Celebrating the Birthday of King Floyd
John Dunlop
Soul singer and songwriter King Floyd was born in New Orleans on February 13, 1945, and is best known for his Top 10 hit from 1970, "Groove Me". His musical career started as a singer at the Sho-Bar on Bourbon Street. Following a stint in the army, Floyd went to California, where he joined up with record producer Harold Battiste. His debut album, A Man In Love, featuring songs co-written with Dr. John, failed to make an impact on the charts. Floyd returned to New Orleans in 1969 and worked for the Post Office.
In 1970, Floyd recorded "Groove Me" as a B-side to another song, "What Our Love Needs." New Orleans radio DJs started playing "Groove Me" and the song became a local hit. Eventually, the song’s national distribution led to it topping the R&B chart, reaching #6 on the Billboard Hot 100, and selling over one million copies. In December 1970, Floyd quit his job at the post office to perform a U.S. tour. His follow-up single, "Baby Let Me Kiss You" climbed up to number 29 on the Billboard Top 40 charts in 1971.
However, differences with Quezergue soon emerged and his 1973 follow-up album, Think About It, failed to make a commercial impact. However, Atlantic released a song from the album, "Woman Don't Go Astray," as a single. His 1975 album, Well Done, was released through TK Records with Atlantic distributing. "I Feel Like Dynamite" from the album, written by Larry Hamilton, was released as its single.
None of his subsequent songs achieved the same, as disco dominated the charts for the remainder of the 1970s. However, Floyd had credits for "Boombastic," recorded in 1995 by Shaggy, which became a big hit. Floyd reunited with Malaco Records in 2000 for the Old Skool Funk album, but it failed to make an impact. However, his song "Don't Leave Me Lonely" was prominently sampled by the Wu-Tang Clan for the song "For Heaven's Sake" off their album Wu-Tang Forever. Sadly, he died on March 6, 2006 from complications of a stroke and diabetes.
Today we celebrate the life and legacy of a New Orleans musician who continues to “groove” us to this day.
Photo: source and disclosure