No sales, no chart success no chart success, no enduring memory of many of the songs on our list. In the ensuing decades, radio stations have usually programmed their “oldies” playlists based on chart success. The result of all this? Lots of great 1960s music slipped through the radio sifting process, and have become lost over time. The pirate radio stations helped a little to redress the balance, but there have always been 24 hours in a day, and that means only so many 45 got played across the world. In Britain, the weirdness of needle time, which, up until 1967, prevented the BBC playing too many records, in order to protect musicians’ jobs (go figure), meant that even fewer records got played. Success depended on getting a single on the radio, and then getting it on heavy rotation to convince people to go out and buy it. Hundreds of millions of singles were sold every year in the 60s, and while there was a great deal more million-sellers back then, there were also many more records released. By the time The Beatles came along, the 45 was selling in vast numbers – at least for some artists. The brothers continued working, with Pieces of a Dream and Bootsy Collins, among others.The 78rpm shellac discs competed for much of the 50s, but finally lost out to the 45 in the early 60s, as every home, seemingly, had a record player on which you could stack seven or eight 45s to play in sequence. Calloway returned two years later with Let's Get Smooth, but the album proved their last. The track was their only major hit, followed by "Sir Lancelot" and the title track from their 1990 debut album, All the Way. As Calloway, the Calloways found success with their first single, 1989's "I Wanna Be Rich," which hit number two on the pop charts. As late as 2007, the group's lineup featured Lipscomb, Gentry, Watson, Lovelace, and Gant. Since then, the members continued outside collaborations, but they also came together for frequent touring. A 1988 self-titled album flopped, and 1990's Work It Out proved to be their last until 2002's 15th Avenue. Without Reginald and Vincent Calloway to lead the way, Midnight Star fell fast and far. (Incidentally, the Calloways had introduced future legend Babyface to Solar executives for his first job, and produced Babyface's group the Deele). By 1986, Headlines had become Midnight Star's third album to at least sell gold, but it proved their last both Reginald and Vincent left the group to form Calloway in 1988. "Operator," the first single from their next album, Planetary Invasion, became their highest-charting single, making number 18 on the pop charts.
"Freak-a-Zoid" hit number two on the R&B charts in mid-1983, and though it failed to make the pop Top 40, it pushed the LP over the platinum mark.
MIDNIGHT STAR ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION RAR FULL
Though the Calloways' production skills - later used to full effect on tracks by Natalie Cole, Gladys Knight, and Teddy Pendergrass - had pushed Midnight Star into the R&B charts during 1981-1982, with singles like "Hot Spot" and "I've Been Watching You," the group was unprepared for the success of the first single from their third proper album, No Parking on the Dance Floor. After moving to the Solar label by 1982, the group released Victory and then added a full band: guitarist Melvin Gentry, bassist Kenneth Gant, drummer Bobby Lovelace, and keyboard player Bo Watson. After signing with RCA near the turn of the decade, Midnight Star recorded their first album in 1980, The Beginning, with a conglomeration of studio players and producers. Just one of the successful acts on Solar Records (also including Shalamar, Lakeside, and the Whispers), the group was formed in 1976 at Kentucky State University by the Calloway brothers, trumpeter Reginald, and trombone player Vincent, with vocalist Belinda Lipscomb.
The synth-funk unit Midnight Star scored several times on the charts during the mid-'80s, led by their double-platinum album No Parking on the Dance Floor in 1983.