'Aquarius' Singer of The 5th Dimension Releases New Song: 'Cease Fire'

The 6-time Grammy winning founder of Pop-Soul legendary singing group, The 5th Dimension is keeping it fresh these days, celebrating a hit memoir and now releasing a new song he wrote titled, "Cease Fire." There's a reason LaMonte McLemore was always known as "the visionary Dimension." "Cease Fire" is actually a chapter in "Mac's" memoir, "From Hobo Flats to The 5th Dimension: A Life Fulfilled in Baseball, Photography and Music." It concerns a heinous act witnessed by his maternal grandmother Gertrude (the lynching of her brother), and how her reaction of unconditional forgiveness literally shaped the wining trajectory of LaMonte's life. McLemore's biographer Robert-Allan Arno explains, "I thought it important to include the lyrics of 'Cease Fire' at the beginning of the chapter...they're like a prayer." McLemore adds,"It's definitely the right time to present 'Cease Fire' as a fully-actualized song and in fact, my producer/arranger Lloyd Tolbert encouraged me to bookend the song with my spoken-word narration." The beloved star continues, "Years ago when the term 'weapons of mass destruction' was heavily in the news and it turned out they really didn't exist, it became a light bulb moment for me. I thought, perhaps they did...as in 'look in the mirror, friends!'" McLemore feels, "More than ever, 'Cease Fire' is what the world needs today." He's quick to stress his song's concept is a "global call for world peace," envisioning it as kind of nouveau "We Are the World." Performed on the CD single by the sweet-soul vocalist Julio Hanson, along with McLemore's spoken narrative, "Cease Fire" is a mighty anthem.

No stranger to anthems of a generation, McLemore and The 5th Dimension are responsible for mega hits like the uplifting "Up-Up and Away" and the unifying "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In," the latter, a medley from Broadway's HAIR. Spending 6-straight weeks at #1 in the spring of '69, the Platinum "mash-up" is known as one of the biggest hits of the Rock n' Roll era. "Cease Fire" isn't McLemore's first foray into songwriting. Fan favorites, "A Love Like Ours" and "The Singer" were penned by LaMonte and appeared on the quintet's seminal albums PORTRAIT and LOVE'S LINES, ANGLES AND RHYMES, respectively. Besides The 5th Dimension, the latter tune was also recorded by Gladys Knight and the Pips and was a serious recording consideration for Frank Sinatra. More recently, another McLemore composition, "If I Could Fly" was a contender for a major airline's ad campaign. Mr. McLemore, also a world renowned photographer of 5 decades for JET magazine's history-shaping "Beauty of the Week" feature, expressed to his biographer, "With my photos, I just see things. With songwriting, I just feel things."

The official release date for "Cease Fire" with accompanying video is December 9, 2016. It will be available for download purchase at CD Baby. McLemore smiles thoughtfully, "I've had a blessed career. My dreams have come true as my prophetic grandma always predicted. Today, my wish is that my dream of 'Cease Fire' will resonate in the hearts and souls of my fans and friends, old and new." --The Soul of The Voice, Ltd.

"Cease Fire" is available for download at: http://cdbaby.com/cd/lamontemclemore; Mr. McLemore is on Twitter @lamontemclemore