FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Country Club Hills Amphitheater presents FUNK FEST!!!
With Morris Day & The Time, SOS Band, Midnight Star,
ConFunkShun, Lakeside, Loose Ends & Purple Madness!!!
Two nights of Hard Bass, Synthesizers Keyboards Hard Hitting Drums and Amazing Guitar Solo’s. All at the Country Club Hills Amphitheater, In Country Club Hills, IL. On August 5th & 6th 2022 Friday & Saturday evening. As part of that city’s Annual Summer Concert Series, the event is presented in cooperation with the honorable Mayor James W. Ford and the town’s city council. Music Park Network and Hustle House Entertainment.
Morris Day & The Time is an American musician and composers. Although a gifted drummer, he is best known as the charismatic lead singer of The Time, a band that also launched the careers of famous producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Prince and André Cymone and the trio formed an early band called "Grand Central", later renamed "Champagne". Later, Prince embarked on a solo career but retained Cymone for his backing band. The two began to plan a side-group that would focus more on R&B, while Prince would continue to explore various musical styles. The Time was composed of 4 members from an earlier funk group called "Flyte Tyme", but the lead singer had not been chosen. Sue Ann Carwell was auditioned, and Alexander O'Neal nearly became The Time's lead singer but dropped out due to payment negotiations. Day, who was now in a band called "Enterprise" allowed Prince to have a song called "Partyup" for his Dirty Mind album and Prince would soon return the favor by giving Day the job of lead singer. Day would suggest guitarist Jesse Johnson, who completed the band's ensemble. The Time's most prolific and visible period came in 1984 when Day played the antagonist to Prince in his film Purple Rain, which helped establish Day's playboy stage presence. Typically escorted by his valet, "Jerome" (Jerome Benton), Day won fans with his exaggerated vanity ("Jerome bring me my mirror!") and strutting bravado, acting as a comic foil to Prince's romantic, sensitive lead. This persona was further exploited for comic effect on The Time's records, on songs such as "Chili Sauce" and "If The Kid Can't Make You Come" from the album Ice Cream Castle.
That album, the group's most popular, is best remembered for the infectious singles "Jungle Love" and "The Bird". With their palpable pop energy and catchy choruses, both songs were huge hits on both Urban and Pop radio. But it wasn't until 1990, when the Time scored a #1 R&B hit with "Jerk Out"
Con Funk Shun became one of the premiere party-funk groups of their time before turning to R&B ballads in the early '80s. Aside from being the primary musicians on all their albums, the band also contributed to each of their albums as writers, arrangers, and producers. Signed to Mercury in 1976, Con Funk Shun hit the top of the R&B charts one year later with "Ffun," written as a tribute to funk band Brick. The group found much success at Mercury; over a ten-year span, they released one hit after another (including "Shake and Dance with Me," "Chase Me," "Got to Be Enough") and were a popular concert attraction. In the '80s, Con Funk Shun began receiving more fame for their ballads and re-entered the R&B Top Ten with "Baby I'm Hooked (Right into Your Love)," "Electric Lady," and "Burnin' Love." Though the band dissolved after their last album with Mercury, they reunited in the '90s and began performing at oldies festivals.
Con Funk Shun was formed by high-school classmates Michael Cooper and Louis "Tony" McCall, along with Karl Fuller, Paul "Maceo" Harrell, Dennis Johnson, Cedric Martin, and Danny "Sweet Man" Thomas. All of them had been playing together since their high-school days in Vallejo, CA. Felton Pilate, also from Vallejo, joined the group after his band, a local rival, disbanded.
The S.O.S. Band hit with a two-million-selling single, "Take Your Time (Do It Right)," their first time out, before having several hit singles written and produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The Atlanta, GA-borne band was started in 1977, when keyboardist/vocalist Jason Bryant, saxophonists Billy Ellis and Willie "Sonny" Killebrew, guitarist Bruno Speight, bassist John Alexander Simpson, drummer James Earl Jones III, and lead vocalist Mary Davis formed a group called Santa Monica that played at Atlanta nightclub the Regal Room.
Their manager, Bunny Jackson-Ransom (who later managed Cameo), sent a demo to Clarence Avant, head of Tabu Records. After signing the band to Tabu, Avant suggested that the band work with songwriter/producer Sigidi Abdullah. Abdullah was curious as to why an Atlanta-based band named itself Santa Monica. Keyboardist Jason Bryant replied that the band had an enjoyable concert in Santa Monica, CA. Abdullah then came up with a new band name, the S.O.S. Band, with S.O.S. standing for "Sounds of Success."
Abdullah produced and co-wrote "Take Your Time (Do It Right)" with Harold Clayton, which went platinum, parking at number one R&B for five weeks and peaking at number three pop on Billboard's charts in spring 1980. The debut LP, S.O.S., went gold, selling over 800,000 copies and holding the number two R&B spot for three weeks. While the band was on its world tour, trumpeter/vocalist/percussionist Abdul Ra'oof joined them. Their second album, Too, went to number 30 R&B in summer 1981. On the band's third LP, S.O.S. Band III, they worked with producer Leon Sylvers III and the Time's Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The breaking single, "High Hopes," hit number 25 R&B in the fall of 1982 while the album went to number 27 R&B in late 1982.
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. 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. 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. 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.
The “Purple Madness is the ultimate celebration of the most widely beloved entertainer and profoundly influential artist of all-time. Bobby Miller presents an electrifying performance that can be best described as, high energy and a “must see” performance.
The Prince Purple Madness Tribute Show have all but perfected every nuance in recreating the sights and sounds of the artist Prince.
2022 Country Club Hills Concert Series www.cchtheater.com,
Mayor James W. Ford of Country Club Hills, IL, states that he’s committed to bringing audiences many great nights of music from multiple genres, especially after dealing with the pandemic within the past two years – “COVID-19 may have stopped many live shows for a while but with precautions in place in cities, we’re ready to present to you a great lineup of artists from the worlds of smooth jazz, blues, funk, and classic soul!”
Portions of the proceeds from the concerts will benefit the Infinite Scholars Program - which provides all students, especially low income, and first-generation high school students of diversity, with the access to the resources, guidance, and funding necessary to successfully further their studies at accredited institutions of higher education.
The Country Club Hills Theater is located on 4200 West Main St., Country Club Hills, IL, 60478 Phone number – 312-771-4220, For ticket information, go to www.cchtheater.com
For media inquiries, reach Jay Williams jaywilliams5@gmail.com 312-771-4220
TICKET PRICING:
VIP $125.00 LEVEL 2 SEATING $80.00 LEVEL 3 SEATING $60.00
UPCOMING CONCERTS
Friday, JULY 29th, 2022, 5 PM – Jonathan Butler Jazz Fest Weekend (Alex Bugnon, Marion Meadows, Kirk Whalum) Saturday, July 30th, 2022 (Jonathan Butler, Gerald Albright, Michael Manson, Vincent Ingala, Peter White, Euge Groove) Sunday, July 31, 2022(Norman Brown, Paul Taylor, Michael Lington)
Friday, August 5th, 2022 (Confunkshun, Lakeside, Loose Ends) Saturday August 6th, 2022 (Morris Day & The Time, S.O.S. Band, Midnight Star, Purple Madness)
Saturday, August 13th, 2022 (Tony, Toni, Tone, Surface, Glenn Jones)
