Uptown Festival (song)
| "Uptown Festival" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Shalamar | ||||
| from the album Uptown Festival | ||||
| B-side | "Simón's Theme (Instr.)" | |||
| Released | March 1977 | |||
| Recorded | 1976 | |||
| Studio | Bolic Sound, Inglewood, California | |||
| Genre | Funk, disco, R&B | |||
| Length | 8:52 (album) 3:59 (single) | |||
| Label | Soul Train | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Holland–Dozier–Holland, Smokey Robinson, Pete Moore, Bobby Rogers, Marvin Tarplin, Stevie Wonder, Sylvia Moy, Henry Cosby, Hank Cosby, Norman Whitfield, William "Mickey" Stevenson, Edward Holland, Jr. | |||
| Producer(s) | Simon Soussan | |||
| Shalamar singles chronology | ||||
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"Uptown Festival" is the debut single by the band Shalamar, released on Soul Train Records in 1977. The song is a medley of ten Motown classics sung over a 1970s disco beat. The radio edit, "Uptown Festival (Part 1)", became a hit peaking at No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 10 on the R&B chart and No. 2 on the Dance chart. It also charted internationally. After the success of the single, Dick Griffey, the booking agent for Soul Train, formed a vocal group, resulting in the first incarnation of Shalamar with Jody Watley, Jeffrey Daniels and Gary Mumford.