![]() They released the single " Hurry Up This Way Again" that year which brought them back into the R&B Top 20 (peaking at No. In 1980, the group reunited with Thom Bell and signed with Philadelphia International Records subsidiary, TSOP Records. The Stylistics performing at Ford Amphitheater at Coney Island in 2019. They double Nell Carter in singing a song called "White Boys". In 1979, they had a small part in the movie Hair, directed by Miloš Forman, where they play conservative army officers. wrote (in the sleevenotes for the re-issue of the 1976 album, Fabulous) that the group began to feel that the music they were recording was becoming dated, and not in keeping with the popular disco sound of the late 1970s. Notwithstanding this, the band began to struggle with increasingly weak material, and although the singles and albums came out as before, by 1978 chart success had vanished even a move to Mercury in 1978, for two albums produced by Teddy Randazzo, failed to produce any major success. The Stylistics switched record labels during this period as Avco Records transitioned into H&L Records in 1976. acts to have two chart-topping greatest hits albums in the U.K. The Stylistics recorded "Disco Baby", "Love is the Answer" and "16 Bars" also. Further successes with "Sing Baby Sing", "Na Na Is The Saddest Word", "Funky Weekend" and " Can't Help Falling in Love" consolidated the group's European popularity. 1 in 1975 with " Can't Give You Anything (But My Love)". Indeed, the lighter 'pop' sound fashioned by McCoy and Hugo & Luigi gave the group a U.K. success began to wane, their popularity in Europe, and especially the United Kingdom, increased. Later singles were notably less successful, but as U.S. They struggled to find the right material, although their partnership with label owners Hugo & Luigi as producers and arranger Van McCoy started well, with "Let's Put It All Together" (No. Thom Bell stopped working with the Stylistics in 1974, and the split proved commercially difficult for the group in the U.S. The group also enjoyed commercial success with hits with this material throughout Europe.Ĭhanging style: Continuing international success 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. The Stylistics also found a path on to adult contemporary airwaves, 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. 2 for two weeks in 1974, was one of the group's five U.S. "You Make Me Feel Brand New", the group's biggest U.S. 5), " You Make Me Feel Brand New" featuring Thompkins singing a lead vocal duet with Airrion Love, "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)", " You Are Everything" and the Top 20 pop chart hit " Rockin' Roll Baby" (U.S. ![]() 3), " I'm Stone in Love with You", " Break Up to Make Up" (U.S. Their hits from this period - distilled from three albums - included " Betcha by Golly, Wow" (U.S. The first song recorded with Bell and his collaborator, lyricist Linda Creed, was " Stop, Look, Listen". On most of the group hits, Bell would have Thompkins sing virtually solo. Avco gave Bell complete creative control over the Stylistics and he proceeded to focus the group's sound exclusively around Thompkins's voice. He ultimately agreed to produce the group because he believed in the potential of lead singer Russell Thompkins, Jr.'s distinctive, nasal high tenor and falsetto voice. ![]() The Stylistics auditioned for Bell, but he was initially unimpressed. Success: The Bell/Creed years Īfter signing to Avco, the record label approached producer Thom Bell, who had already produced a catalogue of hits for The Delfonics, to work with the group. 7 on the US Billboard R&B chart in early 1971. The larger Avco Records soon signed the Stylistics, and the single eventually climbed to No. Producer Bill Perry spent $400 to record the song in the Virtue Studios in Philadelphia. 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 hit for Sebring Records. Russell Thompkins Jr., James Smith and Airrion Love came from the Monarchs, and James Dunn and Herb Murrell came from the Percussions. The Stylistics were created from two Philadelphia groups, The Percussions and The Monarchs. ![]()
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