Fred Alexander, the longtime drummer and organizational backbone of the R&B and funk group Lakeside, has died. He was 72.
Alexander was a member of the band for 49 years, joining in 1977 and remaining part of the Lakeside family through decades of albums, concerts, television appearances, and changes in the music industry.
Stephen Shockley of Lakeside shared the news on social media, remembering Alexander as both a bandmate and a brother. “Today is a very sad day for our band, Lakeside, because we lost Fred Alexander,” Shockley wrote. “The Little General. The backbone of all of our records with his lockdown drum playing. The most driven and persistent man I’ve ever known.”
Shockley also credited Alexander with helping keep the group working long after many bands from their era had slowed down. “He kept us working after all seemed lost some twelve years ago,” Shockley wrote. “He made sure that our taxes were paid. He kept our trademark consistent and up to date. He made sure our flights were always taken care of, and he loved the job. But most of all, he was a brother.”
Lakeside was part of the remarkable wave of funk and soul talent to emerge from Dayton, Ohio. The group was formed around 1970 by members of two local acts, the Nomads and the Young Undergrounds. From the beginning, Lakeside stood apart because it operated almost like two groups in one: a stand-up vocal group backed by a full funk band.
After winning a contest that sent the group to Chicago to record for Curtis Mayfield’s Curtom label, the members eventually moved to California in search of greater opportunity. There, the band added Alexander on drums, shortened its name from Lakeside Express to Lakeside, and became a major draw on the Los Angeles club circuit.
Their popularity caught the attention of music executive Dick Griffey, who became their manager and later moved them to his SOLAR Records label after a brief and unproductive period with Motown and a debut album on ABC Records that failed to chart.
That move changed the group’s trajectory.
In 1978, Lakeside’s SOLAR debut single, It’s All the Way Live, reached the top five on the R&B chart and helped launch the album Shot of Love. With the group members more fully shaping their sound, Lakeside entered its strongest creative period, delivering a run of albums and singles that helped define its place in funk and R&B.
The band became known not only for its gritty grooves but also for its memorable visual identity. Lakeside’s hand-drawn album covers famously depicted the group as pirates, G-men, Arabian knights, and other larger-than-life characters, giving the band a distinctive presence in a crowded funk landscape.
During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Lakeside released a string of fan favorites, including Your Wish Is My Command, Raid, and its biggest hit, Fantastic Voyage, which later found new life when Coolio reworked it into a major hit in the 1990s.
The group also showed its range with a soulful remake of the Beatles’ I Want to Hold Your Hand, transforming the pop classic into something almost entirely its own.
As radio changed in the late 1980s and hip hop and electronic R&B moved to the forefront, Lakeside’s classic brand of funk became less dominant in the marketplace. By the 1990s, without a major record deal and with touring revenue harder to sustain, members began to leave, and internal divisions led to competing versions of the group.
Shockley eventually led a version called The Original Lakeside, which brought several longtime members back together, including Alexander. That lineup continued performing on multi-act funk and R&B bills, keeping the Lakeside sound alive for longtime fans.
Alexander’s role in that survival was central. He was not only the drummer who helped drive Lakeside’s records from behind the kit, but also one of the people who helped the group function offstage.
After nearly half a century with the band, his passing marks the loss of a musician, administrator, friend, and steadying force. “We rode together through all of our albums, all of our concerts, TV shows, ups and downs,” Shockley wrote. “After 49 years together in friendship, music, and brotherhood, God stepped in and said, ‘I can take care of him a little better, so y’all hand him over. I got this.’”
Rest in peace, Fred Alexander, the Little General whose rhythm helped keep Lakeside moving.
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