New book about unsung funk band: The Dealers

My mom and uncles were a funk/pop band during the '70s and '80s called The Dealers. They were successful enough to be label-mates with Michael Jackson at CBS Records. When they were on the road, they opened for artists such as Stevie Wonder, Cameo, Kool and The Gang, The Eagles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Marvin Gaye, The Supremes, Sister Sledge, Eddie Kendricks, Teddy Pendergrass and many other legends.

I'm a journalist and last summer I published a book about them. They were a self-contained group, writing and producing their own songs. They were just about to reach major superstardom but several things went wrong.

Here is a press release where you can view a documentary about them, hear some of their music and read a free excerpt from the book. In the excerpt, you'll read about the night Marvin Gaye surprised them by jumping on stage with them during one of their concerts in New Orleans, and about the nights they opened for Eddie Kendricks and Ray Charles.

If you like the music of artists like The Gap Band, Stevie Wonder, Prince, Minnie Riperton, Michael Jackson, etc, then you'll love the Dealers!

http://www.ajdugger.com/1/post/2013/07/the-dealers-then-and-now-official-press-release.html

 

Good shit. Gotta look into this

 

Thanks man. Their manager was Bobby McVay, who was the road manager for David Ruffin when he got kicked out of The Temptations.

One cool thing about the book is that you'll hear never before-heard stories about other legends that The Dealers were around. There's rare stories in the book about The Jacksons, Ray Charles, Anita Ward, The Osmonds, Eddie Kendricks and so many others.

 

Those tracks are great!! I'll read the page when I get home tonight. Congrats on the book love!

 

Thanks!

Here's the documentary about them, followed by the audio of one of their concerts. Listen to their versions of Muscles by Diana Ross and Sexual Healing by Marvin Gaye.

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My mother sings lead on these tracks. The first one was their biggest hit.

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