You know, she could take very simple words like ‘I love you’, turn them around and make them into a fantastic story - to where the lyrical content of those songs would say all those things a shy person in love wanted to say, but wasn’t able to. One important factor was being associated from the beginning with great producers and writers like Thom Bell and the late Linda Creed, who penned most of the lyrics for all those songs we did back then and was simply one of the greatest lyricists out there. €œI think it’s a combination of many things. You’re currently celebrating your 40th anniversary as a group. Which brings us to today where - 40 years down the line from The Stylistics’ original formation - Herb Murrell (one of the group’s two surviving original members, alongside baritone Airrion Love) speaks in-depth to ‘Blues &Soul’ from his Birmingham hotel room regarding the now-quartet’s past, present and future. Nevertheless, the lasting quality of their 1970’s hits has continued to ensure them sell-out shows across three continents, despite numerous personnel changes over the years the most potentially crippling being the departure of aforementioned former lead vocalist Russell Thompkins Jr.
BET YOU BY GOLLY WOW BY THE STYLISTICS SERIES
Meanwhile, after leaving Hugo and Luigi’s label somewhat acrimoniously in 1978, The Stylistics went on to record for a series of both major and independent labels between 19, without every regaining anything like their previous level of mass-popularity. Which ultimately led to The Stylistics losing their American audience but becoming pop superstars overseas (in particular the UK and Europe). When Avco label-bosses Hugo And Luigi decided to take over The Stylistics’ production themselves via a string of six albums (beginning with 1974’s ‘Let’s Put It All Together’ and ending with 1977’s “Once Upon A Jukebox’) which took the group in a decidedly more pop-oriented direction. However, just as quickly as the pairing with Thom Bell began in 1971, it was equally suddenly over in 1974. Indeed, the three classic albums the group went on to record with Bell (1972’s Gold-selling ‘The Stylistics’ 1973’s Gold-selling ‘Round 2’ and 1974’s ‘Rockin’ Roll Baby’) in particular firmly established lead singer Russell Thompkins Jr.’s distinctive bittersweet falsetto globally via a succession of international hit singles peaking with 1974’s majestic love ballad ‘You Make Me Feel Brand New’. With Bell’s unique talent for counterbalancing the street corner harmonies of the R&B vocal groups with lush symphonic arrangements, his pairing with The Stylistics became one of the most perfect musical combinations of the era. A debut US Soul Top 10 hit in spring 1971, its simplistic charm persuaded Avco Records to let the fivesome record an entire album with classically-trained Philly super-producer/writer Thom Bell. Originally released on a shoestring budget, the group’s first local single - ‘You’re A Big Girl Now’ - made enough noise in their hometown to be picked up for national release by the Avco label. Nevertheless, The Stylistics’ story had actually begun several years earlier when, in 1968, two local Philadelphia groups - The Monarchs and The Percussions - decided to join forces. Which in turn was the same year in which they topped the British singles chart for three weeks with the elaborately orchestrated disco-soul of ‘Can’t Give You Anything ‘(But My Love)’. Meanwhile, the then-quintet’s two ‘Best Of…’ compilations became two of the best-selling albums of the decade the first becoming, at the time, the best-selling LP ever in the UK by a black act in 1975.
In the summer of 1972, the release of the shimmering sweet soul ballad ‘Betcha By Golly, Wow’ began an unbroken string of 17 UK Top 40 singles for The Stylistics that ended in the autumn of 1977 with the Top 30 appearance of ‘7000 Dollars And You’. With The Stylistics currently celebrating their 40th Anniversary, original group member Herb Murrell discusses with Pete Lewis their new ‘Souvenir Edition’ 2CD album ‘The Greatest Hits And More…’ and looks back on the four-decade career of Philadelphia’s premier sweet soul vocal group.
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