In 1966, British accents, surfing hot-rodders, Motown acts, and the wall of sound, dominated the airways. Before he became a Motown legend, Edwin Starr was a recording artist on Ed Wingate's Golden World Records. Three college freshmen and a young lady from Livonia, Michigan used to hang out at the studio doing demos and hoping to get signed as a vocal group. They collaborated with Starr on a tune he was composing and in January, recorded it as The Shades of Blue.

The master was placed with Harry Balk Impact Label. Two months later, it elbowed it's way to number one and became a Gold Record. Since that monumental debut, "Oh How Happy" has been licensed over twenty times and is one of the most recognized songs from the 60's.

In 1970, having no interest in following the hard-rock trend that overtook the popular music culture, the group broke up. Lead vocalist Nick Marinelli continued in the business while the other members of the group (Linda Allen, Bob, Kerr, and Ernie Dernai) moved on to other pursuits.

Fast forward... The Shades of Blue are back!!