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Adam Wade:
Writing on the Wall Always There for Adam Wade
It was a catchy tune, a song whose beat teased me because I knew I had heard it sometime in the past, but somehow the where or when always seemed to elude me.
Every once in a while, (not nearly often enough for me), Radio740, my favourite station plays Writing on the Wall.
I began listening in just as fervently after the song was over, hoping that the announcer would identify the singer of the song, which he did.
The DJ mentioned the catchy beat of the tune and identified the singer as Adam Wade, so I went on an Internet search to find him.
The “seriously handsome” Adam Wade with the soulful eyes makes as good-looking a grandfather as he did a young heartthrob.
But in googling Adam Wade, I found out that he is so much more than a 1960s torch singer.
With a voice as rich and mellow as your Aunt Pearl’s plum preserves, it’s hard to imagine that Adam Wade first sang his way into the hearts of an adoring public more than 40 years ago.
The kind of person who is serious about everything he tackles, a young Wade was in the late 1950s part of the research team for Dr. Jonas Salk, who invented the polio vaccine.
The song Follow That Dream must have been resonating in his head when he went to the Big Apple to pursue a musical career in 1960.
With the kind of talent and presence marked for stardom, Adam signed with CoEd Records and in a short time scored with a string of successes including “Ruby” and “I Can’t Help It.”
But fate had much more in store for the young man who grew up in Pittsburgh, Pa.
Next came globetrotting as a nightclub entertainer, that saw him captivating audiences in important venues such as the Copacabana,
It was in 1961 that he recorded “Writing on the Wall”, “Take Good Care of Her” and “As If I Didn’t Know”.
Constant comparisons to singer Johnny Mathis made him to decide to move to Epic Records.
Film star good looks opened the door to movies and television. By the mid-70s the handsome actor was the first African-American to host a national television game show, “Musical Chairs”.
Over the years Adam Wade has shared the stage with Ruth Brown in “Staggerlee, Della Reese in “Same Next, Next Year” and the irrepressible Leslie Uggams in a Las Vegas production of “Guys and Dolls”.
After some 40 years on the road, he took time out to go back to school to earn his BA and Master’s degrees at Lehman College and Brooklyn College. He has been a speech and theatre adjunct at LIU and Bloomfield College for some time, and delights audiences frequently on the L.A.-area stage.
In 1983, “Shades of Harlem” was created by his wife, the singer/actress/playwright Jeree Wade at Brown University via Adam and Jeree’s company, Songbirds Unlimited Productions. Jeree developed the musical production as a tribute to the Harlem sound she remembered. Adam directed the production.
These couple with music in their veins produces shows to the present day and charm everyone there when they perform together on cruise ships.
Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
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