Born January 8, 1942, in
Orange County, Florida, United States, to
Jamaican parents, David Oliver did not begin singing until high school at the age of 15. All through high school and college, he sang in various groups. After a stint in the Air Force, he re-located to
Los Angeles in 1967 and joined a group called Five Days & Three Nights. They were discussing a contract with
Motown Records, but after negotiations fell through, the group disbanded. By 1972, Oliver would go on to record background vocals on
Redbone's
Already Here album and he then sang with Mighty Joe Hicks's band during the mid-70s. He was signed to
Mercury Records in 1977, recording four albums all produced by
Wayne Henderson, of
The Crusaders. In 1978, the song "Ms", from his first album, reached number 13 on the R&B Singles chart, but one of his best self-penned songs was "I Wanna Write You a Love Song" on his follow-up LP. In 1980, he recorded a song by
Cecil Womack, "
Love TKO", that was missed by the majority of record buyers at the time of release, but later became a major hit for
Teddy Pendergrass. ==Death==