Formed, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A., in 1977.
The S.O.S. Band enjoyed a long run of hits on the US R & B charts during the 80's.
The group originally consisted of:
Mary Davis (vocals, keyboards)
Jason TC Bryant (keyboards)
Billy R. Ellis (saxophone)
and
James Earl Jones III (drums)
The S.O.S Band were named after the Sounds Of Santa Monica, at Lamar's Regal Room in Atlanta.
They were discovered by Milton Lamar, the club's owner, who later became their manager.
The group were signed to the independent Tabu Records and soon added new members Willie 'Sonny' Killebrew (saxophone, flute), John Simpson Ill (bass, keyboards) and Bruno Speight (guitar).
The group then changed its name to the S.O.S. Band.
'Take Your Time (Do It Right) Part 1' rose to number 1 on the R & B chart and number 3 on the national pop chart.
That first 1980 set included the self titled title dance track, popular on the U.K. dancefloors.
'S.O.S. Band II' followed in 1981.
'III' followed in 1982, and included the popular tracks 'High Hopes' and 'Groovin (That's What We're Doing')'.
On the R & B chart, they reached the Top 10 four more times.
1983 saw 'Just be Good To Me' (reaching number 2) and 'Tell Me If You Still Care' (reaching number 5).
Both songs were taken from their 'On The Rise' album.
The same year the group provided the instrumentation for the Eddie Kendricks vehicle 'I Got My Eyes On You'.
1984 saw 'Just The Way You Like It' (reaching number 6), taken from the album of the same name.
The album also contained the popular songs 'No One's Gonna Love You' and 'Weekend Girl', featuring Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis as producers.
In 1986, 'The Finest' reached number 2, and was taken from their 'Sands of Time' album (which also contained the popular 'Even When You Sleep').
Five S.O.S. Band albums also charted in the U.S.A., the debut, 'S.O.S.', reaching number 12.
There were a number of personnel changes throughout the decade, with vocalist Mary Davis leaving for a solo career in 1987, and releasing the album 'Seperate Ways'.
1989 saw the penultimate release of 'Diamond In The Raw', with Chandra Currelly taking over from Mary Davis on lead vocals.
The band released a final album ('One Of Many Nights') on Arista in 1991.
Albums:
S.O.S. (Tabu Records 1980)
Two (Tabu Records 1981)
S.O.S. 3 (Tabu Records 1982)
On The Rise (Tabu Records 1983)
Just The Way You Like It (Tabu Records 1984)
Sands Of Time (Tabu Records 1985)
Diamonds In the Raw (Tabu Records 1989)
One Of Many Nights (Arista Records 1991)
