Here was a mellow soul group who hit it big, back when mellow soul ruled the charts.Back when many music lovers say there was love in the air more then hate. I always felt they did a good job with music from good composers like THOM BELL, HUGO AND LUIGI etc etc.They were truly a class act, Any thoughts?
They were very good, and a couple of their songs had a peaceful rhythm to it*. I admit it took a few days to accept that falsetto voice when they first appeared.
I consider myself lucky, in a sense, to have grown up in the days of them and the Spinners and the Chi-Lites, etc.
VAN MCCOY AS WELL, sadly there was some tragedy along the way for the creative talent-LINDA CREED died young of cancer, VAN MCCOY died young of a heart attack.However the STYLISTICS themselves have hung in there pretty well over the decades.
The Stylistics are my favorites of those early '70s groups (Delfonics, Spinners, O'Jays*) who ruled until Disco choked Soul and R&B to near death by 1975.
I'm pretty sure Thom Bell was responsible for those songs, and would move on to another group and proceed to make *them* big hitmakers. I can picture The Delfonics wondering what might have been had Bell not ditched them for The Stylistics, and the latter for The Spinners. However, it was The Stylistics who for my moolah, had hands down the best lead vocalist in Russell Thompkins, though Arrion Love has imo the superior vocal in "You Make Me Feel Brand New."
Linda Creed was partially responsible for composing those hits, and her early death in 1986 is a tragedy.
*More "socially conscious" than the other groups, but also magnificent.
Dig the interview with The Stylistics after they lip synch their hits on "Soul Train." Love the early '70s slang from the audience, and especially the witty replies from Thompkins...and of course, those clothes.
Anyone else here familiar with their song "People Make the World Go Round"? There's a longer version with some musically interesting stuff, but the single version will suffice for the FSM crowd:
"Urban Blight in Song" is a thread I've looong wanted to do here...
The Stylistics are my favorites of those early '70s groups (Delfonics, Spinners, O'Jays*) who ruled until Disco choked Soul and R&B to near death by 1975.
I'm pretty sure Thom Bell was responsible for those songs, and would move on to another group and proceed to make *them* big hitmakers. I can picture The Delfonics wondering what might have been had Bell not ditched them for The Stylistics, and the latter for The Spinners. However, it was The Stylistics who for my moolah, had hands down the best lead vocalist in Russell Thompkins, though Arrion Love has imo the superior vocal in "You Make Me Feel Brand New."
Linda Creed was partially responsible for composing those hits, and her early death in 1986 is a tragedy.
*More "socially conscious" than the other groups, but also magnificent.
Dig the interview with The Stylistics after they lip synch their hits on "Soul Train." Love the early '70s slang from the audience, and especially the witty replies from Thompkins...and of course, those clothes.
Thank, Jim!
Why is it that I so much enjoy the choreography of The Stylistics, The Delfonics, The Chi-Lites, etc. from their era, but that of the "boy bands" of today makes me want to puke?
Why is it that I so much enjoy the choreography of The Stylistics, The Delfonics, The Chi-Lites, etc. from their era, but that of the "boy bands" of today makes me want to puke?
Keep in mind you're asking someone who rejects (the majority of) post-1975 pop culture, but I will opine that the songs and voices of the Stylistics, Temptations, et al, are a damned sight better than anything that came afterwards.
Keep in mind you're asking someone who rejects (the majority of) post-1975 pop culture, but I will opine that the songs and voices of the Stylistics, Temptations, et al, are a damned sight better than anything that came afterwards.
Pretty much the same for me. But, it concerns me in that my parents felt the same way about "their" music (Dorsey, Miller, Big Band, etc.) and seemed locked in the 40s musically. So, if I'm locked in the music of the 60s and 70s as my folks were music of the 40s and 50s, does that mean...
Keep in mind you're asking someone who rejects (the majority of) post-1975 pop culture, but I will opine that the songs and voices of the Stylistics, Temptations, et al, are a damned sight better than anything that came afterwards.
Pretty much the same for me. But, it concerns me in that my parents felt the same way about "their" music (Dorsey, Miller, Big Band, etc.) and seemed locked in the 40s musically. So, if I'm locked in the music of the 60s and 70s as my folks were music of the 40s and 50s, does that mean...
Don't know what the hell the two posts above are about, but this is FSM, after all.
Speaking only for myself, I listen to what I like, and more often than not it usually happens to be music that precedes my birth, or that which immediately follows it. This begs the question: What would Freud say? (do NOT venture a guess, please).
Well my fave Stylistics song is I cant give you anything..but my love. And the falsetto singer is like he has his nuts in a vice, right? Its ok jim, Benny Youngman never had to explain his gags to his dopey audience in goodfellas did he?.
I'm partial to a bit of The Stylistics myself. I have a couple of their old LPs which I still listen to from time to time, and a Greatest Hits CD which gets frequent listens. My favourite is probably Betcha By Golly, Wow which Jim posted and I'm also fond of their version of I'm Stone In Love With You. Incidentally, a 5 disc classic albums set has recently been released, though I haven't got it yet...
I first heard The Stylistics with "Stop. Look (Listen To Your Heart)" which only made it to #39 on the Billboard Hot Singles chart. The group NEVER had a #1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart, though they came close to #2 in '74 with "(You Make Me Feel) Brand New". Their material still holds up well today.
Well my fave Stylistics song is I cant give you anything..but my love. And the falsetto singer is like he has his nuts in a vice, right? Its ok jim, Benny Youngman never had to explain his gags to his dopey audience in goodfellas did he?.
"I Can't Give You Anything (But My Love)" was one of the few Stylistics singles to miss the Top 40.
Well my fave Stylistics song is I cant give you anything..but my love. And the falsetto singer is like he has his nuts in a vice, right? Its ok jim, Benny Youngman never had to explain his gags to his dopey audience in goodfellas did he?.
"I Can't Give You Anything (But My Love)" was one of the few Stylistics singles to miss the Top 40.
Wow, I probably haven't heard this song since the seventies! "Proustian Rush", baby! I just bought a vat of it!
As good as the song is, you can hear that by 1975 the Disco sound had already started to permeate the living hell out of R&B. 1975 had such a different sound than the stuff from 1973.
