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Finis Henderson III is an American singer and comedian who had a hit with "Skip to My Lou" in 1983 which stayed in the charts for more than three months. He was also the lead singer of the group Weapons of Peace and performed on their hits "Just Can't Be That Way (Ruth's Song)" and "City.

Background

Finis Henderson was a member of the Chicago Community Music Foundation. Some members of that ensemble including Henderson would found the group Weapons of Peace, which was formed in the early 1970s. In 1983, he was exclusively signed to the Motown Records. His album that he recorded for the label was produced by Al McKay.

His father Finis Henderson Jr. was a promotor manager for Sammy Davis Jr., Redd Foxx, Brook Benton, Jerry Butler and the Dells. His uncle is Bill Henderson a recording artist and actor.

As a comedian, Henderson was associated with Richard Pryor and gave material to him to use. He received an invite from Pryor to tour with him as a support act. He made multiple appearances at the Comedy Connection in Boston in the early 1990s.

Career

1970s

Weapons of Peace

Finis Henderson, Jr. and Charles Frankin wrote the song "Just Can't Be That Way (Ruth's Song)" which was released in 1976. With Finis Henderson III on lead vocals, the song was recorded by his band Weapons of Peace and produced by Mark Davis, with Executive producer Hillery Johnson. It peaked at no. 64 on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart and stayed in the chart for a month.

Charles Franklin and Randy Hardy, and Finis Henderson, Jr. wrote "City" which was also recorded by Weapons of Peace. It was also a hit and made it to no. 78 in the US on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart.

1980s

Henderson sang on the Bill Wolfer single "Call Me" which was released in 1982. It was reviewed in the 20 November issue of Cash Box. With the r&b / jazz edge noted, the similarity between Henderson's vocals and Michael McDonald's were also noted. The comparison was also mentioned when Wolfer's album was reviewed by Paul Sexton of Record Mirror the following year.

"Skip to My Lou" (single)

Henderson's single "Skip to My Lou" was released on Motown 1669 MF. It was reviewed in the 7 May 1983 issue of Cash Box. With the single reviewed positively, the reviewer made references to a Romeo waking up a sleeping beauty and the record having a playful funk groove.

On 27 August, and in its eleventh charting week, the single peaked at no. 33 on the Cash Box Top 100 Black Contemporary singles chart.

The single peaked at no. 48 on the week of 23 July and spent a total of thirteen weeks in the Billboard chart.

It was making the charts in the UK and on the week of 30 July, the single had moved up from no. 25 to no. 22 on the Record Mirror Disco chart.

Fins (album)

Henderson recorded his album Finis which was produced by Al McKay and released on Motown L6036ML. It was reviewed in the 16 July 1983 issue of Cash Box. The reviewer noted the MOR and adult contemporary potential. On 30 July, with his hit "Skip to My Lou" at no. 47 and at its seventh week in the Cash Box Top 100 Black Contemporary Singles chart and moving upwards, his album debuted at no. 62 in the Cash Box Black Contemporary Top 75 Albums chart. At week six, on 3 September, the album peaked at no. 33 on the Cash Box Black Contemporary Top 75 Albums chart.

Further activities

It was reported by Jet in the magazine's 7 February 1983 issue that Henderson was off to Chile to pick up first prize for his song "The Message" that was co-written with Al McKay. The song was a winner at the Chile Music Festival.

Later years

In later years Finis Henderson has worked as a music impressionist covering Sammy Davis, Michael Jackson, Willie Nelson, Julio Iglesias. He also has opened for Smokey Robinson.

Henderson was booked to appear at The Ice House in Pasadena from 7 to 10 January, 1994. In an article in the Sierra Madre News, it was noted that Henderson was once in an improv group with Andrew Dice Clay. It was pointed out that if the name of Clay was setting off alarms, there was nothing to worry about as Henderson's act was clean and didn't contain profanity.

Further reading

• Ebony, April 1993 - Finis Henderson All In The Family By Aldore Collier (pages 80 - 86)

Discography

References

1. Ebony, April 1993 - Page 82 Finis Henderson All In The Family By Aldore Collier
2. Chicago Soul, By Robert Pruter · 1992 - ISBN 9780252062599, 0252062590 - Page 342 Playboy Records
3. Cash Box, May 7, 1983 - Page 36 MOTOWN NABS HENDERSON
4. Jet, October 10, 1984 - Page 31 FITTING TRIBUTE
5. Oxford Reference - Henderson Finis
6. The Boston Phoenix, May 7–13, 1993: Vol 22 Iss 19 - Page 29
7. Cash Box, September 11, 1976 - Page 20 SINGLES REVIEWS, picks of the week, WEAPONS OF PEACE (Playboy P 6082) Just Can’t Be That Way
8. Catalogue of Copyright Entries, - Page 2397 EU689870, Ruth's song w & m Charles Franklin & Finis Henderson, Jr. 2p. © Charles Franklin; 25Jun76; EU689870.
9. Billboard, June 25, 1977 - Page 74 Billboard LPs, soul, WEAPONS Of PEACE, Playboy PZ34747 (CBS)
10. Jazz Rock Soul, 31 Mar 2018 - Weapons of Peace, Members:
11. Oxford Reference - Henderson Finis
12. Billboard, October 30, 1976 - Page 66 Billboard Hot Soul Singles, Billboard SPECIAL SURVEY For Week Ending 10/30/76, This Week 68, NEW ENTRY
13. Records and Charts - Just Can't Be That Way (Ruth's Song)” by Weapons Of Peace 1976
14. Catalogue of Copyright Entries, - Page 2397 EU689868.
    (Got to get out of the) cty. w Charles
    Franklin, w & m Finis Henderson, Jr. m
    Andrew Hardy. 3 p. Add. ti: (Gotta get
    out of the city. © Charles Franklin:
    25Jun 76: EU689868
15. Billboard, January 8, 1977 - Page 28 Billboard Hot Soul Singles, Billboard SPECIAL SURVEY For Week Ending 1/8/77, This Week 81, NEW ENTRY
16. MusicVF.com - City By Weapons of Peace
17. Cash Box, November 20, 1982 - Page 8 NEWS & REVIEWS continued from page 6, WOLF (Constellation 7-69891)
18. Record Mirror, February 19, 1983 - Page 16 ALBUMS BILL WOLFER 'Wolf' (Constellation 96.0187-1)
19. Cash Box, May 7, 1983 - Page 10 NEWS & REVIEWS, REVIEWS, SINGLES (continued from page 8), NEW AND DEVELOPING, FINIS HENDERSON (Motown 1669 MF) Skip To My Lou (4:07)
20. Cash Box, August 23, 1983 - Page 25 TOP 100 BLACK CONTEMPORARY SINGLES, August 27, 1983 33, 8/20 35, Weeks On Chart 11
21. Cash Box, September 3, 1983 - Page 25 TOP 100 BLACK CONTEMPORARY SINGLES, September 3, 1983 38, 8/27 33, Weeks On Chart 12
22. Records and Charts - Finis Henderson “Skip To My Lou”
23. Record Mirror, July 30, 1983 - Page 26 RECORD MIRROR DISCO, 22 25
24. Cash Box, July 16, 1983 - REVIEWS, ALBUMS Continued from page 6, BLACK CONTEMPORARY, FINIS
25. Cash Box, July 30, 1983 - Page 24 TOP 100 BLACK CONTEMPORARY SINGLES July 30, 1983 47, 7/23 51, weeks On Chart 7
26. Cash Box, July 30, 1983 - Page 23 BLACK CONTEMPORARY TOP 75 ALBUMS, 62, 7/23 _, Weeks On Chart 1
27. Cash Box, September 3, 1983 - Page 23 BLACK CONTEMPORARY TOP 75 ALBUMS, 33, 8/27 34, Weeks on Chart 6
28. Cash Box, September 10, 1983 - Page 27 BLACK CONTEMPORARY TOP 75 ALBUMS, 44, 9/3 33, Weeks On Chart 7
29. Jet, Feb. 7, 1983 - Page 55 New York to Hollywood
30. Soul Tracks - Fins Henderson
31. Sierra Madre News, Thursday December 31, 1998 - Page 6 A Touch Of Vegas Comes To Pasadena
32. 45Cat - Wolf (Bill Wolfer) Discography, USA, Call Me
33. 45Cat - Finis Henderson Discography, USA
34. Cash Box, July 16, 1983 - REVIEWS, ALBUMS Continued from page 6, BLACK CONTEMPORARY, FINIS
35. Amazon - Finis

External links

• Discogs - Finis Henderson
• AllMusic - Finis Henderson
• West Coast 99 channel, Sep 10, 2010 - Finis Henderson - Blame It On The Night (1983) (audio)

Category:Impressionists (entertainers)

• 20th-century American male singers
• 20th-century American composers
• 21st-century American male singers
• American rock singers
• American soul singers
• Motown artists
• American percussionists
• American male comedians
• People of African-American descent