Important Information

Major Lance (April 4, 1939, 1941 or 1942, – September 3, 1994) was an American R&B singer.
After a number of US hits in the 1960s, including "The Monkey Time" and "Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um", he became an iconic figure in Britain in the 1970s among followers of Northern soul.
Although he stopped making records in 1982, Major Lance continued to perform at concerts and on tours until his death in 1994.BeginningsLance and Otis Leavill formed a group named the Floats in the mid-1950s but broke up before recording any material.
Lance became a featured dancer on a local TV show named "Time for Teens", and presenter Jim Lounsbury gave him a one-off record deal with Mercury Records.
Mercury released his single "I Got a Girl", written and produced by Curtis Mayfield, in 1959; it was not successful.
Lance worked at various jobs over the next few years.Okeh RecordsIn 1962 he signed with Okeh Records on Mayfield's recommendation.
Major was constantly showing up at the Okeh offices, offering to run errands for Carl Davis, telling him about the record he'd once made and how he and Curtis Mayfield were friends from their childhood.
His first single, "Delilah", was not successful, but established his partnership with a writing and arranging team of Mayfield, Carl Davis, and Johnny Pate, often with members of Mayfield's group the Impressions on backing vocals.
Together they developed a distinctive, Latin-tinged sound which epitomised Chicago soul in contrast to music recorded elsewhere.The second Okeh single, "The Monkey Time" (also written by Curtis Mayfield), was Major Lance's first hit, became a #2 Billboard R&B chart and #8 pop hit in 1963.
"The Monkey Time" became Okeh's first hit single for 10 years.
"That was my introduction with working with Carl Davis," Pate said.
"We had a ball, making some very great music."A succession of hits followed quickly, including "Hey Little Girl", "Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um" (his biggest hit, reaching #5 in the US pop chart and #40 in the UK, where it was his only chart success), "The Matador" (the only one not written by Mayfield), "Rhythm", "Sometimes I Wonder", "Come See", and "Ain't It A Shame".In 1965, Pate left Okeh and Mayfield began to concentrate on working with his own group.
Lance and Davis continued to work together, and "Too Hot To Hold" was a minor hit, but they had diminishing success before Davis in turn left the company.Touring in the United KingdomDuring the 1960s, Lance toured the UK, where he was supported by Bluesology, a band including pianist Reggie Dwight, later known as Elton John.Over the next two years he worked with several producers, with only "Without a Doubt" becoming a minor hit in 1968.
Soon afterwards Lance left Okeh and moved to Dakar Records, where he had the Top 40 R&B hit "Follow the Leader." He then moved to Mayfield's Curtom label, which resulted in his last two Top 40 R&B hits, "Stay Away From Me (I Love You too Much)" and "Must Be Love Coming Down." One of Lance's song recorded at Curtom called "Stay Away From Me" was listed #4 in Jet Magazine's "Soul Brothers Top 20".
He left Curtom in 1971, and recorded briefly for the Volt and Columbia labels.In 1972, he relocated to England, so as to capitalize on the success of his older records among fans of Northern Soul music, in dance clubs which played mostly rare and obscure American soul and R&B records.
According to one writer, "the Major's contribution was truly phenomenal and unforgettable...[He\] was to become legendary as a UK club act, known to deliver 110% at every performance." In 1972 while in England he recorded an album, Major Lance's Greatest Hits Recorded Live At The Torch, recorded at The Torch, a club in Stoke on Trent, which has been described as "perhaps the best Northern Soul album ever made".Later careerLance returned to Atlanta in 1974, and recorded an updated disco version of "Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um" for Playboy Records.
He set up a new label, Osiris, with former Booker T and the MG's drummer Al Jackson, but again with little success, and his career hit a downward spiral.
But he later found that his recordings had become popular on the beach music circuit in the Carolinas, where he continued to undertake live performances.
He recorded a comeback album, The Major's Back, and several tracks for the Kat Family label.Lance's final performance was in June 1994 at the 11th Chicago Blues Festival.Personal lifeMajor Lance was married to Christine Boular Lance, and had nine children.
He was 6 foot 6 inches tall.Lance was arrested twice in his life.
In 1965, he was arrested in violation of the Paternity Act.
A Chicago woman, Para Lee Thomas, claimed she had a son by Lance, Ronnie Maurice Lance, born (1964-01-13) January 13, 1964 (age 50).
She asserted that Lance had promised to pay her doctor and hospital bills of around $375, but had defaulted on these payments.
Judge Benjamin J.
Kanter issued a warrant for Lance's arrest, setting Lance's bond at $1,000.
After recording briefly for the Motown subsidiary label Soul, he was convicted of cocaine possession in 1978 and served a four-year prison term.In 1987, Lance was diagnosed with a heart attack, and became nearly blind from glaucoma.
As a result, he made no more recordings.
In September 1994, he died in his sleep at the age of 55 of heart disease in Decatur, Georgia.
He was survived by his family.
He is buried at Washington Memory Gardens Cemetery in Homewood, Illinois.Other mediaOn February 28, 1995, shortly after Lance's death, Sony released a CD collection called Everybody Loves a Good Time: Best of Major Lance.
It features 40 recordings for Okeh from 1962-1967 on 2 discs.
Allmusic reviewer Richie Unterberger gave the CD 4 and a half stars, calling it a "Delightful 40-song, double-CD compilation of Lance's best work for Okeh between 1962 and 1967, including all of the chart singles, quite a few misses and B-sides, five previously unreleased cuts, and some Curtis Mayfield songs from his debut LP." Sony later released a shorter version of the CD collection titled The Very Best of Major Lance.