MONTEGO BAY, St James — LEGENDARY American Soul/R&B performing artistes, the Chi-Lites will travel to Montego Bay for an exclusive ‘post-other’s Day performance’ on Saturday, May 14 at Seawind Club.

The show, dubbed ‘An Evening of Elegance,’ presented by Dream Castle Villa in association with Wi Deh Yah Productions, will be an ‘All White Affair’.

The talented all-male group LUST and veteran entertainers, Montego Bay’s dynamic vocal trio Ebony will open the evening’s proceedings and add sparkle to what is already a glittering assembly of artistes.

Part proceeds of the event will be donated to the Montego Bay Autism Society.

The Chi-Lites, were formed in Chicago in 1959 when The Chanteurs — which included Eugene Record, Robert ‘Squirrel’ Lester — and Clarence Johnson teamed with Marshall Thompson and Creadel ‘Red’ Jones of the Desideros to form The Hi-lites, the organisers said.

As the Hi-Lites, they released a number of singles on local labels. Then in 1964, they changed their name to Marshall and the Chi-Lites; the ‘C’ being added to reflect the name of their hometown, Chicago.

By the end of 1964, Clarence Johnson had left the group and they truncated their name to simply the Chi-Lites. During the ensuing four years, Eugene Record slowly emerged as the group’s lead singer, songwriter and producer.

In 1969, after signing with Brunswick the previous year, Give It Away became their first USA national hit single attaining number ten on the R&B charts.

The follow-up release Let Me Be The Man My Daddy Was was moderately successful but another major hit was elusive until Are You My Woman? climbed into the R&B top ten in early 1971. A succession of top ten hits followed commencing with their next release (For God’s Sake) Give More Power ToThe People, which was the first to crossover into the pop charts.

The ballads Have You Seen Her and Oh Girl followed, both reaching number one in the R&B charts with Oh Girl also achieving the number one slot in the pop charts in the spring of 1972.

The Chi-Lites line-up changed shortly after Stoned Out Of My Mind; Creadel Jones was replaced by Stanley Anderson, who himself was replaced by Willie Kensey. Three top ten hits R&B hits followed — Homely Girl, There Will Never Be Any Peace and Toby, before Kensey was replaced with Doc Roberson.

According to the release, the present day Chi-Lites line-up includes original member Marshall Thompson (group leader), Frank Reed (lead vocals), Fred Simon (tenor and bass), (from The Lost Generation) and Tara Thompson (background vocals). They were inducted into The (R/B Hall Of Fame) in 2000 and into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2005.

In recent years, the Chi-Lites have been touring the US and Europe to rave reviews in the media.

Member of the Production team, Sydney Reid says, “the Montego Bay show is expected to be no less. It will be an awesome affair and patrons can expect to hear all their favourite hits that made Chi-Lites a household name in Jamaica”.

“With all the love this group is expected to shower down on the audience, the Seawind Beach Club will be transformed into a love nest. It will be a night for lovers right after the Mothers’ Day weekend, making this a post-Mothers’ Day presentation to remember,” Reid declared.

LUST, who will open the show, hit the musical scene in 1997, with their blend of harmony comprising of four entertaining and talented musicians: Michael ‘Lukie D’ Kennedy, Eustace ‘Thrilla U’ Hamilton, Everton ‘Singing Melody’ Hardware and Curtis ‘Tony Curtis’ O’Brien.

Over the years, they have topped the charts with recognisable favourites such as Flex Me, Run Free and their number one, Sweetness of Your Love. The song won five reggae awards, including Song of the Year and won LUST Best Group of the Year.