Fred Alexander (Lakeside Drummer) dies

(June 15, 2026) We received the bad news today of the passing of longtime member of R&B supergroup Lakeside, Fred Alexander.

Stephen Shockley of the group posted on social media: Today is a Very Sad Day for our band Lakeside because we lost Fred Alexander…The little General…… The Backbone to all of our Records with his lock down drum playing …The most Driven and persistent Man I’ve ever known… That’s why he became administrator of our organization… i mean .. he could find a gig in the back of a Goodwill… under a rock or buried in the mud…. He kept us working after all seemed lost some twelve years ago… He made sure that our taxes were paid.. He Kept our Trademark consistent and up to date… he Made sure that our plane flights were always taken care of… and he loved doing the job.. But most of all , he was a Brother… We rode together through all of our albums, all of our concerts Tv Shows, Ups And Downs…. Until the wheels fell off… Unfortunately For us and Mr. Fred Alexander… Today was that Day … after 49 years together in friendship music and Brotherhood…God stepped in and said “I can take care of him a little better so yall Hand him over.. I Got This.. Rest In Heaven Little General… I love you and We All Do with all our Hearts Fred….you’ll be missed.. Those are some little BIG Shoes to fill!!!

Another in the long line of talented funk acts to come out of Dayton, Ohio, Lakeside was formed around 1970 by members of two local groups, the Nomads and the Young Undergrounds.  The group was truly unique in that it essentially consisted of two groups: a stand up 4-man vocal group, and a full-on four person (later five person) funk band. Alexander joined the group in 1977.

The mega-sized group won a contest that sent the members to Chicago to record a session for Curtis Mayfield’s Curtom label.  The recording never materialized, and the group made the decision to move to California to jumpstart their careers. There, Lakeside Express picked up new member, drummer Fred Alexander, and became one of the most popular club acts in L.A. Their popularity attracted music empresario Dick Griffey, who became their manager and, after shortening the group’s name to Lakeside, negotiated for them an ill-fated contract with Motown.

The Motown experience was the first of several where record company executives attempted to shape a sound for Lakeside that was inconsistent with the group’s own unique vibe. The Motown relationship ended quickly, without any releases, but those recordings ultimately became part of the group’s debut album on ABC Records, a disc that failed to chart. As ABC shut its doors, Griffey decided to move Lakeside to his own nascent SOLAR Records, an LA-based label that would develop a signature sound and become the hottest record imprint of the early 80s.

With their name shortened to Lakeside, the group’s 1978 SOLAR debut single, “It’s All the Way Live,” shot to the top 5 on the R&B Charts and paved the way for their SOLAR album Shot of Love. With group members actively shaping their musical direction, Lakeside began an Imperial Period of successful albums and memorable singles that have continued to receive airplay decades after their original release.  Lakeside’s gritty funk songs and hand-drawn album covers, portraying group members as pirates, G-Men, Arabian Knights, etc., gave them a unique position among the numerous soul/funk groups of that time.

During the early 80s, Lakeside’s musical party continued with such funk gems as “Your Wish Is My Command,” “Raid” and their biggest hit, “Fantastic Voyage” (later remade by Coolio).  But Lakeside also showed itself to be a legitimate soul group, most notably on a wonderfully gritty remake of the Beatles’ “I Wanna Hold Your Hand,” a cut that bore almost no resemblance to the pop classic original but which became one of the great soul songs of 1982.

 By the late 80s, radio was changing, with hip-hop and electronic R&B acts moving to the forefront. The Lakeside brand of funk was out of favor, and the group’s attempts to mimic the sounds of the day sounded less authentic than the recordings of their heyday. 

By the 90s, without a record contract, and with touring revenue down, members began to leave Lakeside, and internal squabbles about money and control led to a split of those who had remained. Lead singer Wood formed his own touring version of Lakeside with all new members, while Shockley led a more familiar version of the band called The Original Lakeside, ultimately attracting six other longtime members back into the fold, including Alexander. That version of the group continues to tour in multi-act funk and R&B shows to this day, still sounding great.

Today we will mourn the passing of a great drummer who was also part of the “glue” that kept an all-time favorite band chugging along nearly a half century after he joined. Rest in peace.