{{Short description|American vocal group}} {{other uses|Tams (disambiguation)}} {{use mdy dates|date=February 2022}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = The Tams | image = | caption = | image_size = | background = group_or_band | alias = | origin = Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. | genre = R&B, Soul, Beach music<ref name="AllMusic">{{cite web|last1=Wynn|first1=Ron|title=Biography|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-tams-mn0000569256/biography|website=AllMusic|access-date=21 February 2022|archive-date=February 21, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220221150255/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-tams-mn0000569256/biography|url-status=live}}</ref> | years_active = 1960–present | label = Arlen Records, ABC-Paramount, Probe, Virgin | website = {{URL|http://www.thetams.com}} | current_members = Robert Lee Smith<br/>"Little Red" Cottle | past_members = Albert Cottle<br/>Joseph Pope<br/>Horace Key<br/>Floyd Ashton<br/>Charles Pope }}
'''The Tams''' are an American vocal group from Atlanta, Georgia, who enjoyed their greatest chart success in the 1960s, but continued to chart in the 1970s, and the 1980s. Two separate lineups of the group continue to perform and record. One lineup, called 'The Original Tams with R. L. Smith', features original member Robert Lee Smith, and the other lineup is under the leadership of Little Red, the son of longtime member Albert Cottle and stepfather Charles Pope and the nephew of group co-founder Joe Pope.
==Career== The band formed in 1960, and took their name from the Tam o'shanter hats they wore on stage.<ref name="Larkin">{{cite book|title=The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music|editor=Colin Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=Virgin Books|date=1997|edition=Concise|isbn=1-85227-745-9|pages=1161/2}}</ref> By 1962, they had a hit single on Arlen Records. "Untie Me", a Joe South composition, became a top 20 on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart.<ref name="Larkin"/> The follow-up releases largely failed until 1964, when "What Kind of Fool (Do You Think I Am)", reached the top 10 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100.<ref name="Larkin"/> The song spent three weeks at number one on the ''Cash Box'' R&B chart. Many of their popular hits were written by Ray Whitley.<ref name="Larkin"/>
"Hey Girl Don't Bother Me" was also a modest US hit the same year.<ref name="Larkin"/> The Tams had only one further major US hit (in 1968) when "Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy", peaked at No. 26 on the US R&B chart, and subsequently made the UK top 40 in 1970.<ref name="500 Number One Hits">{{cite book|first=Jo|last=Rice|year=1982|title=The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits|edition=1st|publisher=Guinness Superlatives Ltd| location=Enfield, Middlesex|page=140|isbn=0-85112-250-7}}</ref>
Their 1965 recording "I've Been Hurt" was their biggest regional hit (based on sales and airplay) prior to 1980.
The group reached the Number one slot in the UK Singles Chart in September 1971, with the re-issue of "Hey Girl Don't Bother Me", thanks to its initial support from the then thriving UK Northern soul scene. The song also topped the Irish Singles Chart, making them the first African-American group to have a number-one single in Ireland.<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">{{cite book|first=David|last=Roberts|year=2006|title=British Hit Singles & Albums|edition=19th|publisher=Guinness World Records Limited|location=London|isbn=1-904994-10-5|page=549}}</ref>
The group did not chart again until 1987, when their song "There Ain't Nothing Like Shaggin'" reached No. 21 in UK, propelled by a regionally-popular dance known as the Carolina shag, which featured heavily in the subsequent 1989 film, ''Shag''.<ref name="Larkin"/> However, the track was banned by the BBC because the word "shag" means "to have sexual intercourse" in colloquial British English.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://h2g2.com/edited_entry/A753527|title=The Origins and Common Usage of British Swear-words|website=BBC|date=May 20, 2002 |access-date=2013-07-12|archive-date=September 6, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110906023249/http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A753527|url-status=live}}</ref>
Still quite popular in the Southeastern United States, they continue to record new music and perform at well-attended concerts{{When?|date=September 2025}}{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}}. In 1999, they were featured performers with Jimmy Buffett on his CD, ''Beach House on the Moon'', and also toured with him around the country.
American singer-songwriter Tameka Harris, born in 1975, is the daughter of Dianne Cottle-Pope and Charles Pope.<ref>{{cite book|last=Miller|first=Zell|title=They Heard Georgia Singing|publisher=Mercer University Press|year=1996|page=285|isbn=0-86554-504-9}}</ref> Charles Pope died from Alzheimer's disease on July 11, 2013, at the age of 76.<ref>{{cite web|author=Doc Rock|url=http://www.thedeadrockstarsclub.com/2013b.html#sthash.KHCjFI7F.LKLrfZad.dpbs|title=July to December|publisher=The Dead Rock Stars Club|accessdate=2013-07-12|archive-date=October 4, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004105726/http://www.thedeadrockstarsclub.com/2013b.html#sthash.KHCjFI7F.LKLrfZad.dpbs|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Later years== In recent years the group has been led by Albert "Little Red" Cottle Jr., the son of former member Albert Cottle.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.martinsvillespeedway.com/Articles/2015/06/tams.aspx|title=Love of the Music Has Kept Tams Going Strong|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151029022103/https://www.martinsvillespeedway.com/Articles/2015/06/tams.aspx|archive-date=October 29, 2015|date=22 June 2015|website=Martinsville Speedway}}</ref>
==Members== * '''Albert Cottle''' (born July 3, 1941; died February 11, 1982) * '''Joseph Pope''' (born Joseph Lee Pope, November 6, 1933, Atlanta, Georgia; died March 16, 1996) * '''Robert Lee Smith''' (born March 18, 1936) * '''Horace Key''' (born April 13, 1934, Atlanta, Georgia, died 1995) * '''Charles Pope''' (born Charles Walter Pope, August 7, 1936, Atlanta, Georgia; died July 11, 2013) * '''Floyd Ashton''' (born August 15, 1933) (member from 1960 to 1963) * '''Little Red''' aka Lil' Red (born August 2, 1969)<ref name="500 Number One Hits"/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.myajc.com/news/news/charles-pope-76-original-member-of-rb-group-the-ta/nYtHK/|title=Charles Pope, 76: Original member of R&B group the Tams|first=Michelle E.|last=Shaw|work=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130823031654/http://www.myajc.com/news/news/charles-pope-76-original-member-of-rb-group-the-ta/nYtHK/|date=July 17, 2013|archive-date=August 23, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://theoriginaltams.com/bios.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030307061022/http://theoriginaltams.com/bios.html|title=The Tams Biography|archive-date=March 7, 2003}}</ref> Kenneth J. Brown born January 4,1957 was a member during the 80's to early 1990's
==Discography== ===Singles=== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |- ! rowspan="2"| Year ! rowspan="2"| Title ! colspan="4"| Chart positions |- style="font-size:smaller;" ! width="35"| US<br><ref name="MVF">{{cite web|url=https://www.musicvf.com/The+Tams.art|title=The Tams (US)|website=Music VF|accessdate=September 2, 2020|archive-date=September 21, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921134804/https://musicvf.com/The+Tams.art|url-status=live}}</ref> ! width="35"| US<br>R&B<br><ref name="MVF"/> ! width="35"| AUS<br><ref name=aus>{{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=304}}</ref> ! width="35"| UK<br><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/13947/tams/|title=The Tams (UK)|website=Official Charts Company|accessdate=September 2, 2020|archive-date=August 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808090920/https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/13947/tams/|url-status=live}}</ref> |- | 1962 | align="left"| "Untie Me" | 60 | 12 | — | — |- | 1963 | align="left"| "What Kind of Fool (Do You Think I Am)" | 9 | 1 | — | — |- | rowspan="5"|1964 | align="left"| "You Lied to Your Daddy" | 70 | 27 | — | — |- | align="left"| "It's All Right (You're Just in Love)" | 79 | — | — | — |- | align="left"| "Hey Girl Don't Bother Me" | 41 | 10 | — | — |- | align="left"| "Find Another Love" | 87 | — | — | — |- | align="left"| "Silly Little Girl" | 87 | — | — | — |- | 1965 | align="left"| "I've Been Hurt" | — | — | — | — |- | rowspan="2"|1968 | align="left"| "Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy" | 61 | 26 | — | 32 |- | align="left"| "Trouble Maker" | 118 | — | — | — |- | 1971 | align="left"| "Hey Girl Don't Bother Me" | — | — | 87 | 1 |- | 1987 | align="left"| "There Ain't Nothing Like Shaggin'" | — | — | — | 21 |- | 1988 | align="left"| "My Baby Sure Can Shag" | — | — | 100 | 91 |- | colspan="7" style="text-align:center; font-size:9pt;"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. |}
===Hey Girl Don't Bother Me!=== This was the group's first album in 1964. It has the single of the same name.
{{Infobox album | name = Hey Girl Don't Bother Me! | type = studio | artist = The Tams | cover = | border = | alt = | released = 1964 | recorded = 1964 | venue = | studio = | genre = Rhythm and Blues | length = | label = ABC-Paramount | producer = | misc = {{Singles | name = Hey Girl Don't Bother Me! | type = studio | single1 = Hey Girl Don't Bother Me | single1date = June 1964 | single2 = Silly Little Girl | single2date = October 1964 }} |italic_title=no }}
{{Track listing | headline = Side One | title1 = Weep Little Girl | length1 = 2:21 | writer1 = Mac Davis | title2 = Go Away Little Girl | length2 = 2:13 | writer2 = Goffin-King | title3 = What Kind of Girl Are You | length3 = 1:55 | writer3 = Ray Whitley | title4 = Hey Little Girl | length4 = 2:31 | writer4 = Buddy Funk | title5 = Why Did My Little Girl Cry | length5 = 2:11 | writer5 = Harry Middlebrooks | title6 = Hey Girl Don't Bother Me | length6 = 2:25 | writer6 = Ray Whitley }} {{Track listing | headline = Side Two | title1 = Silly Little Girl | length1 = 2:36 | writer1 = Joe South | title2 = Candy | length2 = 2:15 | writer2 = David-Whitney-Kramer | title3 = My Lady Elaina | length3 = 2:08 | writer3 = Judy Thomas | title4 = Melancholy Baby | length4 = 2:21 | writer4 = Morton-Burnett | title5 = She's Funny That Way | length5 = 2:50 | writer5 = Whiting-Clark | title6 = Anna (Go to Him) | length6 = 2:45 | writer6 = Arthur Alexander }}
===Other albums=== *1964: ''Presenting the Tams'' *1967: ''Time for the Tams'' *1968: ''A Little More Soul'' *1969: ''A Portrait of the Tams'' *1970: ''Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy'' *1970: ''Best of the Tams'' *1982: ''Reminiscing'' *1982: ''Precious Moments'' *1983: ''Beach Music from the Tams'' *1999: ''Steppin' Out in the Light'' *2004: ''Comin' at Cha!''
==See also== *List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart *List of artists who reached number one in Ireland *Beach music *List of 1960s one-hit wonders in the United States
==Bibliography== * ''The New Musical Express Book of Rock'', 1975, Star Books, {{ISBN|0-352-30074-4}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Discogs artist}} * [http://www.thetams.com/ The Original Joe Pope Tams website] * {{imdb name|2937488}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tams, The}} Category:American soul musical groups Category:Musical groups from Atlanta Category:Musical groups established in 1960 Category:Northern soul musicians Category:African-American musical groups Category:1960 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)