take your time (do it right)

mix by dj codeman / hot tracks

The SOS Band is an American musical ensemble, founded in Atlanta, Georgia in 1977. Originally known as Santa Monica, the "SOS" initialism in the band's name does not stand for Save Our Souls but for Sounds of Success.

The band, fronted by Mary Davis, was initially famous for the Disco hit "Take Your Time (Do It Right)" in 1980. In 1983, they joined forces with then-new production team Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, who went on to craft a string of R&B hits for the group, including "Just Be Good to Me," "Tell Me If You Still Care," "Borrowed Love," "No One's Gonna Love You," "Just the Way You Like It," and "The Finest".

The Jam/Lewis produced SOS Band hits are notable for popularizing the use of the Roland TR-808 drum machine (and its distinctive cowbell sound) in popular music. The group continues to tour and perform to this day.

The song "Just Be Good to Me" was remixed by Beats International (Aka Norman Cook or Fatboy Slim); the resultant song made its way to UK number one single as "Dub Be Good to Me". The song was reworked with the bassline to The Clash's "Guns of Brixton". It was also covered by Shayne Ward for his album "Breathless". Also, the song "Tell Me If You Still Care" was covered in 1995 by fellow Atlanta native Monica for her debut album Miss Thang. Bingoboys performed a cover of "Borrowed Love" as the follow-up single to their 1991 dance hit "How To Dance".

Lead vocalist Mary Davis left the group in the late 80s to pursue a solo career and was replaced by Chandra Currelley beginning with the band's 1989 Diamonds in the Raw album. More recently, Currelley has been active as an actress and vocalist in plays and films.

This text is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "The SOS Band".

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