Michael Procter

Procter (died 23rd January 2020) was originally from Peoria, but his rise to fame began when the aspiring singer/songwriter was recruited as a player in the long-running pop vocal group 5th Dimension. The group had been founded by Billy Davis Jr with a line-up that included Marilyn McCoo, and was frequently backed by legendary Los Angeles session musicians The Wrecking Crew. Procter joined the group in 1979 according to the Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock & Soul, just after the departure of McCoo and Davis He departed 5th Dimension (which released their first single all the way back in 1966 and has been frequently rekindled with surviving members) in 1988 for a solo career.
Unlike many soul vocalists who achieved a level of professional renown in the 1980s, Procter slid easily into house music and his voice became both a familiar and a welcoming sound inside the clubs. Among his most popular singles from the first phase of his career were two singles with Urban Blues Project (aka Brian Tappert and Marc Pomeroy, later founders of Traxsource): “Deliver Me” on Victor Simonelli‘s Bassline Records and “Love Don’t Live” on Tappert and Pomeroy’s Soulfuric.
His latest single was released in October 2019 – Change with Audio Heritage on Grounded Records.