He is a singer born Timothy DuPron Hauser in Troy, New York who started singing professionally when he was fifteen, forming The Criterions which released two singles and appeared on Alan Freed’s Big Beat Show.
He studied economics at the Villanova University and while there he continued to perform with The Criterions, sang with the Villanova Singers and the Coventry Lads, and worked at the college radio station.
In 1964 he entered the New Jersey National Guard and the US Air Force and a year later he started working as a market analyst. In 1969 he established the original group called The Manhattan Transfer and, although they released one album, they dissolved in 1971.
He became a taxi driver and it was while he was doing this that he met Laurel Masse and Janis Siegel and after inviting Alan Paul to join them he decided to reform another version of The Manhattan Transfer. He has since gone on to record albums with them such as Bodies and Souls, Bob Doo-Wop, Coming Out, Extensions, Mecca for Modern, The Offbeat of Avenues, Pastiche, The Spirit of St. Louise, Symphony Sessions, Vibrate and Vocalese as well as Hollywood Madness by Richie Cole, Freddie Freeloader by Jon Hendricks & Friends, Spontaneous Inventions by Bobby McFerrin, Live in Tokyo/Vocalese Vol. 1 by Carmen McRae and Appalachian Gospel by Stella Parton.
With the ensemble he has been a 10 time Grammy winner, been inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame and been awarded an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music.
After being admitted to hospital suffering from pneumonia in October 2014, he passed away in Sayre, Pennsylvania, after suffering a heart attack. He was 72 years old.
The Manhattan Transfer Recordings
Body and Soul (Edward Heyman/Johnny Green/Robert Sour/Frank Eyton)
Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone (Marius Constant/Jay Graydon/Alan Paul)
Here he is with Manhattan Transfer singing “Boy From New York City”. He’s the one in blue…
Sources:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Hauser
- http://www.tmtfanclub.com/tim.html
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Manhattan_Transfer
- http://www.manhattantransfer.org/
- http://www.singers.com/jazz/manhattantransfer.html
- http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0369565/
- http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:0nfrxqr5ldhe~T4