Fat Larry's Band

Fat Larry's Band - Stubborn Kinda Fella (1983)
Formed by drummer and vocalist "Fat" Larry James (born August 2, 1949, Philadelphia) in 1977, band members included trumpeter/flutist Art Capehart, saxophonist Doug Jones, trombonist/alto saxophonist Jimmy Lee, guitarist Ted Cohen, percussionist and lead singer Darryl Grant, bassist Larry La Bes, and keyboardist Erskine Williams.

The band's biggest hits were "Act Like You Know" (1982) (which later appeared on the soundtrack for Grand Theft Auto: Vice City) and the cover of the Commodores ballad "Zoom", which reached number two in the UK Singles Chart in October 1982. They had three other hits in the UK: "Center City", "Boogie Town" and "Looking for Love Tonight".

Their best song aesthetically was "Act Like You Know," a 1982 tune with a surging bass line and simple but catchy lyric refrain. James also played with The Delfonics and Blue Magic, and managed the group Slick. James died on December 5, 1987, and the band folded.
The opening drum break from "Down On The Avenue", from the band's first album, Feel It (Stax 1977), has been sampled by many hip hop artists, including N.W.A (Straight Outta Compton), Ice-T, Jungle Brothers and Run-D.M.C.