Bassist Norman Durham
Today the management and staff of CaribDirect mourn the loss of Norman Durham, the ex-husband of one of our cherished partners, Lisa Mosley.
Norman was born in Washington D.C. He discovered his talent for music as a young teen at the age of fifteen. He performed in various ensembles, and eventually joined a premier vocal ensemble known as the “Choice Four”.
Norman’s talents and skills as a smooth yet powerful vocalist and bass guitarist developed and matured throughout the years as a live performer for “Choice Four”, which eventually ventured out on their own to form the musical group “Kleeer”. They signed with Atlantic Records, and went on to record several hit records that were very successful in the mainstream of contemporary urban music.
Norman has written and co-produced seven albums for Atlantic Records
80's sensation Kleer
dating from 1979 to 1986. He has performed on several known musical artists’ recordings such as “Candido”, “Two Tons of Fun”, “Sylvester”, and many more. His countless musical contributions as a bass guitarist and premier vocalist soon earned him the name “Stormin Norman”, “The Golden Voice of Groove Music”. Statement by Karisma Music
Lisa, Norman’s ex-wife recalls:
Norman was a man who cherished family and loved music. He was the bassist, keyboard player and background vocalist for the popular late 70’s early 80’s group “Kleer”. They were one of the most popular funk bands of that time and Norman played a key role in the group’s sound. He played with some of the legendary music greats: Luther Vandross, Tina marie, rick James, Chaka Khan, Lisa Fischer, Jocelyn brown, Meli’sa Morgan, Isabelle Coles (Honey Coles daughter) just to name a few.
Intimate connections http://youtu.be/mgsht0lto9o Keep your body working: http://youtu.be/rmCAEGd96l
Norman much younger
In 1979 they signed to Atlantic Records using the name Kleer. Becoming a cult band in the UK and US they enjoyed a string of hits in the R&B Charts. In the US national charts they had 3 top 40 entries, they had 2 in the top 50 in the UK, the only one both sides of the water being “Get Tough” although “Keep That Body Working” is the track that they are remembered for.
Between 1979 and 1985 the group released seven albums and had several hits in the Billboard Hot 100 and in R&B charts. The most mentionable are “Tonight’s the Night”, “Winners”, “Intimate Connection”, Keep Your Body Working and “Get Tough.” The sound was now more focused on 1980s style funk, and electronic instruments, like vocoders and synthesizers
California Love” is a hip hop song by 2Pac featuring Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman.
The song was released as 2Pac’s comeback single upon his release from
The late Woody Cunningham
prison in 1995. The remix features sample from this song “Intimate Connection” by Kleer written by Norman Durham and Woody Cunningham (who also passed on Jan 2010) was the song that purchased the house that my ex-husband passed on in and our children and I lived in. http://adventoutpost.com/2
WELL AS YOU ARE LAID TO REST TODAY, THIS IS MY LITTLE FUN FACT AND TRIBUTE TOO YOU. I WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER THESE WORDS FROM YOU WHENEVER I WOULD HEAR YOU WORKING ON A NEW BASSLINE IN OUR BASEMENT AND I QUOTE “IT’S NOTHING BUT THE FUN BABY” LOVE YOU AND YOU WILL ALWAYS REMAIN IN MY HEART. LISA
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