And the beat goes on for the legendary Whispers
THE Whispers are anything but silent.
They are true to the saying that you sleep only when you are dead.
They celebrated their 50th anniversary last year.
They have been invited to perform in South Africa for a second time where they have a huge fan base. The concert meant to take place this year was postponed to March next year after one of their original members, Nicholas Caldwell, died in January this year at the age of 71.
They are one of very few male bands that have survived the music industry without altering their sound. They have stood the test of time but how?
– Walter Scott, twin to Wallace Scott, says the answer is simple: A mutual respect and love for “each other.”
Their other members were Marcus Hutson, and Gordy Harmon, but Harmon left the group in 1971 and was replaced by Leaveil Degree. Hutson died in the year 2000.
Today the members are Wallace better known as Scotty ”, his brother Walter and “Degree.
All the way from the States, Scott, who gloats that he is 23years-old going strong, says he is as excited as he was in his teens to what he is now when he gets on stage to perform. I can promise you that none of “us has lost our spunk. We plan to give South Africa the performance of a lifetime. We still have all that energy and more that we had back in the 1960s. We love that people of all ages still find our hits And The Beat Goes On as well as Rock Steady relevant to these days and times. That s the
’ beauty of R&B and soul it never
– quite goes out of style,” he says.
Scott explains that they all met at school and had a mutual love of music.
They initially called themselves The Eden Trio jamming on the street corners of Los Angeles.
Once they were signed to Lou Bedell of Dore Records they were renamed The Whispers, says Scott. We were told that when we “sing the lyrics are subtle, almost like a whisper,” he laughs.
Their first platinum album was The Whispers in 1980 with the hit A Song For Donny dedicated to the memory of Donny Hathaway. The same song was remixed into a Christmas version. Had you asked me when we “started back then if we would still be around in 2016 I would probably have laughed and said no. It s not easy doing this thing
’ but we are truly blessed. It is only through God s grace,” he says.
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