The Gap Band
The Gap Band can be booked through this site. The Gap Band entertainment booking site. The Gap Band
is available for public concerts and events. The Gap Band can be booked for
private events and The Gap Band can be booked for corporate events and
meetings through this The Gap Band booking page.
Unlike most middle agents that would mark
up the performance or appearance fee for The Gap Band, we act as YOUR agent in
securing The Gap Band at the best possible price. We go over the rider for
The Gap Band and work directly with The Gap Band or the responsible agent for
The Gap Band to secure the talent for your event. We become YOUR agent,
representing YOU, the buyer.
In fact, in most cases we can negotiate for
the acquisition of The Gap Band for international dates and newer promoters
providing you meet professional requirements.
The Gap Band Biography
The first major hit for the Gap Band was a snazzy juke toon
called Shake. Just prior to the completion of their first album,
Charlie Wilson cited the song for his brothers, thinking they might
ridicule the lyric. His brothers loved it though, and the song was a
smash number four single on the R&B charts, elevating the group to
national status.
Born and raised in Tulsa, OK, the Wilson brothers began singing and
playing in their father's Pentecostal church, and it was also mandatory
they practice their music lessons at home as well. They learned various
instruments which primarily included the piano. As much as they
despised the lessons at the time, it proved to be a value tool for all
three.
With Ronnie being the oldest, he established his own band by the age of
14. Charlie, a few years younger, joined a rival band a couple of years
later. One night the two bands were performing across the street from
one another. Ronnie stopped by to check out Charlie grooving on the
organ. While there, Ronnie asked Charlie to join his band for 50
dollars over what he was making. Though Charlie's bandmates doubled his
offer, he joined his brother's band, as Ronnie gave him no choice.
At a gig not too long after the two had joined forces, the group's bass
player quit and Ronnie and Charlie summoned their younger brother
Robert, barely 14, to the group to play bass. For a short while, the
band performed without a name. Finally they began going by the name the
Greenwood, Archer and Pine Streets Band. As advertising such a name on
posters became too lengthy, the group shortened the name to the G.A.P.
Street Band. Due to a typographical error, the group was advertised as
Gap Band and it stuck.
They performed at various venues around the Tulsa area, including
country & western joints, tennis clubs, rock clubs, and wherever
else called on their services. However, by the middle of the 1970s,
Charlie became interested in Los Angeles and left Tulsa to explore his
possibilities. A short time later, Charlie convinced his brothers to
join him. The group floundered about L.A., hitting and missing on
record deals, gigs, and the like. Still maintaining their interest, the
group met entertainment businessman Lonnie Simmons through their
friend, singer/musician D.J. Rogers. Simmons owned a nightclub and a
recording studio at the time and signed the group to his company. (He
would later start up a record label.)
The Top Five single Shake followed in 1979, along with Steppin' Out
(number ten) and I Don't Believe You Want to Get Up and Dance (Oops,
Up Side Your Head) (number four) in 1980. The latter was inspired at a
concert in Pittsburgh where some kids were chanting the groove and the
Gap Band picked up on it. In December of 1980, the trio dropped its
first number one single with Burn Rubber (Why You Wanna Hurt Me) and
followed it with the Top Five ballad Yearning for Your Love (1981).
The group went on to score three more number one songs ( Early in the
Morning and Outstanding in 1982 and All of My Love in 1989), three
more number two songs ( You Dropped a Bomb on Me in 1982, Beep a
Freak in 1984, and Going in Circles in 1986) and a horde of Top Ten
hits. They also did the soundtracks for Leon Isaac Kennedy's
Penitentiary III and Keena Ivory Waynans' I'm Gonna Get You Sucker. The
group was given only 24 hours notice to complete the title song.
In 1984 Ronnie became a born-again Christian and started pastoring. He
joined Melba Moore and David Peaston in the touring play Mama, I'm
Sorry. Charlie has been one of most sought-after vocalists in the music
industry. He has worked with Quincy Jones, Ray Charles, Eurythmics,
Snoop Dogg, and scores of others. The Gap Band has recorded for various
labels, including Mercury and Capitol Records. The group has remained
together, enduring the good with the bad. They are still actively
recording and touring the U.S. and abroad. ~ Craig Lytle, All Music
Guide
Written by Craig Lytle