David Oliver (singer)

This article is about the soul singer. For other disambiguation, see David Oliver.
David Oliver
Birth name David Lee Oliver
Born (1942-01-08)January 8, 1942
Orange County, Florida, U.S.
Died June 6, 1982(1982-06-06) (aged 40)
Orange County, Florida, U.S.
Genres Soul
Funk
R&B
Disco
Occupation(s) Singer
Years active 1967–82
Labels Mercury Records

David Oliver (January 8, 1942 – June 6, 1982) was a soul singer best known for the quiet storm single, "Ms" as well as his composition "Friends & Strangers", which was covered by Ronnie Laws in 1977. He also recorded the first version of the Cecil Womack song "Love TKO", releasing it as an album track on Here's To You in 1980.

Biography

Born January 8, 1942, in Orange County, Florida, to Jamaican parents, David Oliver did not begin singing until high school at the age of 15. All through high school and college, he sang in various groups. After a stint in the Air Force, he re-located to Los Angeles in 1967 and joined a group called Five Days & Three Nights. They were discussing a contract with Motown Records, but after negotiations fell through, the group disbanded.

By 1972, Oliver would go on to record background vocals on Redbone's Already Here album and he then sang with Mighty Joe Hicks's band during the mid-70s. He was signed to Mercury Records in 1977, recording four albums all produced by Wayne Henderson, of The Crusaders.

In 1978, the song "Ms", from his first album, reached number 13 on the R&B Singles chart, but one of his best self-penned songs was "I Wanna Write You a Love Song" on his follow-up LP. In 1980, he recorded a song by Cecil Womack, "Love TKO", that was missed by record buyers at the time of release, but later became a major hit for Teddy Pendergrass.[1]

Death

David Oliver died in the Orange County, Florida city of Winter Park on June 6, 1982, reportedly from a seizure at the age of 40.

Discography

External links

References

  1. Andrew Hamilton, "David Oliver - Artist Biography", AllMusic - accessed September 2011.
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