The 1980s File Feature
Make That Move
Make That Move: Shalamar and the Solar Records Sound of 1981 Shalamar was one of the signature acts of Solar Records, the Los Angeles-based label founded by …
01 The Story
Make That Move: Shalamar and the Solar Records Sound of 1981
Shalamar was one of the signature acts of Solar Records, the Los Angeles-based label founded by Dick Griffey and Don Cornelius that specialized in polished, danceable funk and R&B during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The group that achieved commercial success in the early 1980s consisted of Howard Hewett, Jody Watley, and Jeffrey Daniel, three performers whose individual talents combined to create a vocal and dance act of considerable commercial appeal. Hewett was a powerful lead vocalist with gospel-influenced range; Watley was a highly charismatic performer who would go on to achieve major solo success later in the decade; and Daniel was an accomplished dancer whose style influenced Michael Jackson and other performers of the era.
The group's recordings were produced primarily by Leon Sylvers III, one of the central creative figures at Solar and a member of the Sylvers family, a dynasty of musicians with deep roots in Los Angeles R&B. Sylvers developed a distinctive production approach that combined live instrumentation with emerging electronic elements, creating a sound that was simultaneously rooted in the funk traditions of the 1970s and forward-looking in its embrace of synthesizer technology and programmed rhythms. This production aesthetic became closely identified with the Solar Records sound and gave Shalamar's recordings a coherent identity across multiple releases.
Chart Performance and Commercial History
"Make That Move" was released in the spring of 1981 and entered the Billboard Hot 100 on April 25, 1981, debuting at position 88. The single climbed steadily through May, supported by solid airplay on R&B and urban contemporary radio stations and by the strong promotional infrastructure that Solar Records maintained for its flagship acts. It reached its peak position of number 60 on the Billboard Hot 100 on May 30, 1981, spending 8 weeks on the chart in total.
On the R&B charts, the song performed considerably more strongly, as was typical of Solar Records releases that were firmly grounded in Black popular music traditions even as they sought broader crossover appeal. The Hot 100 performance represented the pop crossover component of what was primarily an R&B success, and the song's chart trajectory on the R&B charts demonstrated the group's strong standing with their core audience.
Context Within Shalamar's Career
By 1981, Shalamar had already achieved significant commercial success with their 1979 hit "Second Time Around," which had reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 and had established the group as a reliable chart act. "Make That Move" came during a period of sustained productivity for the group, which was releasing material regularly and maintaining a strong presence on R&B radio. The group's 1982 album Friends would produce their biggest American hit, "A Night to Remember," but in 1981 they were operating as a consistent commercial presence rather than as breakthrough superstars.
The early 1980s represented a particularly fertile period for Solar Records as a whole, with the label producing hits across multiple acts and establishing itself as one of the most important independent R&B labels in the country. Shalamar was the label's highest-profile act internationally, with significant success in the United Kingdom where their dance-oriented recordings connected powerfully with audiences influenced by the emerging club culture of that period.
Production Legacy
Leon Sylvers III's production on "Make That Move" exemplified the Solar Records house style: clean, radio-friendly arrangements built on a foundation of rhythmic precision, with prominent bass lines, crisp drum tracks, and vocal arrangements that showcased the group's three-way harmonic capabilities. This production approach was highly influential on the development of the electro-funk and new jack swing styles that would emerge later in the decade, as younger producers absorbed and adapted the Solar Records aesthetic for new commercial contexts.
02 Song Meaning
Action, Initiative, and the Dance Floor Philosophy of "Make That Move"
"Make That Move" belongs to a tradition in R&B and dance music of songs that function as both romantic exhortation and dance floor instruction, simultaneously addressing a desired person and an audience being invited to participate physically in the music's energy. This duality is characteristic of funk and R&B in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when the distinction between the dance floor and the narrative space of the song was deliberately blurred.
The imperative in the title, "make that move," carries multiple layers of meaning. On its most literal level, it is a call to physical action, an instruction to dance, to move, to commit to the rhythm. On a more romantic register, it is an invitation to act on attraction rather than waiting or hesitating. Both readings operate simultaneously in the song's emotional economy, and this ambiguity was a deliberate feature of the dance-funk mode that Shalamar and Solar Records specialized in. Songs that could function as romantic narrative and as physical invitation at the same time had a particular commercial utility in an era when clubs and discotheques were primary sites of music consumption.
Jeffrey Daniel and the Dance Dimension
Shalamar's identity was inseparable from the visual and physical dimension of performance, and Jeffrey Daniel's dancing was central to the group's appeal. Daniel was one of the most technically accomplished dancers in popular music during this period, and his performances in live and television contexts gave Shalamar's recordings a physical specificity that pure vocal acts lacked. The call to action in "Make That Move" was thus backed by a performing ensemble that embodied what such action looked like when executed with skill and confidence.
Daniel's influence on dance culture in this period extended to Michael Jackson, who reportedly absorbed elements of Daniel's style, including the moonwalk. This connection placed Shalamar at the center of a network of dance innovation that would shape the visual culture of popular music throughout the 1980s.
Jody Watley's Legacy and the Group's Cultural Position
The cultural significance of Shalamar extends beyond their chart performance, partly because of the individual trajectories of the group's members after their time together. Jody Watley's subsequent solo career, which produced major hits including "Looking for a New Love" and "Don't You Want Me," validated the talent that Solar Records had identified and developed. Her success in the late 1980s gave retrospective weight to the Shalamar recordings and positioned them as the origin point of an important artistic development.
Howard Hewett's gospel-inflected vocal contributions gave Shalamar's recordings a depth of feeling that distinguished them from more mechanically produced dance tracks, and "Make That Move" demonstrates this quality clearly. The combination of Hewett's vocal authority, Watley's charisma, and Daniel's physical artistry made Shalamar a genuinely multidimensional act whose recordings functioned on several levels simultaneously. "Make That Move" is an effective document of this combination working at its most commercially direct and immediately appealing.
→ More from the 1980s File
View all 1980s hits →
Keep digging