Gonzalez (band)

Gonzalez
Origin	London, England
Genres	R&B, funk, soul
Years active	1970–1986
Labels	EMI, Capitol
Associated acts	Gass, Gloria Jones, Freddie King, Hummingbird, The Olympic Runners
Past members
Bobby Tench Lenny Zakatek Robert Ahwai Godfrey McClean Delisle Harper Kuma Harada Lennox Langton Glen LeFleur Geoffrey "Bud" Beadle Roy Davies Mick Eve Gordon Hunte Chris Mercer Colin Jackas Bobby Stignac Larry Steele Viola Wells George Chandler Janice Hoyte

Gonzalez were a British R&B and funk band. They became well known as a backing band for touring R&B, funk and soul stars. Their eponymous album was released in 1974 and they recorded a total of six albums before disbanding in 1986, and are best known for their single success with their worldwide Disco hit, "I Haven't Stopped Dancing Yet".

History

The original band was formed by Godfrey McLean and Bobby Tench in 1970 and included other members of Gass, with the line-up of Tench as vocalist and guitarist, drummer Godfrey McLean, bassist Delisle Harper and percussionist Lennox Langton. At the end of May 1970, Tench left Gonzalez to became a member of The Jeff Beck Group and the band formed a new core membership, with saxophonists Mick Eve, Chris Mercer, Geoffrey "Bud" Beadle, keyboardist Roy Davies and guitarist Gordon Hunte. Later George Chandler, Glen LeFleur and Delisle Harper were included whilst simultaneously members of The Olympic Runners. Vocalist Lenny Zakatek joined in 1974 and they released their first album Gonzalez (1974), which featured a heavy funk sound. Our Only Weapon is Our Music (1975) followed, released on EMI's sister label, Capitol.

By 1977 they had found an audience among disco enthusiasts, with the Gloria Jones song "Haven't Stopped Dancing Yet" which reached #26 on the Billboard Hot 100. A remix of the song reached #7 on the US Club Play chart and #15 in the UK Singles Chart. The band's third and fourth albums, Shipwrecked and Move It to the Music were produced by Jones. Eve and Hunte left, before the single "Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady" was released as an attempt to duplicate the wide appeal of "Haven't Stopped Dancing Yet".

In 1980 and after five years with the band Lenny Zakatek left to sing vocals with The Alan Parsons Project. The band's follow-up singles and their fifth album Watch Your Step, were not successful and the group lost its major label status. Gonzalez then worked with Pye Records and concentrated on live performances, usually backing R&B, funk and soul stars, such as Freddie King.

Roy Davies died in 1986 and Gonzalez disbanded.

Discography

• Gonzalez (EMI), (1974)
• Our Only Weapon Is Our Music (Capitol), (1975)
• Shipwrecked (Capitol), (1977)
• Haven't Stopped Dancin' (Capitol), (1979) - reissue of Shipwrecked - US #67
• Move it to the Music (Capitol), (1979)
• Watch Your Step (Capitol), (1980)

Bibliography

• Thompson, Dave. Funk, Backbeat (2001). ISBN 978-0-87930-629-8
• Whitburn, Joel. The Book of Top 40 Hits, Billboard Books (2004). Edition 8 (revised). ISBN 978-0-8230-7499-0
• Carson, Annette. Jeff Beck: Crazy Fingers, Backbeat (2001). ISBN 978-0-87930-632-8

External links

• Musicians Olympus. "Bobby Tench and Gonzalez". Archived from the original on 2009-10-25. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/sunsetstrip/Palladium/2214/btenc_bands.htm&date=2009-10-25+18:29:11. 
• "Gonzalez". Allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p17934.