Steve Arrington

Steve Arrington
Birth name Steven Ralph Arrington
Born March 5, 1956 (1956-03-05) (age 55)
Origin Dayton, Ohio, United States
Genres Funk, soul, R&B, gospel, pop
Occupations Singer, songwriter, drummer, producer, engineer, minister
Years active 1979-90
2009-present
Labels Stones Throw, Atlantic, Manhattan, God Factor Records
Associated acts Slave, Steve Arrington's Hall of Fame
Website godfactorrecords.com

Steve Arrington (born Steven Ralph Arrington, March 5, 1956), is an American singer, songwriter, drummer, record producer, engineer and minister, who grew up in Dayton, Ohio.[1]

Contents

Biography

Arrington played in various local bands before joining and touring with The Murphy's, a lounge band out of Toledo, Ohio, in 1975. Approximately a year later, Arrington relocated from Ohio to San Francisco, California where he learned Latin percussion and drumming as well as played with Coke Escovedo and Pete Escovedo and Sheila E.

He joined the funk group Slave (founded 1975) on their third LP called, The Concept in 1978 originally to play percussion, then later becoming the drummer and a backing vocalist. Eventually Arrington took over the lead vocals on the hit singles "Just a Touch of Love", "Watching You" (which has been sampled by Snoop Dog) and "Wait for Me".

Arrington left Slave in 1982, forming Steve Arrington's Hall of Fame,[2][3] and had hit singles such as "Weak At The Knees" (which was sampled by Jay-Z, Jermaine Dupri, N.W.A, and others), and "Nobody Can Be You But You".

His most successful album was his 1985 solo work, Dancin' in the Key of Life, whose title track became a Top Ten R&B hit. The single also spent three weeks at number two on the dance charts.[4] Another single from the album, "Feel So Real" reached #6 in the UK Singles Chart in May that year.[5] He was nominated for the NAACP Image Award for Best Male Artist of 1986.

In 1984, Arrington experienced a religious conversion, later becoming a minister and, in 1990, he left pop music until his re-emergence in October 2009, when he released the R&B, Funk, spiritual album Pure Thang.

In September 2010, Stones Throw Records announced that Arrington was working with producer Dâm-Funk on a new album.[6] In February, Arrington did an interview with The Revivalist[7] and told them his new album, "Love, Peace and Funky Beatz" was due out late summer early fall 2011.

Discography

Solo albums

*2009: Pure Thang - (God Factor Records)

Solo singles

*2011: "Goin Hard" maxi-single (Stones Throw Records)

Compilation albums

Albums with Steve Arrington's Hall of Fame

Singles with Steve Arrington's Hall of Fame

Albums with Slave

References

  1. ^ "Steve Arrington Biography". http://pluto.matrix49.com/15777/?subpages/bio.shtml. 
  2. ^ Vincent, Rickey (1996). FUNK The Music, the People, and the Rhythm of The One. St Martin's Griffin. pp. 228 and 283. 
  3. ^ Wynn, Ron. "Biography: Steve Arrington". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p15477/biography. Retrieved 20 July 2010. 
  4. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003. Record Research. p. 23. 
  5. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 30. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. 
  6. ^ "Steve Arrington & Dam-Funk "I Be Trippin"". http://www.stonesthrow.com/news/2010/09/steve-arrington-dam-funk-i-be-trippin. 
  7. ^ Gao, Boyaun (March 2, 2011). "Steve Arrington’s Revival: Exclusive Audio, Video, & Funk". http://revivalist.okayplayer.com/2011/03/02/steve-arringtons-revival-exclusive-audio-video-funk/. Retrieved March 2, 2011. 

External links