This page is about trumpeter Stephen Hawkins, who was in the Chicago-based 70s soul/funk band, The South Side Movement. As I explain in My Library public list compiled at Google Books which is linked below, at times he is referred to as Steve Hawkins, and, as you can see from the record cover below, the band’s name on its first album was indeed The South Side Movement, but later album releases — after Hawkins was no longer in the band — deemed the band Southside Movement. I have taken ALL of this into account in looking up information on this band’s founding professional trumpeter and popular songwriter, whose name I will never misspell, because how hard is “Dad” to spell–? I explained to him he was one of my first deep dive research subjects — and if you foresee yourself doing something similar, it’s more accurately described as research and correct! — but really, it’s just talk until you show your work.

Sadly, as of September 23, 2021, Stephen is no longer with us. Feel free to leave a comment below or to contact me if you knew him or have a memory to share.

The South Side Movement, July 25, 1973

Stephen Hawkins wrote the singles, “Can You Get to That” and “Mud Wind” with band producer, James Van Leer.

See the Stephen Hawkins artist page courtesy of Discogs.com — Discography for Stephen Hawkins, composer, arranger, and trumpet player for The South Side Movement.

Stephen Hawkins https://t.co/uTSkNqGOwO via @discogs pic.twitter.com/WfFUqnar7p

— Valerie Hawkins, Unrelenting Nerd (@valsadie) May 17, 2019

Stephen (Steve) Hawkins and The South Side (Southside) Movement Public – Google Books, My Library – 34 titles, including issues of Billboard and Jet magazines with chart position of songs by The South Side Movement Books with Stephen Hawkins mentioned in them, usually being referred to as Steve Hawkins. And the band he was in, The South Side Movement, is often called Southside Movement. Ah, history…

You can freely search for Stephen Hawkins in the BMI Repertoire online database. The song “Mud Wind”, being an instrumental, inspired two other songs, both adding a vocal and lyrics. One is “Open Air“, credited to “South Side Movement” and Jackie Ross on Golden Ear Records, the last song on side 2, and the other is “Love Dance“, credited to an artist named Big City on 20th Century Records, but it is clearly women just singing singsong lyrics along with and over the track, as Oliver Wang noted back in 2010:

There’s also an entry for song “Mud Wind” at WhoSampled that asserts the song was sampled for a 1994 rap track.

Also since this page was published, streaming services have finally “discovered” the band:

Meanwhile, Hawkins made for a tuneful and photogenic street musician on the Michigan Avenue bridge in downtown Chicago, Illinois, as these photos in Getty Images and on Flickr can attest. And he has a small cameo at the end of a 2003 story from Chicago’s WBEZ about street musicians.

Embed from Getty Images

This photo appears in the ILLINOIS 24/7 (America 24/7 State Book Series) book:

Most recently, Hawkins played with Otis Clay, and is the trumpet player on this Otis Clay: Live in Switzerland, 2006 record from the late musician, released in 2016, also available on Amazon streaming:

NEW FOR 2023!
50th Anniversary Vinyl Release of The South Side Movement!