Uptown Festival - Medley

"Uptown Festival" is a medley of Motown hits re-recorded by studio musicians. The songs are: "Going To A Go-Go" "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" "Stop! In the Name of Love" "It's the Same Old Song" "The Tears of a Clown" "Love Is Like an Itching in My Heart" "This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak for You)" "Baby Love" "He Was Really Sayin' Somethin'" It was based on "The Best Disco In Town," a song by The Ritchie Family that used the same medley technique in 1976. In 1981, the "Stars On 45 Medley," a collection of popular songs like "Sugar, Sugar" and "Drive My Car," was a #1 hit in America.

This was the first single from Shalamar, which at that point was just a group of studio musicians assembled to record the song. When the song became a hit, the producer who put the whole thing together, Simon Soussan, formed an actual group to perform it and record more material. The lead singer was Gary Mumford, who sang on the record. The other two members were Soul Train dancers Jeffrey Daniel and Jody Watley, chosen because they looked great and could dance. On the next Shalamar album, Mumford was replaced with Gerald Brown, and on their third album, Big Fun in 1979, Howard Hewett took over as lead singer. The group had several hits, including "The Second Time Around," which went to #1 on the R&B chart in 1979. Watley and Daniel both left the group in 1983; Watley emerged as a star solo artist with her 1987 self-titled debut album. Daniel made his name as a dancer, hosting a British knock-off of Soul Train.

This song was pitched to Motown Records, but they weren't interested. Instead it went to Soul Train Records, founded two years earlier by Soul Train creator Don Cornelius and producer Dick Griffey. The song was fully formed when they got it, so all they had to do was release it. Cornelius made sure it aired plenty of times on Soul Train, which helped considerably. It was his idea to have Jeffrey Daniel and Jody Watley join the group. Soul Train Records became Solar Records soon after the song was released. Shalamar stayed on the label, and Daniel and Watley continued to dance on the show when their schedules permitted.