Shalamar

Shalamar is an American R&B and soul music vocal group based in New-York and active in the mid-1970s and throughout the 1980s and beyond. Originally a disco-driven vehicle created by Soul Train booking agent Dick Griffey and show creator and producer Don Cornelius, the band went on to be an influential dance trio masterminded by Cornelius. The book entitled British Hit Singles & Albums notes that the band members were regarded as fashion icons and trendsetters, and helped to introduce "body-popping" to the United Kingdom. The name, "Shalamar", was picked by Griffey.

Shalamar's first single, the 1977 Motown medley "Uptown Festival," featured a bevy of faceless studio musicians; once it became a hit, Griffey decided to form a performing group under the name Shalamar. Through Soul Train, Griffey found Jody Watley, Jeffrey Daniel, and Gerald Brown, the three vocalists that became Shalamar; Brown was quickly replaced by Howard Hewitt in 1978.