The Atlanta, GA-borne band was started in 1977 playing at an Atlanta nightclub the Regal Room. The group originally named themselves Santa Monica after they had an enjoyable concert in that California city. Their manager sent a demo to Clarence Avant, head of Tabu Records. After signing the band to Tabu. Avant suggested that the band work with songwriter/producer Sigidi Abdullah.
Abdullah didn’t understand why an Atlanta group had a California name and renamed the group the S.O.S. Band, with S.O.S. standing for “Sounds of Success.” By the groups third album they were working with producers Leon Sylvers III and the Time’s Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. With The team worked and the group started rolling out the hits. Including number two hit “Just Be Good to Me.” And the number five beatbox ballad “Tell Me if You Still Care.”
In August 1994, former lead vocalist Mary Davis reunited with two other former members and reconstructed a new band with the same funky S.O.S. sound, appearing on comedian Sinbad’s HBO concert specials and Rhino’s various-artists set United We Funk issued October 5, 1999. The SOS completed a new album in 2011 called “Icons” and “Just Get Ready” in 2014. The original members have broken into a number of SOS bands that continue to tour.
Some of the groups other hits include: “The Finest” and “Just the Way You Like It.”