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Lasley
was born in Michigan and grew up in a small town about 250 miles from Detroit
in a musically inclined family. Lasley’s first group, The Utopias, which
included his younger sister, Julie, patterned itself after "girl groups"
like The Raindrops, The Jelly Beans and The Dixie Cups. "My roots were
firmly established at a young age by the songs and styles of Frankie Lymon,
Carole King, Ellie Greenwich, Darlene Love, Dionne Warwick and Dusty Springfield,"
Lasley has noted. When Lasley and his sister were still teenagers, The
Utopias signed to Detroit’s Fortune Records, where they recorded their
first local hit, "Welcome (Baby, To My Heart)," in 1966, followed by "Good
Friends Forever" (1967) on Hi Q, a Fortune subsidiary. In addition to recording,
The Utopias performed on Swingin' Time and other local television programs
and in R&B clubs in Detroit (like the Twenty Grand) and nearby Canada.
Lasley also began composing around this time... When Lasley and his
sister were still teenagers, The Utopias signed to Detroit’s Fortune Records,
where they recorded their first local hit, "Welcome (Baby, To My Heart),"
in 1966, followed by "Good Friends Forever" (1967) on Hi Q, a Fortune subsidiary.
In addition to recording, The Utopias performed on Swingin' Time and other
local television programs and in R&B clubs in Detroit (like the Twenty
Grand) and nearby Canada. Lasley also began composing around this time...
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