Atlantic Starr - A Profile

Following the birthday post for Atlantic Starr lead singer Barbara Weathers, I felt it appropriate to do a feature on the group as well as many of their earlier recordings were done without her as she replaced Sharon Bryant in 1984 after they had already recorded five albums.

Atlantic Starr evolved from Newban who were classmates at Woodland High School, Hartsdale NY, who recorded two albums, "Newban" and "Newban 2" which were unofficially released on Guinness in 1977. They moved to L.A. (Westwood) and were spotted performing in a nightclub as Newban and were signed to Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss' A&M Records in 1977. Upon signing they were asked to change their name and chose the name Atlantic Starr to represent their east coast connection.

The group initially consisted of nine, trimming down to seven and then five and I think eventually a quartet. The embryo of the group began in the early 70s when the three Lewis brothers (David, Jonathan and Wayne) all led separate groups, Newban, Exact Change and Unchained Youth. The groups amalgamated into one with the Lewis brothers, Wayne (keyboards / vocals), Jonathan (trombone / percussion) and  David (guitar / vocals) along with William Suddeeth III (trumpet), Clifford Archer (bass), Joseph Phillips (congas / flute / percussion), Porter Carrol Jr. (drums / vocals) and Sharon Bryant (vocals / percussion) and Damon Rentie (sax) who was later replaced by Koran Daniels (sax).

The two Newban albums were combined and reissued by BBE in 2012 on vinyl and CD. Soul4Real also released two tracks from "Newban2" as a 7" single earlier this year. 

Their first album as Atlantic Starr was self-titled, produced by MFSB's Bobby Eli and released in 1978 on A&M. They released a further five albums for A&M until 1985 then switching to Warner Bros. for two albums between 1987-89. Another four albums were released in the 90s all on different labels and finally one as recently as 2017.

Five members left the group in 1984 leaving the three Lewis brothers and Phillips. They recruited Barbara Weathers to replace Sharon Bryant (who went on to a solo career) and hit with the ballad "Secret Lovers". Inevitably, due to the success of that single, the group tended to focus on slushy ballads and had a #1 hit with another, "Always", in  1987 and "Masterpiece" in 1991 reaching #3 (their three most successful singles). Weathers and Wayne Lewis got engaged which caused further tension in the group leading to disputes over royalties and she left in 1988. 

The group continued recording through the 90s with different female leads releasing four more albums, Porscha Martin on "We're Movin' Up", Rachel Oliver on "Love Crazy" and Aisha Tanner for "Time" with Oliver returning for "Legacy".

After an almost twenty year hiatus, they released "Metamorphosis" in 2017.

Album Discography

1978 - Atlantic Starr

1979 - Straight To The Point

1980 - Radiant

1982 - Brilliance

1983 - Yours Forever

1985 - As The Band Turns

1987 - All In The Name Of Love

1989 - We're Movin' Up

1991 - Love Crazy

1994 - Time

1998 - All Because Of You

1998 - Legacy

2017 - Metamorphosis ‎

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