The Manhattan Transfer is a group that started up in the ‘60s for a brief time but were revamped, re-manned and had their heyday in the ‘70s. The lineup that saw them through their most famous years began with Tim Hauser. Born on December 12, 1941, Tim was the man who restarted the group and launched them on the path to greatness. He randomly discovered the other members and brought them together in 1972. While driving a cab in the autumn of '72, he picked up a young aspiring singer named Laurel Massé who wanted to start a group. Having already been introduced to the album by the original Manhattan Transfer, she was more than willing to join in the efforts.Not long after that Hauser was invited to a party by another fare of his and was introduced to singer Janis Siegel. She started just to help out with a few demos, as she was already in a group, but soon became a full-fledged Manhattan member. Janis's boyfriend at the time introduced the group to Alan Paul, who was co-starring in the original Grease. The group was carried into the front-wave of the jazz world with their excellent sound, starting with their eponymous first record that was released by Atlantic Records in 1975. Their retro-jazz nostalgia instantly attracted the public interest, and the rest, as they say, is history with the album peaking at number 33 on the Pop Albums charts.With the lineup that Hauser restarted with in '72, the group played for seven solid years before Massé left to launch her solo career. She was successfully replaced by Cheryl Bentyne that year, who was featured on the group's '79 album Extensions, which placed at 55 in the pop charts. Since then, the group has had a constant and growing fame, which is more than many similar groups can claim. Their albums are consistently placing at the top of the Top Jazz Album charts, as they rank among the best jazz vocal groups around.
