New Bedford’s Cape Verdean community celebrated a few of their own in June, as the city officially renamed a street for the successful Tavares Brothers musical group.
The brothers achieved national and international success, earning a grammy for “More than a Woman” on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, and scoring numerous musical hits including, “It Only Takes a Minute,” “Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel,” and a remake of “She’s Gone” by Hall & Oates.
Decades after they charted, their songs have continued to be popular with millions of plays on the music service Spotify.
Antone “Chubby” Tavares, Victor Tavares, and Perry “Tiny” Tavares were present at the June 29 unveiling of the renamed street, surrounded by family, friends, and well-wishers. Feliciano “Butch” Tavares was not present. Also recognized were brothers Ralph Tavares who died in 2021 and Arthur “Pooch” Tavares who died in April.
Officials, including Sen. Mark Montigny, Reps. Tony Cabral and Chris Hendricks, and many City Council members including Council President Naomi Carney, were also present in support of the naming.
In his remarks, Mayor Jon Mitchell said the city thanks the entire Tavares family and called them a “family that has made us all proud.”
“We are naming permanently a very prominent street” for them, he said.
Tiny Tavares thanked the city for the honor.
“It’s about paying tribute to our family, but it’s also about paying tribute to the village because without the village we wouldn’t be the gentlemen we are now, to get us where we are today,” he said, according to a report in The Standard-Times. “Thank you all for coming out. We love you.”
The new Tavares Brothers’ Way is visible off of Route 18 in the city’s Cape Verdean neighborhood — what is the original Cape Verdean neighborhood in the United States, according to Mayor Mitchell. It extends from Route 18 to S. 2nd Street, renaming a portion of Griffin Court.
The group had several names before becoming the Tavares’ Brothers and later just Tavares. Overall, they placed eight singles on the Billboard Top 40, and 12 on the R&B Top 10 chart while touring with superstar music business names like the Jackson 5, KC and The Sunshine Band, the Bee Gees, and Marvin Gaye.
They received the Lifetime Achievement Award from The National R&B Music Society in 2013 and were inducted into the Cape Verdean Music Hall of Fame in 2006. They performed two shows at the Zeiterion last year to benefit the Cape Verdean Recognition Committee.
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