The Monitors (American group)
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The Monitors | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Origin | Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
Genres | R&B, Soul, Pop, Motown |
Years active | 1964–1971, 1980s |
Labels | Thelma, Motown, Motorcity |
Past members | Richard Street Warren Harris Sandra Fagin John "Maurice" Fagin Darrell Littlejohn Herschel Hunter Leah Harris |
The Monitors were an
Career
Harris and Street were school friends of Otis Williams and Melvin Franklin. Street became a member of the Distants with Williams and Franklin, but left before the group merged with the Primes to become The Temptations. Street recorded on Thelma Records, as Richard Street & the Distants, releasing the unsuccessful single "Answer Me", produced by Norman Whitfield, and also worked as a songwriter and as a member of another group, the Peps. Street and Harris then formed a group together with Sandra and John Fagin.[2]
Their first release, as The Majestics, was to have been "Hello Love" on Motown's
Because of The Monitors' lack of success, its members held other positions within the Motown corporation to sustain income. Richard Street, for example, worked in Motown's Quality Control department, and later traveled with The Temptations as a stand-in for
British producer Ian Levine recorded a new version of The Monitors in the late 1980s, with lead singer Darrell Littlejohn (a nephew of Smokey Robinson), Warren Harris, Maurice Fagin, Herschel Hunter, and Leah Harris, but without Street.[2] The group released a new album, Grazing in the Grass, on Levine's Motorcity label.[3] One single, "Standing Still" was released, in 1990.
The Elgins Meet The Monitors, a British import CD, was released in 1997. It pairs their sole album for Motown with one by fellow Motown group
Discography
Albums
- Soul, 1968)
- Grazing in the Grass (Motorcity, 1990)
- The Monitors Meet the Elgins (Marginal, 1997)
- Say You! The Motown Anthology (Kent Soul, 2014)
Singles
Year | Title and catalogue number | Peak chart positions | |
---|---|---|---|
US [6] |
US R&B [1][6] | ||
1964 | "Hello Love" (V.I.P. 25010, unreleased)
b/w "The Further You Look the Less You See" |
— | — |
1965 | " Say You " (V.I.P. 25028)
b/w "All for Someone" |
— | 36 |
1966 | " Greetings (This Is Uncle Sam) " (V.I.P. 25032)
b/w "Number One in Your Heart" |
100 | 21 |
"Since I Lost You, Girl" (V.I.P. 25039)
b/w "Don't Put Off 'Til Tomorrow What You Can Do Today" |
117 | — | |
1968 | "Bring Back the Love" (V.I.P. 25046)
b/w "The Further You Look the Less You Can" |
— | — |
"Step by Step (Hand in Hand)" (S 35049)
b/w "Time Is Passin' By" |
— | — | |
1990 | "Standing Still" (MOTC 22)
b/w "Standing Still (Instrumental)" |
— | — |
"—" denotes a single that was not released in that territory or did not chart |
References
- ^ a b c Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004. Record Research. p. 312.
- ^ a b c Hamilton, Andrew. "The Monitors | Biography, Albums, Streaming Links". AllMusic. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
- ^ "Grazing in the Grass – The Monitors | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
- ^ "Elgins Meet the Monitors – The Elgins, The Monitors | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
- ^ "Say You! The Motown Anthology 1963–1968 – The Monitors | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
- ^ a b "The Monitors Top Songs / Chart Singles Discography". Music VF. Retrieved October 12, 2022.