The Monitors (music)

The Monitors were a minor Motown act from the 1960s. The group, which consisted of lead singer Richard Street, Sandra Fagin, John "Maurice" Fagin, and Warren Harris, had only one minor hit, a cover of the Valadiers' "Greetings (This is Uncle Sam)", which reached number 21 on the Billboard R&B chart, and number 100 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart. "Greetings (This is Uncle Sam)" explores the feelings felt by many young African American men, as they were drafted into the army to serve in the Vietnam War.

Their first release as The Majestics was to have been 'Hello Love' on Motown's VIP label in 1964, but release was cancelled.A year later, 'Say You' was released initially as The Majestics, but a name change to The Monitors was made after it was found there was another group already recording as The Majestics for another company. 'Greetings (This is Uncle Sam)' was their 3rd release and reached #100 on Billboards Pop Chart.Two more singles appeared on VIP 'Since I Lost You Girl'(November 1966) and 'Bring Back The Love' (January 1968).They were switched to Motown's SOUL label with 'Step by Step (Hand in Hand)' in the summer of 1968, but this was to be their final single with Motown.

Because of the Monitors' lack of success, its members held other positions within the Motown corporation to sustain income. Richard Street, for example, worked in Motown's Quality Control department, and later traveled with The Temptations as a stand-in for Paul Williams, who became increasingly ill during the late 1960s and early 1970s due to alcoholism and other health problems. When Williams was forced to leave the Temptations because of his failing health, Street took his place, and the Monitors were dissolved.

Discography

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* Grazing In The Grass (Motorcity Records, 1990)