Finis Henderson III is an American singer and comedian who had a hit with "Skip to My Lou" in 1983 which remained in the charts for over three months. He was also the lead singer of the group Weapons of Peace and performed on their hits "Just Can't Be That Way (Ruth's Song)" and "City".

Background Finis Henderson was a member of the Chicago Community Music Foundation. Members of that ensemble, including Henderson, formed the group Weapons of Peace,Ebony, April 1993 - Page 82 Finis Henderson All In The Family By Aldore Collier in the early 1970s.Chicago Soul, By Robert Pruter · 1992 - ISBN 9780252062599, 0252062590 - Page 342 Playboy Records In 1983, he was exclusively signed to Motown Records. His album that he recorded for the label was produced by Al McKay.Cash Box, May 7, 1983 - Page 36 MOTOWN NABS HENDERSON

His father Finis Henderson Jr. was a promotor manager for Sammy Davis Jr., Redd Foxx, Brook Benton, Jerry Butler and the Dells.Jet, October 10, 1984 - Page 31 FITTING TRIBUTE His uncle is Bill Henderson a recording artist and actor.

As a comedian, Henderson was associated with Richard Pryor and gave material to him to use. He received an invite from Pryor to tour with him as a support act.Oxford Reference - Henderson Finis He made multiple appearances at the Comedy Connection in Boston in the early 1990s.The Boston Phoenix, May 7–13, 1993: Vol 22 Iss 19 - Page 29

Career 1970s Weapons of Peace Finis Henderson, Jr. and Charles Frankin wrote the song "Just Can't Be That Way (Ruth's Song)" which was released in 1976.Cash Box, September 11, 1976 - Page 20 SINGLES REVIEWS, picks of the week, WEAPONS OF PEACE (Playboy P 6082) Just Can’t Be That WayCatalogue of Copyright Entries, - Page 2397 EU689870, Ruth's song w & m Charles Franklin & Finis Henderson, Jr. 2p. © Charles Franklin; 25Jun76; EU689870. With Finis Henderson III on lead vocals,Billboard, June 25, 1977 - Page 74 Billboard LPs, soul, WEAPONS Of PEACE, Playboy PZ34747 (CBS) the song was recorded by his band Weapons of Peace and produced by Mark Davis, with Executive producer Hillery Johnson. It peaked at no. 64 on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart and stayed in the chart for a month.Jazz Rock Soul, 31 Mar 2018 - Weapons of Peace, Members:Oxford Reference - Henderson FinisBillboard, October 30, 1976 - Page 66 Billboard Hot Soul Singles, Billboard SPECIAL SURVEY For Week Ending 10/30/76, This Week 68, NEW ENTRYRecords and Charts - Just Can't Be That Way (Ruth's Song)” by Weapons Of Peace 1976

Charles Franklin and Randy Hardy, and Finis Henderson, Jr. wrote "City"Catalogue of Copyright Entries, - Page 2397 EU689868. (Got to get out of the) cty. w Charles Franklin, w & m Finis Henderson, Jr. m Andrew Hardy. 3 p. Add. ti: (Gotta get out of the city. © Charles Franklin: 25Jun 76: EU689868 which was also recorded by Weapons of Peace. It was also a hit and made it to no. 78 in the US on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart.Billboard, January 8, 1977 - Page 28 Billboard Hot Soul Singles, Billboard SPECIAL SURVEY For Week Ending 1/8/77, This Week 81, NEW ENTRYMusicVF.com - City By Weapons of Peace

1980s Henderson sang on the Bill Wolfer single "Call Me" which was released in 1982. It was reviewed in the 20 November issue of Cash Box. With the r&b / jazz edge noted, the similarity between Henderson's vocals and Michael McDonald's were also noted.Cash Box, November 20, 1982 - Page 8 NEWS & REVIEWS continued from page 6, WOLF (Constellation 7-69891) The comparison was also mentioned when Wolfer's album was reviewed by Paul Sexton of Record Mirror the following year.Record Mirror, February 19, 1983 - Page 16 ALBUMS BILL WOLFER 'Wolf' (Constellation 96.0187-1)

"Skip to My Lou" (single) Henderson's single "Skip to My Lou" was released on Motown 1669 MF. It was reviewed in the 7 May 1983 issue of Cash Box. With the single reviewed positively, the reviewer made references to a Romeo waking up a sleeping beauty and the record having a playful funk groove.Cash Box, May 7, 1983 - Page 10 NEWS & REVIEWS, REVIEWS, SINGLES (continued from page 8), NEW AND DEVELOPING, FINIS HENDERSON (Motown 1669 MF) Skip To My Lou (4:07)

On 27 August, and in its eleventh charting week, the single peaked at no. 33 on the Cash Box Top 100 Black Contemporary singles chart.Cash Box, August 23, 1983 - Page 25 TOP 100 BLACK CONTEMPORARY SINGLES, August 27, 1983 33, 8/20 35, Weeks On Chart 11Cash Box, September 3, 1983 - Page 25 TOP 100 BLACK CONTEMPORARY SINGLES, September 3, 1983 38, 8/27 33, Weeks On Chart 12

The single peaked at no. 48 on the week of 23 July and spent a total of thirteen weeks in the Billboard chart.Records and Charts - Finis Henderson “Skip To My Lou”

It was making the charts in the UK and on the week of 30 July, the single had moved up from no. 25 to no. 22 on the Record Mirror Disco chart.Record Mirror, July 30, 1983 - Page 26 RECORD MIRROR DISCO, 22 25

Fins (album) Henderson recorded his album Finis which was produced by Al McKay and released on Motown L6036ML. It was reviewed in the 16 July 1983 issue of Cash Box. The reviewer noted the MOR and adult contemporary potential.Cash Box, July 16, 1983 - REVIEWS, ALBUMS Continued from page 6, BLACK CONTEMPORARY, FINIS On 30 July, with his hit "Skip to My Lou" at no. 47 and at its seventh week in the Cash Box Top 100 Black Contemporary Singles chart and moving upwards,Cash Box, July 30, 1983 - Page 24 TOP 100 BLACK CONTEMPORARY SINGLES July 30, 1983 47, 7/23 51, weeks On Chart 7 his album debuted at no. 62 in the Cash Box Black Contemporary Top 75 Albums chart.Cash Box, July 30, 1983 - Page 23 BLACK CONTEMPORARY TOP 75 ALBUMS, 62, 7/23 _, Weeks On Chart 1 At week six, on 3 September, the album peaked at no. 33 on the Cash Box Black Contemporary Top 75 Albums chart.Cash Box, September 3, 1983 - Page 23 BLACK CONTEMPORARY TOP 75 ALBUMS, 33, 8/27 34, Weeks on Chart 6Cash Box, September 10, 1983 - Page 27 BLACK CONTEMPORARY TOP 75 ALBUMS, 44, 9/3 33, Weeks On Chart 7

Further activities It was reported by Jet in the magazine's 7 February 1983 issue that Henderson was off to Chile to pick up first prize for his song "The Message" that was co-written with Al McKay. The song was a winner at the Chile Music Festival.Jet, Feb. 7, 1983 - Page 55 New York to Hollywood

Later years In later years Finis Henderson has worked as a music impressionist covering Sammy Davis, Michael Jackson, Willie Nelson, Julio Iglesias. He also has opened for Smokey Robinson.Soul Tracks - Fins Henderson

Henderson was booked to appear at The Ice House in Pasadena from 7 to 10 January 1994. In an article in the Sierra Madre News, it was noted that Henderson was once in an improv group with Andrew Dice Clay. It was pointed out that if the name of Clay was setting off alarms, there was nothing to worry about as Henderson's act was clean and didn't contain profanity.Sierra Madre News, Thursday December 31, 1998 - Page 6 A Touch Of Vegas Comes To Pasadena

Further reading Ebony, April 1993 - Finis Henderson All In The Family By Aldore Collier (pages 80 - 86)

Discography + Singles Act Release Catalogue Year Notes Bill Wolferfeatured vocal performance by Finis Henderson "Call Me" / "Window on a Dream" Constellation 7-69891 1982 Henderson side 1 only45Cat - Wolf (Bill Wolfer) Discography, USA, Call Me Finis Henderson "Skip to My Lou" Motown 1669 MF 1983 Finis Henderson "Lovers" / "School Girl" Motown 1696 MF 1983 45Cat - Finis Henderson Discography, USA

+ Album Act Release Catalogue Year Notes Finis Henderson Finis Motown 1983 Cash Box, July 16, 1983 - REVIEWS, ALBUMS Continued from page 6, BLACK CONTEMPORARY, FINIS Finis Henderson Finis Universal Japan 2019 CDAmazon - Finis

References

External links Discogs - Finis Henderson AllMusic - Finis Henderson West Coast 99 channel, Sep 10, 2010 - Finis Henderson - Blame It On The Night (1983) (audio)

Category:Impressionists (entertainers)