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Lakeside began in Dayton, Ohio, around 1969, when guitarist Stephen Shockley left the Montereys to start the Young Underground and recruited singer Mark Wood from the rival Nomads. In 1971 the two bands merged as Ohio Lakeside Express. A move to Chicago brought a vanity label from Curtom co-owner Eddie Thomas, but no album, and the group headed to Los Angeles, where gigs at Maverick’s Flat drew the attention of promoter Dick Griffey. A 1974 Motown deal through producer Frank Wilson ended with the recordings shelved.

Wilson later took them to ABC and renamed them simply Lakeside, and a 1977 Soul Train appearance put them on national television. Choosing among Motown, Norman Whitfield and Griffey’s new Solar Records, they picked Solar because Griffey let them write and co-produce their own music. Shot of Love, co-produced with Leon Sylvers III, reached No. 4 R&B in 1978, and the 1980 title track Fantastic Voyage hit No. 1 R&B and went platinum, all sold in costume-themed album covers.

• Whitfield refused to give the band the writing and producing control that Griffey promised.
• Their funk version of the Beatles’ I Want to Hold Your Hand reached the R&B Top 10.
• Later hits included Raid in 1983, Outrageous in 1984 and Bullseye in 1987, before New Jack Swing reshaped R&B radio.
• Later member Tyrone Griffin Sr. is the father of Ty Dolla Sign.
• In 2019 they played a Rose Music Center benefit in Huber Heights that raised over $109,000 for Memorial Day tornado survivors; drummer Fred Alexander died in June 2026.