The Dynamic Superiors - 3 Albums
Posted by nikos1109
Joining forces in Washington, DC, in 1963, Tony Washington, George Spann, George Wesley Peterbank Jnr., Michael McCalpin and Maurice Washington had to wait a decade to win a recording contract. Motown Records president Ewart Abner saw them performing at a talent show in Atlanta, Georgia, and signed them to the label in 1974. They were teamed with the Ashford And Simpson writing and production team, and their debut album was a collection of romantic soul ballads that produced two hits, “Shoe Shoe Shine” and “Leave It Alone’. Their second album, Pure Pleasure, added a disco feel to the Superiors” sound, and spawned two further chart entries. In 1977, the group enjoyed some success with a disco rearrangement of the Martha And The Vandellas’ hit, “Nowhere To Run”, but they subsequently left Motown, and attempts to secure a major label recording contract elsewhere proved unsuccessful.
The Dynamic Superiors - 1975 - The Dynamic Superiors
Michael McCalpin, George Wesley Peterbark Jr., George Spann and brothers Maurice and Toni Washington grew up in the same Washington, D.C. housing project. The five went to school together, singing on street corners and playing in various talent contests along the way. By the time they were in high school they’d formed The Superiors and were lying about their ages in order to play D.C. niteclubs.
Signed by the Sue label, they made their recording debut with an instantly obscure 1969 single:
- ‘Heavenly Angel’ b/w ‘I’d rather Die’ (Sue catalog number 12)
This is a @320 vinyl rip of the original Motown LP including covers.
Tracks
A1 Shoe Shoe Shine 3:45
A2 Soon 3:44
A3 Leave It Alone 3:40
A4 Don’t Send Nobody Else 3:39
A5 Romeo 3:45
B1 Star Of My Life 3:44
B2 Cry When You Want To 4:17
B3 I Got Away 2:18
B4 One-Nighter 4:00
B5 Release Me 3:28
Two years later they got their big break when they were discovered Motown executive Ewart Abner at a 1972 dj convention in Atlanta and signed to the label. It apparently took Motown management awhile to figure out how to deal with the group, eventually teaming them with the writing and production team of Nikolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson. To Motown’s credit the label made no attempt to hide lead singer Tony Washington’s openly gay lifestyle - a fact underscored by one quick look at “The Dynamic Superiors” cover art. Not that it mattered … Washington may have worn false eye lashes, rouge, lipstick, and occasionally performed in drag, but he had a killer voice. On tracks like ‘Shoe Shine Shine’ and ‘Star of My Life’ he was more than capable of hitting high notes a-la Russell Tompkins Jr.. At the other end of the spectrum Washington’s falsetto was nicely offset by tenors Peterbark Jr and Spann. With Ashford and Simpson bringing their top-shelf material to the recording sessions (they were responsible for nine of the ten songs), this was simply one of the best old school vocal group LPs I’ve ever heard. With the exception of the overly sensitive ‘Cry When You Want To’ virtually every one of these songs would have made a dandy single and was worth hearing. With so many standout tracks highlights were hard to pick up, but included ‘Leave It Alone’, the blazing ‘Don’t Send Nobody Else’ and ‘I Got Awat’. Elsewhere Motown tapped the album for a pair of singles:
- 1974’s ‘Shoe Shine Shine’ b/w ‘Release Me’ (Motown catalog number M 1324F) # 6 pop; # 16 R&B
- 1975’s ‘Leave It Alone’ b/w ‘One-Nighter’ (Motown catalog number M 1342F) # 102 pop; # 13 R&B
———————————————-
The Dynamic Superiors - 1975 - Pure Pleasure
A sweet set of vocal group tunes from the Dynamic Superiors — arranged with a bit more of a high stepping groove than some of the other Motown work of the time. Backings are handled by a range of talents that includes Paul Riser, William Eaton, Al Gorgoni, and Horace Ott — but the real charm is the way the group’s innocent harmony style puts over the lyrics, all of which are very strong tunes written by the team of Ashford & Simpson.
This is a @320 vinyl rip of the original Motown LP including covers.
Tracks
A1 Deception 4:49
A2 Pleasure 3:19
A3 Nobody’s Gonna Change Me 5:30
A4 Feeling Mellow 4:13
B1 Face the Music 3:08
B2 Hit And Run Lovers 4:06
B3 A Better Way 3:38
B4 Don’t Give Up On Me Baby 3:03
B5 Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing 4.13
1975’s “Pure Pleasure” found The Dynamic Superiors continuing their collaboration with producers/writers Nicholas Ashford and Valerie Simpson. Like the debut, Ashford and Simpson wrote nine of the ten songs which meant the group was 100% dependent on the quality of the material being brought to them. In most cases that spells bad news for non-writing acts and the first couple of times I listened to this set I felt it was very good, but a shade below the debut. Pulling it out for the first time in a couple of years I’ll tell you I was just plain wrong and their sophomore album was every bit as good as the debut. Side one was near perfect. Four great songs with great arrangements, courtesy of Horace Ott, Al Gorgonia and William Eaton, and a series of great performances.
Motown also tapped the album for a pair of singles: -
1975’s ‘Nobody’s Gonna Change Me’ b/w ‘I Got Away’ (Motown catalog number M 1359F)
- 1975’s ‘Deception’ b/w ‘One-Nighter’ (Motown catalog number M 1365F
———————————————-
The Dynamic Superiors - 1977 - Give and Take
Though it lacked the hit singles of their early work, the disco-oriented Give and Take was the best work the Dynamic Superiors ever did for Motown. 1977’s Give & Take, produced by Brian Holland for Holland-Dozier-Holland Productions, included spirited material along with covers of “Nowhere To Run” and Stevie wonder’s “All In Love Is Fair.”
This is a @320 vinyl rip of the original LP including covers
Tracks
A1 Happy Song 6:07
A2 Give It All Up 3:51
A3 Nowhere To Run 9:07
B1 You’re What I Need 4:47
B2 All In Love Is Fair 4:31
B3 All You Can Do With Love 3:33
B4 Here Comes That Feeling Again 4:22
B5 Once Is Just Not Enough 5:03
I decided to search more of The Dynamic Superiors when i heard the beautiful cover of “All In Love Is Fair”, last Sunday morning, on my ipod. I had those 3 albums in my collection for years and I immediately started ripping them. I think every Soul/Funk lover should have them. They’ve never been released on CD.
So enjoy and tell us your opinion about the group and the albums.
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September 2nd, 2009 at 4:00 am
Wow! I used to have this album. Played it to death. I worked in a record store in Newark, New Jersey when this album came out. I would rave about the album to potential buyers, But I remember guys, who would have no problem buying, say, a Stylistics album (isn’t Russell Tompkins Jr. gay too?), being turned off by the cover of the Dynamic Superiors. To Motown’s credit they didn’t shy away from the lead singer’s flamboyant gayness, but they might have sold more albums if they had. I was surprise to learn that “Shoe Shoe Shine” actually made a better showing on the pop charts than on the R&B charts. I never heard the song on a pop station in the Northeast.
Thanks for the share.
Keep on Keeping on!
Pegasi
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:06 am
I’ve always thought “Shoe Shoe Shine” was a great sound on the Dynamic Superiors album. I hate that they didn’t really get a chance. Thanks for sharing.
September 2nd, 2009 at 12:41 pm
DAMN! This is a BIG post, friends! :¬)
Thank you!
/Laf
September 2nd, 2009 at 8:02 pm
One of my favorite Washington, D.C. soul groups.
September 2nd, 2009 at 9:11 pm
whoa what a great post nikos wonderful music in all these albums many thanx
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:05 pm
excellent post nikos - thank you!
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:57 pm
SUPERB ALBUM KILLER BLOG! PEACE…
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:59 pm
SUPERB ALBUM KILLER BLOG ! PEACE…
September 3rd, 2009 at 9:13 am
What more can I say but Thank you for this post and the info that accompanies it - as usual. This is just superb - I can honestly tell you that there are 1000`s of people dreaming about getting their hands on this stuff and I`m happy to be one of the 1st - thanks to you guys. Much appreciated. Peace
September 3rd, 2009 at 9:24 am
Simply Beautiful Nikos! Great Group.
September 3rd, 2009 at 9:02 pm
Thanks, looks cool
September 4th, 2009 at 4:52 am
Thanks for this post, Nikos. It inspired me to do some digging. I just read a couple of articles about this group and I am amazed at what a gay pioneer Tony Washington was. He refused to hide his sexuality and the crowds (most times) loved them. Would you believe that the entire group actually made a pact not to get married so that the unity of the group would remain intact???!! And they kept that pact for at least 16 years! Simply amazing! No wonder they recorded that song Nobody’s Gonna Change Me. That should have been the album title!
September 4th, 2009 at 9:51 am
Soulbrotha, that’s why i choose the clip of “Nobody’s Gonna Change Me”. Thanks for the info, i didn’t knew about the 16 years. Indeed it’s amazing.
September 4th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Sounds great, I’ve been diggin’ their albums recently, so many thanks!
September 4th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
straight fire !!!!!!!! once again, thank you
September 5th, 2009 at 11:01 am
Dope post, thanks! I should know them.
September 5th, 2009 at 11:27 am
Such a great group. I enjoyed all those 3 records. Thank u.
September 5th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
Thanks Nikos! Didn’t have any of these!
September 5th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
irrestible post….thanks nikos jean paris.
September 6th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
Much love from Chile! Fantastic blog!
September 6th, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Big Group>>>>>>Thanks a million!!
Big Up!@!
September 7th, 2009 at 12:22 am
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE DYNAMIC SUPERIORS POST HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR THESE ALBUMS FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS
September 7th, 2009 at 10:09 am
thank you love this music
September 7th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
always grateful, nikos
September 8th, 2009 at 5:50 am
thanks a lot nikos i been lookin for 2 of these for a minute. much appreciated!
September 8th, 2009 at 9:43 am
Such a great group! Thanx.
September 9th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
WHAT A POST !!! Nikos - you do too much for us !! A band that are finally getting the credit they never really attained in their day - which was almost definitely hindered by Tony’s colourful gayness - only a few years before it would become a selling point for other acts. And that cover of their first LP - I think the analogy of Russell Thompkins ’singing like a girl’ suddenly came to haunt prospective buyers. But Motown certainly stood by the band in more ways than one, especially their first 2 LPs which were veritable gems, albeit hard to come by even on release - classic class. Thanks for the additional notes from Soulbrotha - the background to these guys must be totally engrossing.
Many thanks for the bumper effort, Nikos
September 11th, 2009 at 8:28 am
I have one nighter a=on 7 inch and it has remained a firm fave. So thanks for allowing me the pleasure of getting to know this great band in more depth. Cheers Rob
September 27th, 2009 at 7:56 am
Thanks nickos i remember buying the 45,s of shoe shine and nowhere to run great version i wonder if they are still around and still you keep turning up these great old classics keep it up and thanks again
September 27th, 2009 at 11:42 am
such a great band. thank you.
October 7th, 2009 at 2:24 am
Thanks for these three amazing albums!!
October 12th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
Great job for mastering Vinyl “GIVE ME TH LINK” PLease
October 13th, 2009 at 1:05 am
i create a new library ! Please this albums are very good
October 30th, 2009 at 11:34 pm
Thanks for these three fantastic albums.
October 31st, 2009 at 1:40 am
Thanks so much! (for these AND for all you’ve shared)
November 7th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
Before Sylvester, there was Tony Washington. Although Sylvester got the superstardom praise (and record sales), it was Tony who actually “opened” the doors for others to “flaunt” their vocal skills (Boy George, RuPaul, just to name a few).
November 16th, 2009 at 2:31 am
Great music here. I have these LPs & just want to say that they are great.
Basically, I wanted to address Pegasi, for the following remark:
“But I remember guys, who would have no problem buying, say, a Stylistics album (isn’t Russell Tompkins Jr. gay too?)”
NO Pegasi, Russell Thompkins Jr. is not gay & just celebrated about 30 years of marraige to his wife. If you don’t really know what you’re talking about, then you shouldn’t toss out remarks about people whom you don’t know.
Hopefully, this answers your question.
November 16th, 2009 at 6:17 am
Was my favorite group got a chance to see them live on many times in atlanta. I was sad to hear Tony passed away. He was a great showman. The group was very polished, great dance steps and an outstanding stage show. I understand there’s another dynamic superior group out there, I hope they come to Atlanta soon. Thanks
November 24th, 2009 at 8:32 am
A VERY special thanks for this post. I first heard of The Dynamic Superors about 13 years ago through an ex co-worker of mine who would always bring their name up when we discussed the soulful voices of high-pitched - falsetto styled male singers. We would marvel over the vocals of Bloodstone’s Harry Williams, Russell Thompkins, The Delfonics, Blue Magic and so on but he almost ALWAYS countered all of those greats with Tony Washington of The Dynamic Superiors. Within the last 5 years, I finally was able to behold some of the groups material and after hearing the 1st & 2nd albums I too regard them as a great outfit that was underrated and definatly deserving of it’s propers. In the past yrs, I have managed to only obtain poor quality vinyl rips of about 4 of their albums (all of which you include here) and another one titled “You Name It”. Throw in the expensive lackluster P-Vine Japanese import cd titled “The Dynamic Superiors - Sky’s The Limit” and that completes their section in my collection. It will be great to hear these albums in decent quality as they have never been available on CD to the best of my knowledge.
Again, I say thanks for sharing them.
January 2nd, 2010 at 1:38 am
I’ve searched and came up empty. I used to see them nearly every weekend in late 60′a in dc clubs. Any idea where I can find info on Tony’s death?
February 7th, 2010 at 10:23 am
I had or still have their first album - My records have been boxed and garaged for years now. Since, I haven’t been digging for at least ten years, I have always wondered whether these had other releases.
I really liked the first album and so I look forward to listening the other two… Thanks!
Cheers
Lou
March 20th, 2010 at 5:47 am
But Russell looks like a gay, look at him, he act and sings like a woman
Helena
March 20th, 2010 at 5:47 am
But Russell looks like a gay, look at him, he acts and sings like a woman
Helena
April 5th, 2010 at 11:02 am
To: Helna,
That is not Russell, that is Tony Washington singing. If
you will try reading again, you will see that they were
comparing Tony’s singing to that of Russell Thompkins, Jr., former lead singer of the ‘Stylistics’. However, Tony does have a different sexual preference than some others, but what does that have to do with the excellent performer that he is??? I am very proud to have known him and been acquinted with him during his groups era of performing. His group is from my hometown of Wash.,DC and they quite frequently performed at places where I worked. Tony was then and I’m sure still is a beautiful person inside and out. Please don’t judge a person, less you be judged.
April 5th, 2010 at 12:02 pm
Correction to the above post:
To: Helena, not Helna…
Also,in going back and doing a little more reading
myself as I had suggested that you do, I was saddened by finding out that Tony is now deceased. I also read some comments that were made by some others in regards to Russell’s sexuality, so I’m not sure now if you were speaking of Tony or Russell. Tony made no bones about who he was and paved the way for a lot of others to accept themselves for who they were. Russell is a personal friend of mine of many years, however, it’s been many years since I have seen him. However, we were
once very close and I have never seen any inclinations of him being gay, on or off stage, not that it really matters. People do not understand that a falsetto is just that, a false high that tenors often use to pro-
duce those ultimately high ranges. So yes a lot of men can hit a lot higher notes than females, but that doesn’t make them any less of men. You know what, I can’t really believe that I’m up at almost 5:00am my
time, trying to even explain or justify anything to judgemental people who are only going to continue to be just that and not see the beauty of life and living.
I want to thank you, Nikos, for the great job that you
did. I had actually forgotten about the group, since it had been so many years since I had seen them or heard anything of them. I was on You Tube, looking at videos for a project that I’m working on for ‘Blue Magic’ and I came across the “Shoe Shoe Shine” video quite by accident and immediately watched it and then started doing some research and this is where it landed me. Again, thank you so much for a job well done and for bringing back memories of some old friends that hadn’t actually been forgotten, but just misplaced in my memory bank.
April 5th, 2010 at 2:53 pm
Tony Washington was my uncle - I miss him so dearly.
April 10th, 2010 at 11:40 pm
thankyou
April 19th, 2010 at 2:40 am
I knew this group well. My late man used to play the dr ums for them. he was know as gregory greatest! They were fantastic.
May 8th, 2010 at 5:58 am
I had heard them in college especially Give and take and pure pleasure. Excellent to find these true gems.
Thank you
May 24th, 2010 at 12:53 am
I have been trying to contact this group for so long. I am a percussionist from Youngstown,Ohio and i met the group group when we performed together at the GOLDEN COCKTAIL LOUNGE in Cleveland,Ohio.I was blessed to play percussion with the group in 1974 at a club in Biloxi,Miss.and it was an unforgettable experience.If anyone can help me contact the group, i would greatly appreciate it.I just want to say hello.
May 29th, 2010 at 9:01 am
“LEAVE IT ALONE” what a great song. That sold the album for me…..many years ago
July 5th, 2010 at 6:21 pm
What wsa the cause of Tony Washingtons’ death?
By-the-wayhe was a great Enterainer.Back in 1968 when I
was in the Army I saw The Dynamic Superiors in a D C
night club.What happend to Tony?
July 29th, 2010 at 6:55 am
Where are they now? Ihave always loved this group.
July 31st, 2010 at 6:17 am
how old was Tony when he died? are the others still singing? shoe shoe shine was one my sister and i played all of the time.Tony had a beautiful voice and they had great footwork also.
August 29th, 2010 at 8:04 am
can someone please email me the lyrics to happy song? rylanderchris@gmail.com