Steven Ralph Arrington (born March 5, 1956) is an American singer, songwriter, drummer, record producer, engineer and minister, who grew up in Dayton, Ohio.
Biography Arrington played in various local bands before joining and touring with The Murphys, a lounge band out of Toledo, Ohio, in 1975. About a year later Arrington relocated from Ohio to San Francisco, California where he learned Latin percussion and drumming as well as playing with Coke Escovedo, Pete Escovedo and Sheila E.
He joined the funk group Slave (founded 1975) on their third LP, called The Concept, in 1978 – originally to play percussion, then later becoming the drummer and a backing vocalist. Eventually Arrington took over lead vocals, singing on the hit singles "Just a Touch of Love", "Watching You" (which has been sampled by Snoop Dogg) and "Wait for Me".
Arrington left Slave in 1982, forming Steve Arrington's Hall of Fame, and had hit singles such as "Weak at the Knees" (which was sampled by Three Times Dope, Jay-Z, Jermaine Dupri, Ice Cube, and others), and "Nobody Can Be You But You".
His most successful album was his 1985 solo work Dancin' in the Key of Life, whose title track became a top ten R&B hit. The single also spent three weeks at number two on the dance charts, and went to number three on the Radio & Records R&B airplay chart. Another single from the album, "Feel So Real" reached #5 in the UK Singles Chart in May that year. He was nominated for the NAACP Image Award for Best Male Artist of 1986.
In 1984 Arrington experienced a religious conversion, later becoming a licensed minister and, in 1990, he left pop music until his re-emergence in October 2009, when he released the R&B, Funk, spiritual album Pure Thang.
In September 2010 Stones Throw Records announced that Arrington was working with producer Dâm-Funk on a new album. In February, Arrington did an interview with The Revivalist and told them his new album, "Love, Peace and Funky Beatz", was due out in late summer or early fall 2011.
On August 6, 2013, Stones Throw Records released Arrington + Dam-Funk's "Higher".
In September 2014 Tummy Touch released the album "Way Out (80–84)", a collection of songs from Hall of Fame Vol 1 and Positive Power, plus unreleased and previously unfinished material.
On September 18, 2020, Stones Throw Records released a new solo album by Steve Arrington titled Down to the Lowest Terms: The Soul Sessions with the single "Keep Dreamin'". The album recording took place in 2019–2020 in collaboration with a cast of a new generation of talented producers orchestrated with the help of Stones Throw founder Peanut Butter Wolf. Producers include DJ Harrison, Knxwledge, J Rocc, Shibo, Jerry Paper, Brian Ellis, Gifted & Blessed, and Benedek. The album was nominated for the 2021 Libera Awards for Best R&B Record.
Discography Albums with Steve Arrington's Hall of Fame Year Album Chart positions Record label US US R&B 1983 Steve Arrington's Hall of Fame, Vol.1 101 12 Atlantic 1984 Positive Power 141 36
Solo albums Year Album Chart positions Record label US US R&B UK 1985 Dancin' in the Key of Life 185 32 41 Atlantic 1986 The Jammin' National Anthem — — — 1987 Jam Packed — 50 — Manhattan 2009 Pure Thang — — — God Factor Records 2013 Steve Arrington & Dãm-Funk (Higher) — — — Stones Throw 2020 Down to the Lowest Terms: The Soul Sessions — — — Stones Throw "—" denotes releases that did not chart.
Singles with Steve Arrington's Hall of Fame Title Year Peak chart positions US R&B US Dance "Way Out" 1982 — — "Pocket Full of Air" — — "Weak at the Knees" 1983 33 — "Way Out" (re-release) 68 49 "Nobody Can Be You" 18 23 "Mellow as a Cello" 1984 — — "15 Rounds" 85 — "Hump to the Bump" 25 — "—" denotes releases that did not chart.
Solo singles + List of singles, with selected chart positions Title Year Peak chart positions UK US US Dance US R&B BEL GER NLD NZ "Summertime Lovin'" 1980 — — — — — — — — "Feel So Real" 1985 5 104 5 17 7 16 13 42 "Dancin' in the Key of Life" 21 68 2 8 — — — — "Turn Up the Love" — — — 80 — — — — "She Just Don't Know" — — — — — — — — "The Jammin' National Anthem" 1986 — — — 42 — — — — "Homeboy" — — — 28 — — — — "Stone Love" 1987 — — — 33 — — — — "Lost and Found (You Can Find Me Present)" 1988 — — — 90 — — — — "No Reason" 1990 — — — 89 — — — — "Goin' Hard" 2011 — — — — — — — — "The Joys of Love" 2020 — — — — — — — — "Keep Dreamin'" 2020 — — — — — — — — "—" denotes releases that did not chart.
Compilation albums Year Album Chart positions Record label USR&B 1994 Stellar Fungk: The Best of Slave featuring Steve Arrington 44 Atlantic 2003 Party Lights''' | — |- | rowspan="1"| 2006 | align="left"| Slave: The Definitive Collection'' — "—" denotes the album failed to chart
References
External links Steve Arrington's official website
Steve Arrington 2012 @ Red Bull Music Academy Steve Arrington's artist page on Stones Throw Records Pitchfork 2020 Album Review of Down to the Lowest Terms: The Soul Sessions