Music has always been part of Steve Arrington's life. Born in 1956, to Dan and Lillian Arrington, in Great Lakes, Illinois, the family soon returned to their hometown of Dayton, Ohio; where Steve grew up listening to the music his family played on the radio and record player. (Aretha Franklin and Marvin Gaye were in heavy rotation back in the day.) Before he could read, he could identify the requested record by the colors on the label and operate the record player. By age, five he was playing drums on pots and pans. When he was about seven years old, his grandparents bought him his first drum set, a blue sparkle set of Slingerlands.
By age, thirteen, Steve regularly played in the Dayton Battle of the Bands and various talent shows, very serious business in Dayton at that time. In addition, about this time, he began gigging regularly with various bands in the Dayton area. One band, the Soul Illusions and Eluders, opened for major acts such as, Spider Turner, The Five Stair Steps, Irma Franklin, Rufus Thomas, and Jerry Butler, at the Lakeview Palladium, once a great Dayton venue. By his senior year in high school, he played with a band called the Young Mystics, of whom several members became the original members of Slave.
In 1975, Steve and friend Victor Godsey, (later the keyboard player for Steve Arrington's Hall of Fame), began touring the states with a lounge band called The Murphy's. In 1977, Steve went to California studied Latin percussion and drumming with Coke Escovedo and played drums with Pete and Sheila Escovedo, (also known as Sheila E.) He did a tour with the Salsa West Coast Latin All Stars, led by the Escovedos, featuring Carlos Santana on guitar.
He returned to Dayton in 1978, to join the gold record winning funk group Slave, as drummer and later as lead singer for five albums (The Concept, and Just A Touch Of Love, Stone Jam, and Showtime).
In 1982, he formed the innovative funk band, Steve Arrington's Hall of Fame for two albums, Hall Of Fame I and Positive Power. Band members included Charles (Cedell) Carter on saxes and keyboards, Arthur Rhaimes on guitar, Roger Parker (Dodge) on drums, Sam Carter ..boards, Buddy Hankerson on bass guitar, Gary Jackson on percussion, and Victor Bruce Godsey on keyboards, flute.
After Steve’s conversion to Christ in 1984, which occurred during the making of Positive Power, Steve did three solo albums, Dancin In The Key Of Life (1985), The Jammin National Anthem (1986) and Jam Packed (1987). He was nominated for the 1986 NAACP Image Award for Male Artist of the Year. He had a very successful "Dancin in the Key of Life," European Tour. By 1991, Steve transitioned out of the recording industry altogether and worked solely in the church as an evangelist, a pastor, a music minister, and worship leader.
Today, Steve’s preparation to re-service back into the recording industry is near complete.
PRAISE THE LORD, JESUS CHRIST!!!
