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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZCHI-LITES, TheUSA vocal group who came out of doo-wop to create a smooth new soul style, with 21 Hot 100 entries '69-75. Lead tenor Eugene Record (d 22 July 2005 of cancer, aged 64) formed the Chanteurs with tenor Robert 'Squirrel' Lester and Clarence Johnson, according to Record's obituary in the New York Times; they released a single in 1959, and were joined by baritone Marshall Thompson and bass Creadel 'Red' Jones and became the Hi-Lites, having a regional hit 'Love Bandit' on the Daran label; at some point Johnson had left, and they signed as the Chi-Lites with Carl Davis, vice-president of Brunswick. First release 'Give It Away' '69 was no. 10 soul, 88 pop; in the black power era '(For God's Sake) Give More Power To The People' became their first pop top 40 USA/UK); the more MOR 'Have You Seen Her' '72 became no. 1 soul, 3 pop USA/UK (co-written by Record and labelmate Barbara Acklin, whose own big hit was 'Love Makes A Woman', no. 3 soul, 15 pop '68. Record and Acklin were married for a while.) 'Have You Seen Her' had a pensive spoken verse, a device Record also used on 'A Letter To Myself'; he sometimes sang in an ecstatic falsetto, as in 'Stoned Out Of My Mind', also co-written with Acklin. Record's song 'Oh Girl' was no. 1 soul/pop USA, no. 14 UK, also in '72. There were no more top ten pop hits USA, but 'Homely Girl' and 'Too Good To Be Forgotten' made it in the UK '74, and a pair of hits reissued back-to-back re-charted to no. 5 in the UK '75. Jones left '73; Record went solo '76 and made three albums on Warner Brothers; they re-formed with the four original members in 1980 for hits in the black chart on Record's own Chi-Sound label. The hits in the Billboard black chart totaled 41 in 1984, and the group carried on in clubs, singers passing through over the years including Stanley Anderson, Willie Kensey, Doc Roberson, David Scott, Danny Johnson and Vandy Hampton. Record sang with them in the film Only The Strong Survive, a documentary about 1960s and '70s soul artists. The Chi-Lites' best-loved hits are still heard on the radio today, and sampled by artists such as Beyoncé Knowles (in her blockbuster 2003 hit 'Crazy In Love': Record shared in the Grammy award for best R&B song). |