Oliver Cheatham (February 24, 1948 – November 29, 2013) was an American R&B singer who is best remembered for his 1983 hit “Get Down Saturday Night”.
Cheatham was born in Detroit, Michigan. He was encouraged to sing by his mother, and joined several local groups including The Young Sirs, Mad Dog And The Pups and Gaslight before releasing a single, “Hard Times” on the Tier record label. He then joined another group, the Sins of Satan, the group later being renamed as Roundtrip. They finally took his name and recorded two albums as Oliver.
Cheatham then signed for MCA Records as a solo singer. He worked with Al Hudson of the band One Way on his first album, The Boss. His first chart success came in 1983 with “Get Down Saturday Night”, co-written by Cheatham and One Way’s Kevin McCord, which reached #37 on the Billboard R&B chart, and also reached #38 on the UK singles chart. The album, Saturday Night, produced by Al Perkins, was released the same year. In 1986, he moved to the Critique label, and had further success in the US with the singles “S.O.S.” (R&B chart #35), and “Celebrate (Our Love)” (R&B chart #87).
“Celebrate” was co-written and produced by Rob Davis who had been guitarist/writer for UK glam act “Mud” in the 70’s but went on to become a successful writer/producer for other acts in the 80’s, “Celebrate” was mixed at PWL Studios by Mixmaster Phil Harding.
Oliver Cheatham died on November 29, 2013, at the age of 65, following a heart attack in his sleep.
Celebrate 5:19
Celebrate (Dub Mix) 5:11
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