConnell, sadly, passed away in 2022.
Albums:
Skyy (Salsoul Records 1979)
Skyway (Salsoul Records 1979)
Skyyport (Salsoul Records 1980)
Skyline (Salsoul Records 1981)
SkyyJammers (Salsoul Records 1982)
Skyylight (Salsoul Records 1983)
Inner City (Salsoul Records 1984)
From The Left Side (Capitol Records 1986)
Start Of A Romance (Atlantic Records 1988)
Nearer to you (Atlantic Records 1992)