Adam Wade (singer)
| Adam Wade | |
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Adam Wade in 1964
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Patrick Henry Wade |
| Born |
March 17, 1935 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Genres |
Easy listening Traditional popular music |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, drummer, actor |
| Instruments |
Vocals Drums |
| Years active | 1959–present |
| Labels | Coed, Kirschner, Epic |
Adam Wade (born Patrick Henry Wade, March 17, 1935) is an American singer, drummer and television actor. He is noted for his stint as the host of the 1975 CBS game show Musical Chairs, which made him the first African-American game show host.
Wade worked for a time as a lab assistant with Dr. Jonas Salk on the polio research team. He wanted to pursue a recording career and signed with Coed Records in late 1959. He had his first major hit with a song called "Ruby" in early 1960, a cover of the hit movie song of 1953. Wade was popular in the early 1960s with vocal styling similar to that of Johnny Mathis. In 1961 three of Wade's recordings ("Take Good Care of Her" (#7), "As If I Didn't Know" (#10) and "The Writing on the Wall" (#5) made the Top Ten in the Billboard Hot 100 chart. These songs also made the Top Five of Billboard's Easy Listening (later Adult Contemporary) survey.
He released the following albums in the UK: 1961 Adam and Evening, HMV CLP 1451, Adam Wade One Is A Lonely Number, mono Columbia 33SX1501, stereo Columbia SCX3474, both 1962. He also released an EP in 1960, And Then Came Adam, HMV 7EG 8620.
"Take Good Care of Her" reached #38 in the UK Singles Chart in June 1961.
In 1975, Wade become the first African-American to host a television game show, with the premiere of Musical Chairs. He starred in the production Guys and Dolls in 1978, and hosted the talk show Mid-Morning LA. On TV he was seen in the soaps "The Guiding Light" and "Search for Tomorrow," and was a familiar presence on the popular black-oriented sitcoms such as "Sanford & Son," "The Jeffersons," "What's Happening" and "Good Times. His handsome face lit up the room and allowed his natural mannerism to take over the scene.
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