Skip Mahoney and The Casuals
Skip grew up in Washington D.C.,while attending Cardoza High in the District he started singing with street corner stars in Washington. He assembled the first Casuals after transferring to Central High in Maryland, and they took second place in a school talent show. George Norris, Billy Jones, and Roger Chapman, are known as the original Casuals. Mahoney took a hiatus from the Casuals to work as the Fuzz’s (“I Love You for All Seasons”) road manager. He quit the gig in 1972 to write songs with James Purdie in an effort to land the Casuals a recording deal. The record deal didn’t happen until 1973, nine years after Mahoney first started singing under streetlights. “Your Funny Moods,” the first single, should have been a joyous event, but the label, D.C. International Records, listed the group as Skip Mahoaney & the Casuals. Though Mahoney’s shimmering falsetto was the focal point, they never wanted any individual name out front. The record hit locally and an album followed. The group disbanded shortly after seeing the album cover, the label didn’t put the Casuals’ picture on the album, nor were their names’ mention anywhere, and the diss was too much to bear. After the D.C. International fiasco, and with new Casuals, Mahoney signed with Nashboro Records who released Land Of Love, in 1976 which spawned two local hits: “Wherever You Go,” and “Bless My Soul.” This is when Mahoaney became Mahoney. Nashboro exited soul music to concentrate on gospel, leaving the group without a label. Unable to get a new deal, the Casuals broke up. Mahoney made a couple of solo ventures then sang with Third Generation before drifting out of music. In the late ’90s, he reunited the original Casuals to perform on oldies R&B shows in the D.C. area.
