Tavares

With their roots dating all the way back to 1959, soul music group Tavares is one of the longest-running bands in R&B and is best known for the 1977 hit single “Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel” and their version of “More Than a Woman,” which was featured on the soundtrack to the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever. The group’s history began in 1959 with Linda & The Del Rios, a doo wop group that featured four Tavares brothers: Chubby (real name: Antone), John, Pooch (real name: Arthur), and Ralph. The brothers, whose parents were of Cape Verdean descent, were born in New Bedford, Massachusetts and Providence, Rhode Island, where they began their music career. After the dissolution of Linda & The Del Rios, the four brothers formed Chubby and The Turnpikes in the early 1960s. Signing to Capitol Records, the group released singles in 1967 and 1968, although they didn’t achieve national success. By 1973, Tiny (real name: Perry Lee) had joined the line-up and they changed their name to Tavares. Other family members including Victor and Butch (real name: Feliciano) would also join the group at various times throughout their career. Tavares achieved chart success in 1973 with the single “Check It Out,” which reached number 5 on Billboard’s R&B Singles chart and number 35 in the Hot 100. Their fourth single – a cover of Hall & Oates’ “She’s Gone” – hit number one on the R&B Singles chart. Their next number 1 R&B single was 1975’s “It Only Takes a Minute.” While it only reached number 3 on the R&B Singles chart, their single “Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel” (1976) – taken from their internationally successful album Sky High! - became their best known song. Tavares achieved one more number 1 hit with “Whodunit,” in 1977, the same year their version of Bee Gees’ “More Than a Woman” was featured on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. The song was also released as a single and entered the Top 40 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and R&B Singles charts. The group continued to tour and release singles over the next decade but by 1986, they had run out of commercial steam. The members of Tavares drifted in and out of the group as they have continued to tour. Ralph Tavares died on December 8, 2021, at the age of 79. Paul ‘Pooch’ Tavares died on April 15, 2024, at the age of 81.

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