Reggie Calloway & Vincent Calloway

The Calloway brothers, trumpeter Reginald "Reggie" Calloway and trombonist Vincent Calloway, are from a musical family. Their father also played trumpet, their uncle was a keyboardist, and their aunt was an opera singer. The brothers penned songs and played in various, other bands prior to Midnight Star.

After exiting Midnight Star in the late 1980s, they continued performing and recording as a duo. Calloway's first single, 1989's "I Wanna Be Rich", came in second place on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, #5 on Billboard's Hot Black Singles chart, #21 on Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Maxi Singles Sales chart, and #20 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. The single outdid the showings that Midnight Star's singles had on the charts a dozen years prior. "I Wanna Be Rich" was also released as a promo on a 7" record paired with "We Can't Go Wrong" by freestyle vocal group, The Cover Girls. The next year, their debut album, All The Way, on Solar Records, followed. It reached #80 on the Billboard 200 and #42 on Billboard's R&B Albums chart. The second single, "Sir Lancelot", came in at 19th place on Billboard's Hot Black Singles chart in July 1990 and it stayed there for 13 weeks. The third and final single from the album, the title track, made #63 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #39 on Billboard's Hot Black Singles chart, in March that same year, where it, too, stayed for 13 weeks.

Their second and only other album, Let's Get Smooth, appeared on Solar as well a couple years later. It had the 89th position on Billboard's R&B Albums chart. One single released from it was the title track. This album and this single were less successful than the previous, with the title track entering at #33 on Billboard's Hot R&B Singles chart. The Calloways turned to record production full-time since.

• Reginald Calloway (born January 23, 1955) (trumpet, vocals)
• Vincent Calloway (born January 5, 1957) (trombone, vocals)

• 1990: All The Way (Solar) #80 Billboard 200, #42 Billboard's R&B Albums
• 1992: Let's Get Smooth (Solar) #89 Billboard's R&B Albums
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• 1989: I Wanna Be Rich #2 Billboard Hot 100, # 5 Billboard's Hot Black Singles, #21 Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Maxi Singles Sales, #20 Billboard's Adult Contemporary
• 1989: We Can't Go Wrong/I Wanna Be Rich (7" promo) (as The Cover Girls/Calloway)
• 1990: Sir Lancelot #19 Billboard's Hot Black Singles
• 1990: All The Way #63 Billboard Hot 100, #39 Billboard's Hot Black Singles
• 1992: Let's Get Smooth #33 Billboard's Hot R&B Singles

 Producer facts in short:

Reggie (Reginald) and Vincent Calloway have worked in the music industry as songwriters, producers and recording artists since the early '80s. The Calloway brothers were the nucleus of the techno-funk band Midnight Star, founded at Kentucky State University in 1976. In 1980 they secured a deal with Dick Griffey's Solar label where in-house producer Leon Sylvers III took full control of Midnight Star's second Standing Together set. In between the recording sessions of Standing Together Leon Sylvers had touring obligations in Africa with his band Dynasty. So the Calloway brothers were given a break to explore their skills as producers on the songmaterial for their second long player. The sessions were so satisfactory that Reggie and Vincent Calloway progressed to producer for the next Midnight Star albums. The influence of Leon Sylvers in their work, particularly on their No Parking On The Dance Floor album, was obvious. Together with the bandmembers they created timeless hits such as "Freak-A-Zoid" (1983), "Wet My Whistle" (1983), "Operator" (1984), "Curious" (1984), "Headlines" (1986) and "Midas Touch" (1986). Everything clicked, from the production and arrangements to the hook-filled lyrics and exuberant vocals. The chart success of Midnight Star was credited to the distinctive production approach of Reggie and Vincent. During this time they also wrote and produced for Solar associated artists such as Klymaxx ("The Men All Pause"), the Whispers ("Contagious") and The Deele ("Body Talk"). After leaving Midnight Star in 1986, they formed Calloco Productions and wrote/produced the hits "Love Overboard" for Gladys Knight & The Pips, "Joy" for Teddy Pendergrass, "Jump Start" for Natalie Cole and "Casanova" for Levert. In 1990, Reggie and Vincent hit the stage again as the duo Calloway. Calloway had a gold smash in 1989 with "I Wanna Be Rich" and issued two Solar albums: All The Way (1990) and Let's Get Smooth (1992). The brothers continued working with Pieces Of A Dream, Teddy Pendergrass, Bootsy Collins, NSYNC and Sugar Ray. Reggie released his solo debut album Walking Between Raindrops on Calloway Records in 2003.

Productions (and songs) appear on:

Deele, The: LP/CD Street Beat (Solar, 1984)
Gladys Knight & The Pips: LP/CD All Our Love (MCA, 1988)
Klymaxx: LP/CD Meeting In The Ladies' Room (MCA, 1984)
Levert: LP/CD The Big Throwdown (Atlantic, 1987)
Midnight Star: LP/CD Standing Together (Solar, 1981)
Midnight Star: LP/CD Victory (Solar, 1982)
Midnight Star: LP/CD No Parking On The Dancefloor (Solar, 1983)
Midnight Star: LP/CD Planetary Invasion (Solar, 1984)
Midnight Star: LP/CD Headlines (Solar, 1986)
Natalie Cole: LP/CD Everlasting (Manhattan/EMI, 1987)
Sharp: LP/CD Sharp (Elektra, 1989)
Teddy Pendergrass: LP/CD Joy (Elektra, 1988)
Whispers, The: LP/CD So Good (Solar, 1984)