Woody Cunningham is a talented drummer and vocalist and was the leader of '80s funk band
Kleeer, for whom he produced and sang some classic tunes. With his background in soul, rock, disco, and funk, he continued sharing his talents as a solo artist in the '90s.
Woody Cunningham started in 1971 as a drummer with the vocal group the Choice Four. In 1972 he moved to New York and formed the black heavy metal band Pipeline with bass player
Norman Durham, keyboardist Richard Lee, and percussionist
Paul Crutchfield. Because he was a talented drummer,
Cunningham was very much in demand on New York's disco scene. He played on sessions for Sylvester,
Faith, Hope & Charity, Disco Tex & the Sexolettes, and
Candido, for Salsoul Records. At Salsoul he met session vocalist
Jocelyn Brown who heard his voice and persuaded him to do lead vocals. So
Cunningham became a vocalist. In 1976
Patrick Adams and
Greg Carmichael needed a group to tour under the name
the Universal Robot Band.
Cunningham and Brown got the job and they liked it so much that they continued, renaming themselves to
Kleeer. In 1978
Kleeer was signed to Atlantic Records and they recorded seven albums on that label between 1979 and 1986. In this period
Cunningham produced classics like "Keep Your Body Working," "Open Your Mind," "Take Your Heart Away," and "Intimate Connection." Unsigned to any label, he kept on working with other artists like
Luther Vandross,
Narada Michael Walden,
Kashif,
Lisa Fischer, Meli'sa Morgan,
Nile Rodgers, and
Martha Wash. In the early '90s
Cunningham was contacted by Andy "Madhatter" Holmes to send him some tapes. This led to the release, together with
Paul Crutchfield, of "Oooh With You" in 1994 on Old English, a Manchester label. When he came to the U.K. to do some promotion,
Cunningham went in the studio with producers Andy Holmes,
Steve Christian, and
Si Brad to work on his solo debut album
Never Say Never, an '80s-rooted set of R&B and funk, released in 1997 by Expansion. The next album
Universal Love, a more mellow album with a jazzy touch, came out in 2000 on Expansion. ~ Jos Veestraeten