Major Lance (April 4, 1939 – September 3, 1994) was an American R&B singer. After a number of US hits in the 1960s, including "The Monkey Time" and "Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um", he became an iconic figure in Britain in the 1970s among followers of Northern soul.
Major Lance was born in Winterville, Mississippi. Major was his given forename. As a child, he relocated with his family to Chicago, attending Wells High School - the same school as Curtis Mayfield and Jerry Butler - taking up boxing and also singing as a member of the Five Gospel Harmonaires. In the mid-1950s, he and singer Otis Leavill formed a group, the Floats, who broke up before recording any material. Lance became a featured dancer on a local TV show, and presenter Jim Lounsbury secured him a one-off record deal with Mercury Records, who released his single "I Got a Girl", written and produced by Curtis Mayfield, in 1959. The record was not successful, and Lance worked at various jobs over the next few years.
In 1962 he signed with OKeh Records on Mayfield's recommendation. His first single, "Delilah", was not successful, but established his partnership with a writing and arranging team of Mayfield, Carl Davis, and Johnny Pate, often with members of Mayfield's group The Impressions on backing vocals. Together they developed a distinctive, Latin-tinged sound which epitomised Chicago soul in contrast to music recorded elsewhere.
The second Okeh single, "The Monkey Time", became a #2 Billboard R&B chart and #8 pop hit in 1963. A succession of hits followed quickly, including "Hey Little Girl" (1963), "Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um" (his biggest hit, reaching #5 in the US pop chart and #40 in the UK, where it was his only chart success), "The Matador" (the only one not written by Mayfield) and "Rhythm" (1964), and "Sometimes I Wonder", "Come See", and "Ain't It A Shame" (1965).
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