Dyke Arlester Christian
1943-1971
Inducted in 1998
"Dyke" Arlester Christian was born in Buffalo, New
York in 1943. In 1965 he sang and played bass guitar with the O'Jays'
backing band, The Blazers. Dyke and some of the Blazers were left in
Phoenix, Arizona after the O'Jays found that they couldn't afford to
bring the band back to Buffalo. In order to raise the money needed to
get home, the stranded musicians decided to continue working as a
group. Bass player Dyke became the lead singer, they added some local
musicians and started playing the local clubs. The band was soon
discovered by local producers Art Barrett and Austin Coleman who
released "Funky Broadway" , a tune Dyke had written to go with a dance
he had invented. The record was first released on the Phoenix based
Artco label towards the end of 1966. A local disc jockey, Tony Evans,
started playing the record which rapidly picked up airplay on other
stations in the Southwest. It was licensed in December, 1966 by top Los
Angeles "Oldies but Goodies" DJ, Art Laboe for his Original Sound
label. The rest is history. On Original Sound 64, it reached number 65
on the Top 100 and number 17 on the R&B chart in 1967. Dyke's
recording of "Funky Broadway" went on to sell almost a million records
and was later covered by several other artists, notably Wilson Pickett,
who had a hit with it on the Atlantic label. Dyke and the Blazers went
out and toured heavily on the back of their hit, appearing at most
major venues including the legendary Apollo Theatre in New York.
Between tours, Dyke recorded with the Blazers at Audio Recorders Studio
in Phoenix, where the classic "The Wrong House" and "So Sharp" were
cut. Arlester Christian (Dyke) returned to Phoenix whenever he could,
dispite his success, and it was here that he was shot dead by a
deranged man in the street where he usually hung out. He died on March
13, 1971.
Excerpted from liner notes by Preston Adams
Dyke and The Blazers were inducted into the Arizona Music and
Entertainment Hall of Fame (AMEHOF) on April 17, 2005 at the Dodge
Theater in Phoenix, AZ. Click on the following link to view the
AMEHOF Inductee introduction video for Dyke and The Blazers.
AMEHOF Introduction video for Dyke and The Blazers
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