The boys of Heatwave really took their US Amy's slogan "be all that you can be" to heart. The original group, called The Cashmeres, met while stationed in West Germany and came together to play pool and sing. Later, as faces and locations changed, the group changed to The Noblemen, with an all-German soul music band backing the new quartet.

The constant member was lead singer Johnnie Wilder, who changed the group's name yet again to J. Wilder and The Soul Sessions, eventually combining with friend Tommy Harris and his Upsetters group to create Heatwave. Original members of Heatwave were Eric "funky man" Joseph (bass), Eric Johns (keyboards), Jessie Whitten (guitar) Barbara Bell (vocalist), with Harris and Wilder (vocals, drums). The group was in constant motion, not only traveling to play their music, starting in Germany and moving to Great Britain and England, but also in its members, who were even less faithful to the group than their direction changes.

Their debut album Too Hot to Handle was recorded with GTO Records, who saw success with the third single released, "Boogie Nights." The single peaked at number one in the European charts and got American involved. Their next single, "Always and Forever" proved just how diverse they were. While recording their second album, Heatwave was asked to perform in front of 16,000 Americans in celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday, the first time they had performed in front of Americans. Due to the success of their platinum-selling singles, CBS Records took Heatwave to America and they began touring. More radio play led to more mainstream success, and the group began recording their third album, even with the loss of diehard member Johnnie Wilder, who was paralyzed in a car accident. The group continued to create new albums into the ‘80s, followed by their American tour in 1997 and a remixed "Boogie Nights" in 2002.