Mary Davis Danger Playboy - SOS Band ???

[Sunnysoul]

Anyone confirm Mary Davis on Conclave is the same Mary Davis who went on to front the SOS Band ??? 

 

[Roburt]

I don't believe so. The SOS Band Mary Davis was from Savannah, Georgia.

There were a few females named Mary Davis who were involved with the US music biz going back to the 40's.

One Ohio based lady by that name was cutting stuff up in Ohio back in 69 ....

 

[Roburt]

Conclave was based in New York & were actively trying to sign outside productions to the label in spring / summer 69, so it could be that the Ohio lady signed with them as an outlet for her recordings ..............

 

[Roburt]

Some info off the net on the SOS Band's Mary Davis ............

In 1980, "Take Your Time (Do It Right)," written for the band by Sigidi Abdullah and recorded in one take, sold two million copies and went platinum, reaching number one on the pop and R&B charts. Their eponymous debut album would go on to sell 800,000 copies.

The timing was right for Davis, back in 1977, after seeking fame and fortune in the Big Apple, she came back home to Georgia. She began performing at Milton Lamar's legendary Regal Room in Atlanta. It was there that time and fate were on her side. At the same time, accomplished keyboard player Jason TC Bryant had just moved from Japan to Atlanta, and in just weeks, their two musical worlds collided.

Regal owner Milton Lamar told the two promising musicians to combine their talents and form a group. What came from that was the original S.O.S. Band, originally named Santa Monica. The lineup would include Willie "Sonny" Killebrew (saxophone), the late Billy Ellis (flute), Bruno Speight (guitar), John Simpson (bass), James Earl Jones III (drums), Bryant, and Davis.

The band's manager Bunnie Jackson-Ransom, a successful local Atlanta business woman who would go onto manage SOS and then Cameo, sent a demo to Tabu Records owner Clarence Avant and the rest was history, not only for the band, but for David as a female bandleader.

Davis had to earn the respect of the fledgling band and its male members. There was no template at the time which produced many female-led groups. The scene was dominated by the likes of male groups such as Parliament-Funkadelic, Brothers Johnson, Kool and the Gang, Earth, Wind & Fire, and many more. The key for Davis was her versatility and talent.

"It was a combination of both [being a singer and songwriter]," she acknowledges. "I was the only singer in the group for a while, so they had to come over to that [having her as a leader]. We were able to talk about it, and make it happen."

And, as much as her rise-and-fall-and-rise-again success has come via her singing, it has been her unwavering dedication to her faith stepped in Southern gospel that has sustained her -- that and a tireless passion for living the rest of her musical dream.

So if she had spent around 8/9 years in New York trying to make it in the music biz there, she could be the lady who cut for Conclave. She has just re-joined the SOS Band & they have gone back on the road. If she is the 'Conclave woman' then should must have been born in the early 50's (making her around 18 yrs old in 69 when that 45 was issued). She would now be around 65 years old !!

So I still think she's actually too young to have cut "Danger (Playboy At Work)".  

Edited February 24, 2016 by Roburt