Tavares
Originally named
Chubby and the Turnpikes, they started performing in
1963, when the youngest brother was thirteen years old. By
1973 they signed with
Capitol Records, scoring their first R&B Top 10 (Pop Top 40) hit with "Check it Out", that same year, and soon began charting regularly on the
R&B and
pop charts. Their first album included their brother Victor, who dropped out of the group shortly after. In 1974
Tavares had a #1 R&B hit with "She's Gone" (later a hit for
Hall and Oates), which they followed up with "Remember What I Told You To Forget."
1975 turned out to be their most successful year chart-wise, chalking up a Top 40 Pop album (
In the City) and their biggest hit, the Top 10 Pop/#1 R&B smash "It Only Takes a Minute". This was followed by a a string of hits: "Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel" (
1976), "Don't Take Away The Music" (
1976), "The Ghost of Love" (
1977) and "Whodunit" (
1977), among others.
Many of their hits, however, underplayed their R&B background and gave the group the image of being a
disco act. This perception was reinforced by their appearance on the soundtrack to the film [[
Saturday Night Fever]] in
1977.
Tavares recorded the
Bee Gees track "More Than a Woman", and their version reached the Pop Top 40 that year. The soundtrack became one of the most successful in history, giving
Tavares their only
Grammy.
However, later albums such as
Madame Butterfly, and
Supercharged, straying from the
disco format, were less successful on the Pop chart (although they continued to have Top 10 R&B hits such as "Never Had a Love Like This Before" and "Bad Times"). At the start of the new decade,
Tavares parted ways with
Capitol Records, signing with
RCA. There was one last major hit, the ballad "A Penny For Your Thoughts" (#32 Pop, #3 R&B, #15 AC), in 1982, but subsequent releases failed to match this success.
In
1983, Ralph Tavares stepped down from the group, and Tiny left in the mid 1990s, but the other three brothers continue to tour.
Their hit song "It Only Takes a Minute" is featured in the soundtrack of
Konami's dancing game
Dance Dance Revolution 3rd Mix.