Led by singer Dave Rowland (1944-2018), the pop-country group Dave & Sugar was sort of a country music version of Tony Orlando & Dawn. Born in rural Sanger, California, Rowland started out in J.D. Sumner's venerable Stamps Quartet gospel group, was briefly part of The Four Guys vocal band, then became a member of Charley Pride's road show before going solo and breaking into the mid-1970s pop-country scene. The Dave & Sugar trio originally worked as Pride's backup singers, then in 1976 they set out on a solo career, where they had considerable success on the charts. I suspect that main man Dave Rowlands must have been a hard boss to work for -- his albums show him paired with over a half dozen different lineups of the "Sugar" backup singers, one doomed set of feathered, sequined, boa-ed, tube-topped anorexics after another. Dave also made a brief stab at a solo career, which pretty much went nowhere. Anyhoo, here's a quick look at their work...
Dave & Sugar "Anthology" (Renaissance Records, 1999)
This is perhaps the best possible collection of this sometimes-scary sunshine country version of the ugly-guy-flanked-by-two-glitzy-gals showbiz model set by Tony Orlando & Dawn. This 23-song best-of includes material from all the albums D&S released in the late 1970s (although it skips early '80s outings such as Rowland's snarkily-titled "solo" album, Sugar Free, from 1982). The music is pretty over-the-top, a glossy collision of perky pop-country and dance floor disco production ideas. The vocals vary -- Rowland himself is pretty leaden, but mixes nicely into the group sound; one of the gals did a great Linda Ronstadt imitation, others sounded nearly tone-deaf. In "hick" terms, this is mostly way too pop, more useful now as a historical reminder of Nashville's excesses in the '70s than as memorable country music. There are a few exceptions, such as "Golden Tears" and "The Door Is Always Open," but mostly this stuff just ain't twangy enuf.
Dave & Sugar "Greatest Hits" (RCA, 1976) (LP)
Dave & Sugar "Dave & Sugar" (RCA, 1976) (LP)
The group's first album included their first #1 single, "The Door Is Always Open," as well as a version of Shel Silverstein's "Queen Of The Silver Dollar," and "I'm Gonna Love You," which also cracked into the Top 5. They never quite topped this one, but the trio did pretty well for the rest of the decade.
Dave & Sugar "That's The Way Love Should Be" (RCA, 1976) (LP)
Dave & Sugar "Tear Time" (RCA, 1976) (LP)
Dave & Sugar "Stay With Me/Golden Tears" (RCA, 1976) (LP)
Dave & Sugar "New York Wine Tennessee Shine" (RCA, 1976) (LP)
Dave & Sugar "Pleasure" (Elektra Records, 1981) (LP)
Dave Rowland "Sugar Free" (Elektra Records, 1982)
The lone solo (and final) album by the lead singer of the "band" called Dave & Sugar, a countrypolitan version Tony Orlando & Dawn in which the female backup singers changed just about ever album. The album title seems needlessly snarky, if you ask me.
