Does anyone know anything about the group The Tonics, who sang "GOOD THING GOING" at the 1992? Sondheim Celebration???
I really loved their rendition...I believe Jason Robert Brown wrote the arangement as he was the musical director and pianist for the performance.
I didn't know if they were big on the music scene then...their voices are really incredible.
If anyone knows anything let me know...I couldnt find anything on Itunes
Weird! I was thinking the same thing last week!
I couldn't find anything on google...
Brian Lane Green (Tony nominee for Starmites) was one of them. He's the only one I can remember right off. But no, they were never a big act, though an obviously talented one.
Add Cortes Alexander. From his myspace page:
"One night, while singing at a club, he met fellow singers Gene Reed, Brian Lane Green, & Lindy Robbins. They clicked immediately & formed a pop/jazz vocal group, "The Tonics". They went to New York for what was meant to be a 6 week visit. It lasted 6 years. Their intricate harmonies & arrangements, combined with their sold-out shows, won them many awards, & led them to Carnegie Hall where they sang in a tribute to composer Stephen Sondheim which was broadcast on PBS."
Swing Joined: 4/23/09
Interestingly, the music director for the Tonics was a very young man named Jason Robert Brown. If you watch the DVD, you'll see Jason playing the piano throughout the performance.
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/1/05
I love that DVD. My favorite though is Glen Close and the Boys Choir of Harlem doing Children will Listen/Our Time. I also adore seeing Liza in her prime. Then I watch her from Leading Ladies and I just want to cry.
To love Liza is to adore her, then cry, then adore her all over again.
And then cry...
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/1/05
Tell me about it. Her back in Buisness is devine.
I kind of dismissed the Tonics' performance as easy listening the first few times I heard it, but as much as I don't love their "Good Thing Going," once it transitions into "Company," I really love it.
And, not to snipe at you, RockabyeHamlet, but it's actually Betty Buckley singing (divinely) with the Harlem Boys' Choir, not Glenn Close.
Swing Joined: 5/17/09
Reply to SCOTT68:
1. Shouldn't it be "Sondheim Celebration"?
2. So impressed by your Lina Lamont quote... at your young age. Obviously, you're a very aware and historically attuned guy! ("But Moses, he knowses his toeses aren't roses!")
3. Finally, are the "Tonics" you're talking about a singing group that goes back to the early or mid 1990s made up of 3 guys and 1 girl? My husband and I saw them on an RSVP cruise in Mid-February, 1996. We LOVED them!! I've just finished dubbing off to DVD our home-made video tape of that cruise which includes a couple of their song performances. When Googling "The Tonics" (which led me to you) I found that there's another group using that name. I watched one of their clips online and they're NOT the jazzy group we saw. I hope they're not the group you're referring to. The Tonics Michael and I saw would be perfect doing Sondheim.
So glad to see that, despite your young age, you're not "locked into" ONLY the current Broadway and music scenes! You've lifted this old has-been's spirits. Bless your heart!!
Allin Leslie
(Now in California)
Link to My Claim to Non-Fame
Updated On: 5/17/09 at 08:52 PM
Hi! Actually, The Tonics are reuniting. They're doing 3 shows at Joes pub Feb.28th, March1st & March 8th for BC/EFA. I know this, because I'm Cortés Alexander, one of the Tonics, & we've been rehearsing like freaks here in LA, so if you're in town, I hope to see you there. Also, look out for "Liza's at the Palace" on PBS... I think at the end of November.
I know I always skip that song cause the Tonics' harmonies are like nails on a chalkboard to me...
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