The Manhattans二團員去世

The Manhattans合唱團的創始團員、次中音歌手Edward "Sonny" Bivins 12月三日去世（78歲），該團的另一位團員、低音歌手Winfred "Blue" Lovett接著於12月9日也去世（74歲）。

Edward "Sonny" Bivins出生於喬治亞州 Macon後來全家搬到新澤西州Jersey City，他與Winfred "Blue" Lovett在那裡組了合唱團，在國民兵與空軍基地表演，而其它團員George "Smitty" Smith, Kenneth "Wally" Kelly與Richard "Ricky" Taylor 都是當地中學畢業生。

起初他們以Te Dorsets團名幫 Asnes唱片公司錄了唱片，雖然成績平平，但因而獲邀參加阿波羅劇場競賽並得到冠軍，接著與Carnival唱片公司簽約，一年後，他們推出一首Winfred "Blue" Lovett所寫"I Wanna Be (Your Everything)" (#68 Pop, #12 R&B)，是第一次進排行榜的歌。

雖然The Manhattans合唱團1960年代在Carnival與 King的子司DeLuxe Records 漸次成名，但是直到1972年他們與Columbia唱片公司簽約並以  Gerald Alston 取代 Smitty ，The Manhattans 才真正開始走紅，他們的暢銷曲如"Shining Star" (#5 Pop, #4 R&B - 1980), Winfred "Blue" Lovett寫的 "Kiss And Say Goodbye" (#1 Pop and R&B - 1976) 及"There's No Me Without You" (#43 Pop, #3 R&B - 1973)都是歌迷們耳熟能詳的歌。

Edward "Sonny" Bivins 曾於 1999年獲頒亞特藍大市鑰。

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-vicuO1b0s

 

 

Kiss And Say Goodbye

 

{This has got to be the saddest day of my life

 I called you here today for a bit of bad news

 I won't be able to see you anymore

 Because of my obligations and the ties that you have

 We've been meeting here everyday

 And since this is our last day together

 I wanna hold you just one more time

 When you turn and walk away, don't look back

 I wanna remember you just like this

 Let's just kiss and say goodbye}

 

I had to meet you here today

 There's just so many things to say

 Please don't stop me 'till I'm through

 This is somethin' I hate to do

 

We've been meeting here so long

 I guess what we done, oh was wrong

 Please darlin', don't you cry

 Let's just kiss and say goodbye

 

Many months have passed us by

 I'm gonna miss you, I can't lie

 I've got ties and so do you

 I just think this is the thing to do

 

It's gonna hurt me, I can't lie

 Maybe you'll meet, you'll meet another guy

 Understand me, oh won't you try, try, try, try, try, try, try?

 Let's just kiss an' say goodbye

 

I'm gonna miss you, I can't lie

 Understand me, oh won't you try?

 It's gonna hurt me, I can't lie

 Take my handkerchief an' wipe your eyes

 Maybe you'll find, you'll find another guy

 Well let's kiss and say goodbye, pretty baby

 Please, don't you cry

 Understand me, oh won't you try?

 Let's just kiss and say goodbye