MARILYN McCOO and BILLY DAVIS, JR.
were the voices, original stars and lead singers of the legendary group, The 5th Dimension, before leaving the group in 1975. McCoo and Davis launched Champagne and Pop Soul Classics, including “Up, Up and Away,” “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In,” “Worst That Could Happen,” “Stoned Soul Picnic,” “Sweet Blindness,” “Wedding Bell Blues,” and “One Less Bell to Answer.” After leaving The 5th Dimension, Marilyn and Billy recorded “You Don’t Have to be a Star (to Be in My Show),” a chart topping Number 1 record, which won them their own Grammy Award and a television series on CBS. They are named by Billboard as “The First Couple of Pop and Soul.”
Performed at The Grand – September 1992
LOU RAWLS
(1933-2006) had a voice that was as distinctive and instantly recognizable as any in music. From his early days in gospel to his collaborations with Sam Cooke; from the Dick Clark Show at the Hollywood Bowl in 1959 to the opening for The Beatles in 1962 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati; from his monologues in the Seventies that presaged rap music to becoming a “crossover” artist before the term was invented, there was one constant in Lou Rawls’ career–a voice that one critic called “sweet as sugar, soft as velvet, strong as steel, smooth as butter.”
Performed at The Grand – September 2004
