1979 The Manhattan Transfer – Extensions

Extensions was released by The Manhattan Transfer (Alan Paul, Cheryl Bentyne, Janis Siegel and Tim Hauser) on October 31, 1979, on the Atlantic Records label.

This album began a new era for the group: This album was the first one with Cheryl Bentyne, who replaced Laurel Massé. It was also the first album that contained songs that were hits in both the jazz and pop categories. The disco hit song “Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone” reached #12 on Billboard’s Disco chart, and on the Hot 100 reached #30. “Trickle, Trickle” reached #73 on the Billboard Magazine’s Hot 100 chart. Overall, the album reached #55 on the Billboard Magazine Top LP’s chart.

The most widely known song from this album, Joe Zawinul’s “Birdland,” won the group its first Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal or Instrumental in 1981.Jon Hendricks wrote lyrics for the vocal version on the album and Janis Siegel received a Grammy for her vocal arrangement of “Birdland”. Eddie Jefferson was writing the new lyrics for the song “Birdland”, but he was killed before finishing them. This album is dedicated to him. “Birdland” was the most played Jazz track in 1980and many regard “Birdland” as the “signature song” of the group.