The Stylistics

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The Stylistics was 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 (second lead on "You Make Me Feel Brand New"), James Smith, and James Dunn.

1 Career
2 Personnel
3 Cover versions
4 Photos
5 Discography
- 5.1 Albums
- 5.2 Singles
6 References
7 Awards and recognition
8 External links

[edit] Career

They had their first U.S. hit in 1971 with "You're a Big Girl Now".

Signing to Avco Records, The Stylistics began working with producer Thom Bell, who had already produced a catalogue of hits for The Delfonics, and songwriter Linda Creed. 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 hugely memorable music.

Audio samples of The Stylistics

"You Make Me Feel Brand New" (file info) — play in browser (beta)
- Philly soul song by The Stylistics
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Their hits — distilled from three albums — from this period included "Betcha by Golly Wow!", "I'm Stone in Love with You", "Break Up To Make Up", "You Make Me Feel Brand New" featuring a double lead with Love, "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)" and "You Are Everything". "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.

The group split with Thom Bell in 1974, and the split proved devastating commercially 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. They left Avco for H&L Records 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. Indeed, the lighter 'pop' sound fashioned by Van McCoy and Hugo and Luigi gave the band a UK Number one in 1975 with "I Can't Give You Anything (But My Love)". Further successes with "Na Na is the Saddest Word", "Funky Weekend" and "Can't Help Falling in Love" consolidated the band's European popularity.

Notwithstanding this, the Stylistics began to struggle with what many 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 1980, James Dunn departed due to health problems, and James Smith left shortly thereafter. 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 Thompkins left. Love and Murrell brought in two new members, Harold "Eban" Brown, formerly of the Delfonics, as lead (who sounds amazingly like a young Russell Thompkins), and tenor Van Fields. The present group is featured live on the DVD's "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.

[edit] Personnel

Russell Thompkins Jr - born 21 March 1951 in Philadelphia. (1968-2000)
James Dunn - born 4 February 1950, in Philadelphia. (1968-80)
Herbie Murrell - born 27 April 1947 in Lane, South Carolina. (1968-present)
James Smith - born 16 June 1950, in New York. (1968-80)
Airrion Love - born 8 August 1949, in Philadelphia. (1968-present)
Raymond Johnson (1980-86)
Harold "Eban" Brown (2000-present)
Van Fields (2000-present)

[edit] Cover versions

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

"Betcha by Golly, Wow!" covered by Prince.
"You Are Everything" by Vanessa Williams.
"You Make Me Feel Brand New" by Boyz II Men, Roberta Flack and Simply Red.
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 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."
Producer 9th Wonder sampled the group's song "One Night Affair" for Little Brother's 2005 hit "Lovin' It".

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, of course, "Can't Help Falling In Love."

[edit] Photos

The Stylistics
The Stylistics 1980: Clockwise from top, James Smith, Russel Thompkins, Jr., Herb Murrel, Airrion Love	The Stylistics 1980-86: L-R Airrion Love, Herb Murrel, Russel Thompkins, Jr., Raymond Johnson	The Stylistics currently: L-R Herb Murrel, Eban Brown, Van Fields, Airrion Love