Celebrate African-American Music Month at South City Summer Music Fest on Saturday, June 21st.
It’s African-American Music Appreciation Month and what better way to celebrate than at Riverdale Town Center’s South City Summer Music Fest?! On June 21st, we’ll be soaking up the sun and enjoying the smooth tunes of some of the greatest African-American artists, including the original Lakeside, Zapp, The Dramatics, Mary Jane Girls, and Soul IV Real.
African-American Music Appreciation Month is all about celebrating the incredible artists who gave rise to genres like Motown, soul, R&B, funk, and jazz and the generations of musicians who have followed them.
To get geared up for the event and for African-American Music Month, we thought we’d give you a quick rundown of all the excellent performances we expect to see at South City Summer Music Fest.
The Dramatics
After forming in Chicago in 1965, The Dramatics set the stage for smooth R&B and Top 10 hits with their 1971 single “Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get”, which climbed the Billboard Hot 100 of that year peaking at #9 and selling more than 1 million copies. Through the 1970s, the group appeared on Soul Train and continued to experience great success with their #1 R&B hit “In the Rain”, as well as “Toast to the Fool”, “Me and Mrs. Jones” (originally by Billy Paul), “I’m Going By The Stars In Your Eyes” and “Be My Girl.”
Lakeside
Lakeside is a funk band from Dayton, Ohio best known for their 1980 R&B hit, “Fantastic Voyage” which made it’s way to the #1 spot on the R&B charts that year.
Zapp
Zapp is a funk band that emerged from Hamilton, Ohio, in 1977. Particularly influential in the electro sub-genre of funk, Zapp served as partial inspiration toward the creation of the G-funk sound of hip-hop popular on the West Coast of the United States in the early to mid 1990s, with many of their songs sampled by numerous hip-hop artists. The band’s hottest single, “Bounce to the Ounce” reached number two on the Billboard Hot R&B chart in 1980.
Mary Jane Girls
The Mary Jane Girls were an American R&B, soul, funk and disco group in the 1980s. They were protégées of singer Rick James. They are known for their hit songs “In My House”, “All Night Long”, and “Candy Man”. “In My House” became the group’s biggest hit, reaching #3 on the R&B chart and crossing over to the Hot 100 chart, where it reached #7 and spent 12 weeks in the Top 40 in 1985.
Soul IV Real
Soul IV Real is an R&B group from Wheatley Heights, New York, currently living in Atlanta, Georgia. The group is most know for their single Candy Rain’s which hit #1 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and peaked at #2 on the Hot 100 chart in 1995. Their second single, “Every Little Thing I Do”, reached #11 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and #17 on the Hot 100 chart.
We are so excited to celebrate these hit-makers this month and we hope you will join us at South City Summer Music Fest to honor them and African-American musicians everywhere. To get your tickets for the concert on June 21st, click the button below:
