Extensions was released by The Manhattan Transfer on October 31, 1979 on the Atlantic Records label.

This album began a new era for the group: This album was the first one with Cheryl Bentyne, who replaced Laurel Massé. It was also the first album that contained songs that were hits in both the jazz and pop categories. The disco hit song Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone reached #12 on Billboard's Disco chart, and on the Hot 100 reached #30. "Trickle, Trickle" reached #73 on the Billboard Magazine's Hot 100 chart. Overall, the album reached #55 on the Billboard Magazine Top LP's chart.

The most widely known song from this album, Joe Zawinul's "Birdland," won the group its first Grammy Award for Best Jazz/Fusion Performance, Vocal or Instrumental in 1980. Accessed 2008 April 14. Jon Hendricks wrote lyrics for the vocalese version on the album and Janis Siegel received a Grammy for her vocal arrangement of "Birdland". Eddie Jefferson was writing the new lyrics for the song "Birdland", but he was killed before finishing them. This album is dedicated to him. "Birdland" was the most played Jazz track in 1980 and many regard "Birdland" as the "signature song" of the group.

Charts

Extensions debuted on Billboard's Top Pop Album chart on December 8, 1979.

References / Sources

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Category:1979 albums

Category:The Manhattan Transfer albums

Category:Atlantic Records albums

it:Extensions

Artist/Band Information

The Manhattan Transfer is an American vocal music group. There have been two manifestations of the group, with Tim Hauser being the only person to be part of both. The group’s name comes from John Dos Passos’ 1925 novel Manhattan Transfer and refers to their New York origins.

Founding

The first manifestation of the group was established during 1969 in New York city, with Tim Hauser, Erin Dickins, Marty Nelson, Gene Pistilli, and Pat Rosalia. They contracted with Capitol Records, recorded several tracks, and during 1971 issued their only album with this line-up, Jukin'. The album was later reissued in the UK by EMI's Music for Pleasure under the title The Manhattan Transfer and Gene Pistilli Pistilli had been best known for his performing and songwriting collaborations with Terry Cashman and Tommy West. This team endured only until 1971. According to Hauser, "Gene and I were in two different places. He was more into country & western, R&B, and the Memphis sound, and by then I'd become more interested in jazz and swing..."

Second line-up

The next line-up of the group was formed in 1972 by Tim Hauser with singers Alan Paul, Janis Siegel, and Laurel Massé. After performances at Max's Kansas City, Trude Heller’s and Reno Sweeney with Herb Abramson's A-1 Sound engineer Jim Reeves in New York City, the group developed a cult fan base, and it was at the latter venue that Ahmet Ertegün, founder and chairman of Atlantic Records, saw them and offered a recording contract. The group's first album for Atlantic was The Manhattan Transfer in 1975, and included the group’s first successful single, the gospel tune "Operator". During the summer of 1975, the group were showcased in their own hour-long television variety series on CBS.

They also gained a following in Europe, where their next two albums, Coming Out and Pastiche, brought a string of chart hits. One was a revival of Wayne Shanklin's "Chanson D'Amour", which became a number one hit in the UK and Australia in 1977, though failed to chart in the US. These successes were followed by a live-recorded album, The Manhattan Transfer Live, recorded in the UK and which reached the UK Top 5.

Third line-up and journey into jazz

Soon after that album was recorded, during 1978, Laurel Massé was injured badly in a car accident and was replaced by Cheryl Bentyne. The line-up has remained the same since then.

Their next album, Extensions, was released in 1979 and earned the group their second U.S. popular music success, the disco hit "Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone", written by Alan Paul and Jay Graydon as a tribute to the 1960s CBS television series created by Rod Serling.The introduction of the song is incorrectly attributed in the liner notes to Bernard Herrmann, who wrote the theme for Season One of The Twilight Zone only. The more famous Twilight Zone theme that is used in the Manhattan Transfer song was composed by Marius Constant. The track also reached the Top 30 in the UK, where the group continued to make several appearances on popular television shows such as The Two Ronnies.

Extensions also featured a cover of Weather Report's "Birdland", with lyrics by Jon Hendricks. One of the most popular jazz recordings of 1980, "Birdland" brought the group their first Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance), and Janis Siegel was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More Voices for her arrangement of "Birdland".

During 1981, The Manhattan Transfer made music history by becoming the first group to win Grammy awards for both popular and jazz categories in the same year. Boy from New York City and Other Hits (a cover of the 1965 success by The Ad Libs) reached the Top 10 on the Billboard 200 and won them the award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, and "Until I Met You (Corner Pocket)" earned them a Grammy for Best Jazz Performance, Duo or Group. Both of these songs appeared on the group's fifth album, Mecca for Moderns.

During 1982, the group won another Grammy, for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Duo or Group, for its rendition of the classic ode-to-the-road, "Route 66". The song was featured on the soundtrack to the Burt Reynolds film Sharky's Machine.

Stretching out

In September 1983, the group released the album Bodies and Souls, with an urban-contemporary style which resulted in two R&B chart singles. The first was the #2 hit "Spice of Life", which was co-written by Rod Temperton who had penned several hits for Michael Jackson. The single also reached #40 on the US pop chart and #19 in the UK. The other single, the ballad "Mystery" (#80 R&B, #102 Pop), was later recorded by Anita Baker on her 1986 album Rapture.

In 1985, the group released two albums - the first being Bop Doo-Wopp, an album that included both live and studio recordings. The group's next album, Vocalese received twelve Grammy nominations — at the time making it second only to Michael Jackson's Thriller as the most nominated single album ever. The group won in two categories: Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Duo or Group, and Best Arrangement for Voices. This was followed by a live recording of many of these songs titled Live. This concert, recorded in Japan, was also released on VHS and DVD, later titled as Vocalese Live.

For their next album, 1987's Brasil, the group headed south to work with Brazilian songwriters and musicians Ivan Lins, Milton Nascimento, Djavan and Gilberto Gil. Brasil won a Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

The group did not release any more studio albums until 1991, when they signed with the Sony Music label and released The Offbeat of Avenues, featuring original material written or co-written by members of the quartet. Their efforts brought them their 10th Grammy award, for the song "Sassy". This was followed by the release of their first holiday album entitled The Christmas Album in 1992.

Switching back to Atlantic Records as their distributor, they released Tonin' (a collection of R&B and popular successes from the 1960s), The Manhattan Transfer Meets Tubby the Tuba (a children's album), and their 1997 album Swing which covered 1930s-era swing music. Their final album for the Atlantic company was The Spirit of St. Louis in 2000, dedicated to the music of Louis Armstrong.

The group was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1998.

Recent activity

The group signed to the Telarc label in 2003 to release Couldn't Be Hotter, a live performance capturing many of the songs from The Spirit of St. Louis.

In 2004, the group released the album Vibrate. This was another one of their “pastiche” albums, blending original tunes with older ones, pop, jazz, funk, etc. Vibrate featured such notable musicians as bassist Will Lee, and renowned time keeper Steve Hass on drums.

They also released (in Japan originally) their second holiday album, An Acapella Christmas, in 2005. The album was released in the US in 2006.

During 2006, the group released The Symphony Sessions, a collection of some of their best known songs re-recorded with an orchestra, and also The Definitive Pop Collection, a two-disc collection of the group's material from their time with Atlantic Records. They also recorded their first original title song for a movie, "Trail of the Screaming Forehead", and, in late 2006, the group released a new concert DVD, The Christmas Concert, and was broadcasted by PBS in select locations.

Their band's latest album, The Chick Corea Songbook, is a tribute to the works of American jazz musician Chick Corea and was released in September 2009. The album features an appearance by Corea himself on the track "Free Samba". Other notable musicians on this recording are Airto, Scott Kinsey, Gary Novack, Steve Hass, Alex Acuna, Jimmy Earl, John Benitez, and Christian McBride.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Guest/soundtrack appearances

* "Schöner Gigolo, armer Gigolo" OST (1979): "Johnny," "Jealous Eyes," "I Kiss Your Hand, Madame" Conducted by Frank Barber/ Produced by Tim Hauser

* A League of Their Own OST (1992): "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" and "On the Sunny Side of the Street"

* Home Improvement (1992): Sing "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" and "It Came Upon The Midnight Clear" as part of a Tool Time Christmas special ("I'm Scheming Of A White Christmas", Season 2).

* Swing Kids OST 1993 "Bei Mir Bist Du Shoen" was sung by Janis Siegel

* Tapestry Revisited: A Tribute to Carole King (1995) (Tribute Album) they sing 'Smackwater Jack'

References