Kiddo
| Kiddo | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Long Beach, California, United States |
| Genres | Funk / R&B |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-Songwriter / Producer / Musician |
| Years active | 1981–1984 |
| Labels | A&M Records |
| Past members |
Donnie Sterling Michael Hampton Arthur Brown Rock Goodin Willie Jenkins Juice Johnson Leroy Davis |
Kiddo was a P-Funk offspring group at A&M Records, formed by Parliament - Funkadelic guitarist Michael Hampton and writer Donnie Sterling, in the early 1980s.[1]
History
Kiddo, the hard hitting funk band of the eighties, arose from the ashes of George Clinton's P-Funk empire. One of Kiddo's founding members, Donnie Sterling, was brought into the P-Funk empire as a musician for Parlet in 1978, a P-Funk girl group, created by George Clinton. As Parlet's band leader and bass player, Donnie Sterling wrote three songs on Parlet's second album, Invasion of the Booty Snatchers, then became P-Funk writer for producers George Clinton and Ron Dunbar. Sterling wrote tunes for Parliament in the band's late days, and is most noted for his vocal performance in "Agony Of Defeet". Sterling and his then-wife and member of Parlet, Mallia Franklin, left the group in 1979 to form a P-Funk offspring group called Sterling Silver Starship. An album was recorded, but never released. Some of those tracks can be heard on the George Clinton Family Series.
Mallia Franklin continued to do studio work with P-Funk and Zapp, while Sterling partnered with Funkadelic guitarist Michael Hampton, and both continued to work with George Clinton. Hampton was initially recruited into Funkadelic as a seventeen-year-old guitar prodigy, first appearing on Let's Take It To The Stage.
In 1981, Clinton disbanded the Parliament-Funkadelic empire due to financial and legal difficulties. After the disbandment, Sterling and Hampton formed Kiddo in 1981. They partnered with Arthur Brown, Willie Jenkins, Leon Goodin, Fred Johnson, and Leroy Davis who led a band that included Hazel Payne who later earned fame as partner in the girl duo A Taste of Honey.
Leroy Davis was an up and coming talent, and first cousin of rock and roll legend Antoine "Fats" Domino. Leroy very quickly became the glue that held Kiddo together. In addition to leading the bands killer horn section, Leroy wrote and sang lead on many of Kiddo's tunes. Kiddo was certainly one of the unsung and extraordinarily talented bands of the eighties.
Kiddo went on to record two successful albums for A&M Records producing hits like "Try My Lovin" and "She's Got the Body." Post Kiddo, many of the band members went on to have successful careers entertaining in Japan.
