The Radiants performing "You Got It" (1965).
Another great classic!
THE RADIANTS: An R&B vocal group from Chicago, Illinois, USA, the Radiants were a typical transitional group of the early 60s, bringing doo-wop harmonies into the soul era with gospel-inspired vocal treatments. The group began in 1960 when Maurice McAlister (11 January 1940, Mississippi, USA) distilled a vocal group from members of the Greater Harvest Baptist Church choir. The original group besides McAlister (lead) were Wallace Sampson (baritone), Jerome Brooks (second tenor), Elzie Butler (bass) and Charles Washington, later replaced by Green "Mac" McLauren (first tenor), and their first hit (and record) for Chess Records was the Miracles-styled "Father Knows Best" (1962), but the superior b-side, "One Day I'll Show You", received much regional play. "Heartbreak Society" and "Shy Guy", both 1963, failed to generate sales outside the Chicago area, and the group reorganized as a trio - McAlister, Sampson and Leonard Caston Jnr. The trio format introduced a unique pronounced switch-off lead style, in which the vocal interplay worked as a constant flux of voices slipping in and out of the musical mix, most evident on "Voice Your Choice" (number 16 R&B), from 1964, and "It Ain't No Big Thing" (number 14 R&B), from 1965. Another reorganization took place in 1965, in which McAlister left the group, and the Radiants then had a hit with "Feel Kind Of Bad" (number 47 R&B); after yet another reorganization, they secured a hit with "Hold On" (number 35 R&B). The Radiants broke up in 1972. In 1966, meanwhile, McAlister and McLauren formed a duo, Maurice And Mac, who, recording in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, achieved several southern R&B hits, notably with "You Left The Water Running" in 1968. (less info)