The Manhattan Transfer

In some ways an anachronism, Manhattan Transfer made it their business to revive the close harmony vocal style associated with swing era jazz and with a combination of nostalgia, slickness and style, they proved to be enduringly successful with hits like 'Chanson d'Amour' and 'Tuxedo Junction'. The driving force was Tim Hauser, who formed the group in 1969 with Erin Dickins, Marty Nelson and Pat Rosalia. Concentrating on material largely written by Gene Pistilli, they signed to Capitol and released their first album 'Jukin' in 1971, but Hauser was more interested in exploring jazz and swing than the R&B style preferred by Pistilli and re-formed the group to his own design with a new line-up featuring Alan Paul, Janis Siegel and Laurel Massé. Their visual stage act and jazz revivalism won them a devoted cult following and the band achieved their first hit with their arrangement of the old gospel tune 'Operator' and established their reputation further after being given their own TV series. Their next two albums 'Coming Out' and 'Pastiche' also brought them a string of hits all over Europe including the UK number one 'Chanson d'Amour'. Massé had to leave the group following a serious road accident in 1978, but her replacement Cheryl Bentyne helped them to further success as they embraced the disco era with another major hit 'Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone'. Through the 1980s they expanded their style to encompass R&B with the hits 'The Spice of Life' (co-written by Rod Temperton) and 'Mystery', while going on to explore Latin music with the likes of Gilberto Gil and Milton Nascimento on the 'Brasil' album. Continuing to use their close harmony style in different genres, they were still a popular live attraction four decades after they began. In 2011 Cheryl Bentyne was replaced by Margaret Dorn while she underwent cancer treatment and Hauser was also replaced for a time in 2013 while he recovered from spinal surgery. Although he came through the surgery, he had a heart attack the following year and died. The group brought in Trist Curless to fill in the bass/baritone sound.

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