The Shades of Blue

The Shades of Blue were an American blue-eyed soul vocal group[1] from Livonia, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit.

The band started in high school as The Domingos. By 1965 The Domingos signed a recording contract for the Detroit-based Golden World label. John Rhys, a sound engineer, suggested a name channge and The Shades of Blue was the result.

Their biggest hit was the 1966 song "Oh How Happy", written by Edwin Starr, which reached number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, number 16 on the US Billboard R&B chart,[2] and the Top 10 in Canada. That same year, the song "Lonely Summer", again written by Starr, reached number 72, and then "Happiness" peaked at number 78 in the Hot 100.[1]

Taste in popular music changed in the late 1960s, and the group's later single efforts failed to chart and they disbanded in 1970.

In 2003, 33 years after they disbanded, the group reformed and continue to tour with new lineups.

Original group members included Nick Marinelli, Ernie Dernai, Linda Allen, and Bob Kerr.[3]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Hamilton, Andrew. "Shades of Blue - Music Biography, Credits and Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-07-05.
  2. ↑ "Shades of Blue - Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-07-05.
  3. ↑

External links