The Tams

The Tams are a Southern soul vocal group from Atlanta, Georgia. The group first formed in 1959 and took its name from the Tam o'shanter hats they wore on stage. The original members were brothers Charles and Joseph Pope, Robert Lee Smith, Floyd Ashton and Horace Key. The Tams experienced their first successful single in 1962 when "Untie Me" peaked at #12 on the R&B charts. The band then had a huge smash with "What Kind of Fool (Do You Think I Am)," which reached #6 on the Billboard pop charts in 1964. The follow-up tune, "Hey Girl Don't Bother Me", was only a modest success. The group's last major chart success in America came in 1968 with "Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy," which sold over a million copies and reached #26 on the R&B charts. Although the 1965 song "I've Been Hurt" failed to crack the Billboard pop charts, it was nonetheless a substantial regional hit in the southwest US and has been widely hailed as a beach music classic.

In 1971 The Tams had a surprise #1 UK singles chart smash with a reissue of "Hey Girl Don't Bother Me." "What Kind of Fool (Do You Think I Am)" was featured on the soundtrack to the movie Shag (1988)). Moreover, The Tams appear as themselves and perform this particular song in the groovy rock concert documentary Mondo Daytona (1968). The band has not only toured and recorded with Jimmy Buffett but also has performed on stage with such artists as Gladys Knight and Jackie Wilson. The group has been inducted into the Georgia Hall of Fame, the Atlanta Hall of Fame, and the Beach Music Hall of Fame. Today two different incarnations of The Tams exist: one version is fronted by Robert Lee Smith and the other one is headed by Charles Pope.