Thanks for that reaction. I loved Manhattan Transfer back in the 80's and so did my Mom. They always had such magnificent harmonies. We saw them in concert a couple of times. They put on a great show. I hadn't thought about them for years. You brought back good memories.
The Manhattan Transfer is a Grammy award winning vocal group founded in 1969 that has done many genres of music including a cappella, vocalese, swing, standards, Brazilian jazz, R&B & pop music. They did a great cover of "The Boy From New York City" in 1981. Other songs are "Until I Met You (Corner Pocket)", "Route 66", "Java Jive", "Tuxedo Junction", "Birdland" etc.
You'd never heard of an 11 Grammy winning American artist? These guys and gals are LEGENDS. My personal favourite is Twilight Zone (based on the TV series), but Chanson D'Amour was my introduction to them, so that has a special place in my memory too.
That "old black lady" 😜 is Ms. Janis Siegel, a national treasure that most of the nation is aware of as is the group. They've been doing this for over 50 years.
I've seen Manhattan Transfer in concert about a dozen times. They just celebrated their 50th year together and recently called it quits, giving their final performance in Los Angeles in December 2023. Not only is soulful lead singer Janis not an old black lady, she's Jewish and so is Alan Paul, the handsome guy singing Gloria!
I used to play Manhattan Transfer in the car when the kids were in primary school - in the hope that they'd have an appreciation for jazz as well as the pop they were listening to on the radio. Their favourite song was MT's Java Jive ("a cup a cup a cup a cup a cup - was something they sang along to).
TMT did an amazing album called Vocalese where they vocalized the instrumentations to songs. Blee Blob Blues, Ray's Rock House, That's Killer Joe. But truly the greatest feat of vocalese ever is their Birdland! I was lucky to see them 4 or 5 times live. Amazing group and vocals.
When I was a kid I wore this record out on my Dad’s record player. He still has it. And it wasn’t till I was in my 20s that I found out they weren’t black. Lol