(June 30, 2025). The beat may go on — but it’ll never sound quite the same.
Walter Scott, the velvet-voiced co-lead singer of The Whispers and one-half of the group’s famously inseparable twin engine alongside his brother Wallace “Scotty” Scott, passed away Thursday (June 26) in Los Angeles at age 81. Walter, who’d been drafted to serve in Vietnam from 1968-69 (ironically, the same time as this blogger’s father) died after a six-month battle with cancer.
Together, Walter and Scotty fronted one of the most enduring and consistent vocal groups of an era — a group whose airtight harmonies and irresistible beats made them favorites on Black radio and on dance floors across America. The two Scotts’ baritone and tenor vocals complimented each other and, despite their different singing voices, the brothers would often swap leads without fans realizing who was singing what.
Their voices powered some of the culture’s most beloved jams: among them the pulsating post-disco anthem “And the Beat Goes On,” the infectious “It’s a Love Thing.” and their biggest crossover hit “Rock Steady.” Their elegant side was highlighted by ballads like the oddly specific “(Olivia) Lost and Turned Out,” their throwback ballad “Lady,” and “A Song for Donny,” a tender tribute to Donny Hathaway recorded just after the singer’s untimely passing in 1979.
“And the Beat Goes On” was particularly notable as the group’s 1980 breakthrough single — a thumping tune with that famous two-note synth during the intro that had people scurrying to roller rinks and dance floors if they weren’t already there. The song, a No. 1 soul chart smash that also reached No. 19 on the Hot 100, would have been an even bigger hit on the latter except for bad timing — “Beat” was released in the midst of the disco backlash that saw many of the era’s best dance jams experience lower pop peaks than they might have a year earlier.
But that didn’t get in the way of the group’s core (and growing) R&B fan base. In fact, in 1980, the Whispers owned the distinction of being the only act that year to have a then-rare two hits in the soul chart’s top ten at the same time — and the songs couldn’t have been any more different. “Beat” was a true four-on-the-floor dance smash while its followup “Lady” was a romantic slow jam that harkened back to the simmering soul music of a decade earlier.
Walter’s baritone was the foundation for “Lady” as he and his brother traded vocals as seamlessly as a skilled DJ could flip his audio from one 12” record of “And the Best Goes On” to another.
Those two songs helped push their 1979 self-titled LP to double platinum status — still their biggest-selling album — and sealed their place in R&B royalty. The Whispers easily ranked among the ten biggest R&B groups of the 1980s, coming behind* only acts like Kool & the Gang, The Gap Band, Cameo, New Edition, and Atlantic Starr. It was a success that was late in coming for a band that had been together for more than 15 years already and had toiled with sporadic and moderate chart success up to that point. It didn’t hurt that they were also Don Cornelius’ favorite band — as you’ll see from the video clips of their 20 essential tracks below.
(*Ranking of the top soul groups of the 1980s comes from Joel Whitburn’s book “Top R&B Singles 1942-2016.”)
Walter and his brother Wallace had formed the Whispers in 1963 along with co-founders Gordy Harmon, Marcus Hutson and Nicholas Caldwell (who wrote “Lady”). Hutson was replaced in 1973 by Leaveil Degree (formerly of The Friends of Distinction) and the group’s classic lineup was established. It was this version of the Whispers that would record all but the first of their 15 top ten hits on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Most of these came in the 1980s via their association with Dick Griffey’s SOLAR (Sound of Los Angeles Records) label and producer Leon Sylvers (formerly of the group The Sylvers).
In all, the spinners charted 46 singles on that list, spanning from their first chart hit “The Time Will Come” in 1969 to their last entry in 1997 — a remake of the Johnny Gill classic “My, My, My.” Their songs were romantic but never corny, funky without being too gimmicky, deeply Black and proudly adaptable to the changing times.
Walter and Scotty Scott were The Whispers’ signature sound — warm, silky, soulful — and Walter’s passing leaves an undeniable silence in that harmony. Now Scotty is the sole survivor of the group’s founding members, with Leaveil Degree also still an active member of the venerable group that is now a duo.
Walter Scott’s voice was part of the soundtrack to countless lives, slow dances, family cookouts, and late-night romances. And though he has left us, his singing — smooth, eternal, unmistakable — still echoes in every note.
In tribute to this R&B titan, DJROBBLOG ranks the 20 most essential Whispers tracks — not strictly by chart numbers, but by soul impact and staying power.
The Whispers’ 20 Most Essential Songs (According to DJROBBLOG):
🎵20. “Love Is Where You Find It” (1982)
This ranking of the Whispers’ 20 most essential songs begins with the title track to their 1982 No. 1 R&B/Hip-Hop album. A jazz-influenced slow number, “Love Is Where You Find It” showcased the group’s versatility as they were hitting their early ‘80s stride with their signature blend of old-school ballads, quiet storm burners, and dance floor classics. The album, which became the Whispers’ third gold-certified set, has four songs on this list — more than any other by the veteran group.
🎤 19. “Innocent” (1990)
The veteran group were no strangers to creating uptempo bangers throughout R&B/Soul music’s ever changing landscape, having already tackled disco and funk (and even a bit of rap) a decade earlier. So when presented with the opportunity to give their take on New Jack Swing in the era of Teddy Riley, Babyface and Bobby Brown, the Whispers didn’t miss a beat. They scored their 13th of 15 top ten R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart hits with “Innocent” in 1990.
🎙️ 18. “Make It With You” (1977)
No one who’d heard Bread’s No. 1 pop-rock ballad “Make It With You” in 1970 could have predicted that it would be transformed into a soft disco number seven years later. But that’s what The Whispers did. The song emerged from the group’s short-lived tenure with Don Cornelius and Dick Griffey’s Soul Train record label, before the two split up and Griffey founded SOLAR, the label that brought the Whispers their greatest success from 1978-88.
🎵 17. “Is It Good To You” (1991)
In the tradition of their best ballads of the 1970s and ‘80s, “Is It Good To You” brought the venerable quintet’s brand of doo-wop soul into the 1990s and became their 15th and final top ten hit on the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in 1991 alongside hits by newer acts like Tony! Toni! Tone!, Rude Boys, and Hi-Five.
🍩 16. “Chocolate Girl” (1977)
Walter Scott provided the lead vocals on this sensitive ballad that paid tribute to the Black woman. The album cut from the Whispers’ 1977 Open Up Your Love LP was unabashed in its admiration of the melanin-filled woman with lyrics bordering on corniness (“Chocolate Girl, oh Chocolate Girl, come and play in my ice cream”), but Walter’s delivery makes it seem more uplifting than objectifying. It’s a sentiment that — despite its overuse of metaphors — is sorely needed in R&B today.
🕺🏾15. “Up On Soul Train” (1980)
Perhaps not as memorable as MFSB’s “TSOP” — the Soul Train theme that topped the pop and soul charts in 1974 — the Whispers’ updated rendition — penned by none other than host Don Cornelius — soundtracked the early 1980s era of the weekly syndicated show and, more fittingly than Philly’s MFSB, featured Los Angeles’ favorite hometown quintet doing the honors. The song was pure funk and disco and sounded so good that its ringtone was tied to this blogger’s smart phone for years.
⌛️14. “Just Gets Better With Time” (1987)
The title track to the group’s second platinum album (and their second most successful), “Just Gets Better With Time” could’ve been a metaphor for the Whispers themselves who were still relevant 25 years into their storied careers. This followup to “Rock Steady” wasn’t as successful as its predecessor, but the song reached No. 12 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and proved that the group’s return to the charts after a two-year gap in recording was no fluke.
👍🏾 13. “Say Yes” (1981)
Equally known for their love ballads and their uptempo hits, the group’s 1981 album Love Is Where You Find It had an equal dose of both. It featured the danceable hits “In the Raw” and “Emergency,” plus ballads like the title track and “Say Yes,” another quiet storm classic that could be responsible for at least a few babies being made in the early ‘80s. Never released as a single, the song never charted in Billboard (under rules that were in place at the time). But then it didn’t have to in order to make its sexy impact felt.
🎵12. “Seems Like I Gotta Do Wrong” (1970)
When this early Whispers hit became the group’s first top ten R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart entry in 1970, they were recording not for Soul Train Records but for the Soul Click label (how many of you remember that one?). And they were sharing chart space not with early ‘90s contemporaries like the Rude Boys, Guy, or Hi-Five, but with the likes of the Chi-Lites, the Delfonics, and Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band. Now that’s longevity!
💕 11. “(Let’s Go) All the Way” (1978)
Before their chart fortunes improved significantly in the 1980s, the Whispers collected four top ten R&B hits in the ‘70s, including this breezy number from their first SOLAR Records album, Headlights. A personal fave in this blogger’s household.
🥰 10. “Keep on Loving Me” (1983)
From this jam’s opening synth-bass notes and its light electric piano flourishes wrapped around a signature Leon Sylvers-produced beat, Whispers fans knew this would be yet another irresistible banger in the vein of their earlier 80s hits. Walter backed his twin brother on this track, and with the other group members delivered the famous call line “Hey Scotty, what’s that mean?!” following Wallace’s famous scat lines.
🎧 9. “Rock Steady” (1987)
The song that returned The Whispers to No. 1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and gave them their first (and only) top ten pop hit was “Rock Steady,” co-written and produced by the famous team of L.A. Reid & Babyface. Brother Wallace Scott does the heaviest lifting here, but Walter’s baritone accompaniment to Scotty’s tenor is essential to the song’s energy and undoubtedly helped power it to the top of the charts in the quickly changing musical landscape of 1987.
👯♀️ 8. “(Olivia) Lost and Turned Out” (1978)
Not sure who the inspiration was behind this cautionary tale of a woman named Olivia (“the slave”) walking the streets and being pimped out by a “wolf in lamb’s clothing,” but I’m sure thousands of Olivias around the country didn’t appreciate sharing the song’s namesake. Regardless, this forlorn ballad mixed nursery rhyme references (“Olivia, the slave, got distracted on her way to grandmother’s house… a wolf in lamb’s clothing came, blew her mind and changed her ways”) with heartbreaking statistics (“There’s over ten million girls who are lost in this world”). The message was strong enough to send the song to No. 13 on Hot R&B /Hip-Hop Songs in 1978.
🌹7. “In The Mood” (1987)
The third single from the group’s final album for SOLAR Records was “In The Mood,” a straight-to-the-point love ballad that became a quiet storm staple of the late 1980s. The song showed that the Scott brothers — and the group as a whole — could still get their mack on after some 25 years in the game. “In The Mood” fell short of the R&B/Hip-Hop top ten (and missed the Hot 100 altogether) but still helped push the album Just Gets Better With Time to platinum in 1987.
🕺🏾6. “In the Raw” (1981)
The title line might take on new meaning in 2025, but in 1981 it simply meant being real or revealing one’s true self. Thats what Walter and Scotty were singing about in this funky top ten R&B/Hip-Hop Songs thumper from their 1982 LP Love Is Where You Find It. With words to live by like “There’s nowhere to run, nowhere to hide from what you really are inside, you never gain from telling lies…the truth wears no disguise,” Walter and Scotty even tried their hand in rap… and it worked!
🚓 5. “Emergency” (1982)
The song’s premise might sound cliche — a desperate lover phones the operator and begs her to break through the line and inform a love interest of his unrequited intentions (“Hot Line” by the Sylvers, anyone?). But the opening orchestration on this Leon Sylvers-produced banger — and its synth fills throughout — add even more drama and make it irresistible, setting it apart from earlier operator-inspired numbers. Hard to believe “Emergency” only peaked at No. 22 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and missed the Hot 100 altogether in the summer of 1982.
🕊️4. “A Song for Donny” (1979).
With its title inspired by Donny Hathaway’s own classic ballad “A Song For You,” this was a poignant, respectful tribute to the troubled singer with lyrics penned by one-time Whispers associate Carrie Lucas to the tune of Hathaway’s classic “This Christmas.” Donny had died by suicide in January 1979, prompting the Whispers to record what would be the first single released from their 9th and biggest album, The Whispers. “A Song for Donny” set the stage for the immediate follow-up “And the Beat Goes On,” almost as if to suggest that, despite the loss of one of music’s greatest talents, the beat must indeed go on.
💙 3. “It’s a Love Thing” (1981)
In perhaps what was an attempt to recreate the magic of “And the Beat Goes On” a year earlier, “It’s a Love Thing” was no slouch. This synth-filled melodic gem sped up the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and peaked at No. 2 for three weeks in early 1981 behind classics “Don’t Stop the Music” by Yarbrough & Peoples and Smokey Robinson’s “Being With You.” Not bad competition to be stuck behind. “Love Thing” also peaked at No. 28 on the Hot 100, becoming the quintet’s third pop top 40 hit.
👩❤️👨 2. “Lady” (1980)
This is the quintessential Whispers ballad — and their biggest, chart wise. Walter and his twin brother Wallace alternated vocals on this classic, with Walter’s baritone-tenor starting the proceedings (and ending it with the famous ad libs, including that unmatchable scat during the coda). The pop top 40 had been flooded with “Lady” songs over the preceding few years (e.g., Styx, Little River Band) and would again later in 1980 with Kenny Rogers’ No. 1 hit. But none possessed the soulful sweetness that Walter & Co. delivered on this emotional outpouring of pure adoration. In addition to reaching No. 3 on the soul chart (before “And the Beat Goes On” could even exit), “Lady” became the group’s second top 40 pop single.
🪩 1. “And the Beat Goes On” (1980)
Born out of the group’s early association with then-up-and-coming producer Leon Sylvers, III, “And the Beat Goes On” topped the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for five weeks in March 1980. With its chart weeks all occurring in March (March 1, 8, 15, 22, 29), it may very well be the only song to do that and spend five weeks in the same calendar month in the list’s history. It was also the first of their four top 40 pop hits. The song came a year after disco’s crash and burn in early 1979, otherwise it surely would’ve been a top-five pop hit. That fate didn’t stop it from selling a million copies and becoming a DJ favorite at roller rinks, discos, cookouts, and block parties all over the country. It was also sampled for Will Smith’s “Miami” in 1997.
And those are the 20 most essential Whispers songs according to DJROBBLOG in tribute to the fallen legend Walter Scott (1944-2025).
Rest easy, Mr. Scott. You kept the beat going… and this one’s for you.
DJRob
DJRob (he/him) is a freelance music blogger from the East Coast who covers R&B, hip-hop, disco, pop, rock and country genres – plus lots of music news and current stuff! You can follow him on Bluesky at @djrobblog.bsky.social, X (formerly Twitter) at @djrobblog, on Facebook or on Meta’s Threads.
You can also register for free (select the menu bars above) to receive notifications of future articles.
Nothing but class! Real authentic R&B.