The Stylistics

The Stylistics
Stylistics in 1980. From left to right: Airrion Love, Herbie Murrell, Russell Thompkins, Jr., and Raymond Johnson.
Background information
Origin	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Genres	R&B, soul
Years active	1968–present
Labels	Avco, H&L
Members
Herbie Murrell Airrion Love Van Fields Harold 'Eban' Brown
Former members
Russell Thompkins, Jr. James Dunn James Smith Raymond Johnson

Audio samples of The Stylistics

	"You Make Me Feel Brand New" Philly soul song by The Stylistics
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The Stylistics were one of the best-known Philadelphia soul groups of the 1970s. They formed in 1968, and comprised lead Russell Thompkins, Jr., Herbie Murrell, Airrion Love, James Smith, and James Dunn. All of their US hits were ballads, graced by the soaring falsetto of Russell Thompkins, Jr. and the lush yet graceful productions of Thom Bell, which helped make the Stylistics one of the most successful soul groups of the first half of the 1970s."^[1] During the early 1970s, the band had twelve straight U.S. R&B top ten hits, including "You Are Everything", "Betcha by Golly, Wow", "I'm Stone in Love with You", "Break Up to Make Up", and "You Make Me Feel Brand New".^[1]

Career

The Stylistics were created from the leftovers of two defunct Philadelphia groups, The Percussions and The Monarchs.^[2] In 1970, the group recorded "You're a Big Girl Now", a song their road manager Marty Bryant co-wrote with Robert Douglas, a member of their backing band Slim and the Boys, and the single became a regional hita for Sebring Records.^[1] Producer Bill Perry spent $400 to record the number in the Virtue Studios in Philadelphia.^[3] The larger Avco Records soon signed the Stylistics, and single eventually climbed to number seven in early 1971.^[1]

After signing to Avco, The Stylistics began working with producer Thom Bell, who had already produced a catalogue of hits for The Delfonics, and songwriter Linda Creed.^[1] The first song they recorded together with Bell/Creed was the lush "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)"^[4] . Bell imported the sweet soul techniques he had perfected with The Delfonics, and his arrangements worked perfectly with Thompkins' falsetto. The bittersweet lyrics from Creed were a key factor in creating memorable music.

Their hits—distilled from three albums—from this period included "Betcha by Golly, Wow" (U.S. #3), "I'm Stone in Love with You", "Break Up To Make Up" (U.S. #5), "You Make Me Feel Brand New" featuring a double lead with Love, the aforementioned "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)", "You Are Everything", and the minor hit "Rockin' Roll Baby" (U.S. #14). "You Make Me Feel Brand New" was the group's biggest U.S. hit, holding at #2 for two weeks in the spring of 1974, and was one of five U.S. gold singles the Stylistics collected. The Stylistics' smooth sound also found an easier path onto adult contemporary airwaves than other soul artists, and the group made Billboard magazine's Easy Listening singles chart twelve times from 1971 to 1976, with three entries ("Betcha by Golly, Wow", "You Make Me Feel Brand New", and "You'll Never Get to Heaven (If You Break My Heart)") reaching the Top 10. Every single that Bell produced for the Stylistics was a Top Ten R&B hit, and several—"You Are Everything", "Betcha by Golly Wow!", "I'm Stone in Love with You", "Break Up to Make Up", and "You Make Me Feel Brand New"—were also Top Ten pop chart hits.^[1] This commercial success was not confined only to the U.S., with the band also having big hits with this material throughout Europe.

The group split with Thom Bell in 1974,^[1] and the split proved commercially devastating to the group's success in the U.S. Just as with The Delfonics, The Stylistics were to some extent a vehicle for Bell's own creativity. They struggled hard to find producers who could come up with the right material, and partnerships with Hugo & Luigi and Van McCoy were notably less successful. One noticeable difference between those recordings and the Thom Bell hits was a heavier focus on Thompkin's falsetto vocals. They left Avco for H&L Records in 1976^[1] and the Stylistics' popularity rapidly declined in the U.S. However, just as that success began to wane, their popularity in Europe, and especially the United Kingdom, increased.^[1] Indeed, the lighter 'pop' sound fashioned by Van McCoy and Hugo & Luigi gave the band a UK #1 in 1975 with "Can't Give You Anything (But My Love)".^[1][5] Further successes with "Na Na is the Saddest Word", "Funky Weekend" and "Can't Help Falling in Love" consolidated the band's European popularity.^[1][5] They are one of the few U.S. acts to have two chart-topping Greatest Hits albums in the UK.^[5]

Notwithstanding this, the Stylistics began to struggle with what many^[who?] saw as increasingly weak material after 1976. Although the singles and albums came out as before, chart success vanished. This decline also coincided with the rise of New Wave in Europe around this time. It was also stated by Russell Thompkins Jr. (in the re-issue sleevenotes for the 1976 album Fabulous) that the band began to feel that the music they were recording was becoming increasingly dated, and not in keeping with the emerging disco sound of the late 1970s.

In 1979, they had a small part in the movie Hair, directed by Milos Forman, where they play conservative army officers. They double Nell Carter in singing a tongue-in-cheek song called "White Boys".

In 1980, James Dunn departed due to health problems, and James Smith left shortly thereafter.^[1] The group continued, recruiting new member Raymond Johnson, and releasing the album Some Things Never Change, in 1985. Johnson departed shortly afterward, leaving the group a trio. Love, Murrell, and Thompkins continued to tour until 2000, when original lead Russell Thompkins, Jr. left. Love and Murrell brought in two new members, Harold "Eban" Brown, formerly of the Delfonics, as lead and tenor Van Fields. The present group is featured live on the DVD The Stylistics Live at the Convention Center (2006), as well as along with other artists of the 1970s on the DVD, The Big Show.

In 2004, Russell Thompkins, Jr. started a new group, the New Stylistics, with the returning Raymond Johnson, James Ranton, and Jonathan Buckson. They are featured on the DVD Old School Soul Party Live!, which was part of the PBS My Music series.

In 2006, their hit single "Can't Give You Anything (But My Love)" was used as the base for a Japanese advertisement campaign by Gatsby, to launch their new male hair styling product, 'Moving Rubber'. The campaign was successful and featured one of Japan's most popular celebrities Takuya Kimura of the pop group SMAP. They were also featured guests on SMAP's television show, SMAP×SMAP, one of the highest rated shows in Japan to promote the 'Moving Rubber' product.

In October 2009, they featured on the UK BBC One television program, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross.

Their song "People Make the World Go Round" was used by Spike Lee in the soundtrack for his movie Crooklyn, made in 1994.

Personnel

• Russell Thompkins Jr - born March 21, 1951, Philadelphia (1968–)
• James Dunn - born February 4, 1950, Philadelphia (1968–1980)
• Herbie Murrell - born April 27, 1949, Lane, South Carolina (1968–present)
• James Smith - born June 16, 1950, New York City (1968–1980)
• Airrion Love - born August 8, 1949, Philadelphia (1968–present)
• Raymond Johnson (1980–1986)
• Harold 'Eban' Brown - born June 14, 1972, Newark, New Jersey (2000–present)
• Van Fields - born November 12, 1952, Cubao, Quezon City (2000–present)

Cover versions

The Stylistics' catalog of hits has been mined frequently by other artists in recent years. Notable examples include:

• "Betcha by Golly, Wow" was originally recorded as "Keep Growing Strong" by Connie Stevens and later covered by Prince, Sugababes, Phyllis Hyman and Aaron Neville.
• "I'm Stone In Love With You" and "Stop, Look (Listen To Your Heart)" were covered by Johnny Mathis on the Thom Bell produced album, I'm Coming Home.
• Both "You Are Everything" and "Stop, Look (Listen To Your Heart)" were also recorded by Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye, and featured on the album release Diana & Marvin. "You Are Everything" has also been covered by Michael McDonald, Daryl Hall & John Oates and Vanessa L. Williams, as well as by saxophonist David Sanborn. "Stop, Look (Listen To Your Heart)" was also covered by New Birth.
• "You Make Me Feel Brand New" was covered by Boyz II Men, Jimmy Castor, Roberta Flack and Simply Red; and sampled by Jamiroquai in 1999's Canned Heat.
• "I Can't Give You Anything (But My Love)" was covered by Thomas Anders.
• Mary J. Blige also used the chief line from the chorus of "You Are Everything" ("You are everything, and everything is you") in her 1997 hit "Everything".
• Their song "Hurry Up This Way Again" was covered by Phyllis Hyman on her 1998 posthumous album Forever With You and sampled by rapper Jay Z for the song "Politics as Usual" on his 1996 debut album Reasonable Doubt.
• Producer 9th Wonder sampled the group's song "One Night Affair" for Little Brother's 2005 hit "Lovin' It".
• In 2002, Zero 7 mixed "People Make the World Go Around" into their album Another Late Night: Zero 7.
• In 2006, Madlib briefly sampled "You're As Right as Rain" in the introduction of the track "Snake Charmer (Heads Up)" on his album Beat Konducta Vol 1–2: Movie Scenes.
• In 2006, their hit song "You're a Big Girl Now" was sampled by rapper Ghostface Killah for the song "Big Girl" on his album Fishscale.
• In 2006, Letoya Luckett used a similar sample to the background track of "You Are Everything", for the music to her hit single "Torn".
• Living Colour began incorporating "People Make the World Go Round" into their hit "Type" at live shows in 2008.[1]
• In 2007, rapper Charles Hamilton sampled "Betcha by Golly Wow!", for the song "Writing In The Sky" from his album, The Pink Lavalamp.

Some of the Stylistics' hits were themselves cover versions, including "You'll Never Get to Heaven (If You Break My Heart)" (a 1964 hit for Dionne Warwick) and "Can't Help Falling in Love".

Photograph gallery

The Stylistics

The Stylistics 1980: Clockwise from top, James Smith, Russell Thompkins, Jr., Herbie Murrell, Airrion Love

The Stylistics currently: L-R Herbie Murrell, Eban Brown, Van Fields, Airrion Love

Discography

Singles

Albums

Compilations

Awards and recognition

• The Stylistics were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004.

See also

• List of soul musicians
• List of R&B musicians
• List of disco musicians
• List of people from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Music of Philadelphia
• List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart
• List of guests appearing on The Midnight Special
• List of performers on Top of the Pops

References

External links

• Official Website
• The Stylistics interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' December 2008
• The Stylistics at Allmusic
• 'The Stylistics' Vocal Group Hall of Fame Page
• The Stylistics at PhillySoulClassics.com
• The Official fanclub of The Stylistics in Europe
• Drummer sentenced to prison
• The Stylistics British fan club website