BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY : AFRICAN AMERICAN " KEITH 2"SABU" CRIER " BASS PLAYER FOR DISCO GROUP GQ, THEIR CHART TOPPING 1979 DISCO SINGLE "DISCO NIGHT" IS ONE OF THE BEST REMEMBERED R&B SINGLE OF THE '70 : GOES INTO THE " HALL OF BLACK GENIUS " :

      BLACK         SOCIAL       HISTORY                                                                                                                                                                                   Keith 'Sabu' Crier, bass player for disco group GQ, dead at 58

Bronx band reached No. 1 on the R&B chart and sold a million copies of its 1979 single, 'Disco Nights (Rock-Freak).'

• A

COURTESY OF DONNA CRIERBass player Keith "Sabu" Crier of disco band GQ died Sunday. The group's 1979 hit "Disco Nights (Rock-Freak)" sold a million copies.

Keith "Sabu" Crier, bass player for the popular Bronx disco and R&B band GQ, died Sunday.

He was 58 and was predeceased by his twin brother Kenneth.

The band reached No. 1 on the R&B chart and sold more than a million copies of its 1979 single "Disco Nights (Rock-Freak)."

Their other hits included "Sitting in the Park" and a remake of Billy Stewart's "I Do Love You."

Crier grew up in the Bronx, son of the well-known R&B singer and community activist Arthur Crier. He was also the uncle of Keith Sweat.

He formed his first band in 1968, Sabu and the Survivors. They evolved into a funk band called the Rhythm Makers in the 1970s, with Emanuel Rahiem Leblanc, Herb Lane and Kenny Banks.

The Rhythm Makers recorded their first album in 1976, "Soul on Your Side." They later reworked the title track into "Disco Nights."

The band continued until the early 1990s and reunited in 1999 to record a tribute to Billy Stewart and Marvin Gaye.

A viewing will be held Thursday, 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., at Granby's Funeral Home, 4021 White Plains Ave., Bronx, N.Y. Services will be Friday at 11 a.m.