R&B super-group En Vogue exploded into the music scene in 1990 and since then they have sold over twelve million records world-wide, providing them with the title of being one of the biggest selling female groups of all time. Furthermore they produced some of the biggest R&B hits of the nineties and have received an impressive collection of prestigious awards, as well as becoming the first all-black female group worthy of gracing the cover of Vogue…
In 1988 co-producers Denzil Foster and Thomas McElroy, having previously enjoyed hits with Club Nouveau, noticed that there was something that the music industry was lacking. “We always talked about starting a girl group…” states Foster (“Funky Divas Video”, 1992) “… because there weren’t any out at the time”.
Realising the huge potential for a successful, but most importantly – talented, female R&B group Foster and McElroy set up auditions for their new project in Oakland, California. After a few days of auditioning Foster and McElroy selected three girls for the initially planned trio – Cindy Herron (a former Miss Black California), Maxine Jones and Dawn Robinson. It was not until the next day that Prairie View graduate Terry Ellis, a late arrival, was introduced to the group after impressing the producers with her stunning vocals.
Originally named For You, the group later changed their name to the more elegant Vogue – until learning that the name had already been taken by another group. In the summer of 1988, after two name changes, En Vogue was officially born.
En Vogue’s first commercial projects were two songs that were featured on Foster and McElroy’s “FM2” compilation album, “Desperately” and “Take Me Home” (a duet with new R&B artist Samuelle). Neither songs were ever released as singles. However “Desperately” managed to land En Vogue their first major record deal with Eastwest Records (a former division of the Atlantic Corporation).
In 1990 En Vogue were formerly introduced to the world when they stormed into the US charts with their debut single “Hold On”. Their debut single immediately hit the Billboard R&B No.1 position and eventually became a cross-over smash, peaking at No.2 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart. “Hold On” was eventually certified Platinum by the RIAA, after shifting over a million copies in the US, and became one of the biggest selling singles of 1990.
“Born To Sing”, En Vogue’s debut album, was an instant R&B classic and spawned two more R&B No.1 singles – “Lies” (a collaboration with rapper Debbie T.) and “You Don’t Have To Worry”. “Lies” proved to be an excellent example of the group’s abilities to share lead vocals – a notion that was previously unheard of. The group’s debut album eventually sold over a million copies in the US (certified Platinum by the RIAA), as well as a further 600,000 copies world-wide. The single “Don’t Go” provided En Vogue with another Top 10 R&B hit.
The success of their Platinum disc, “Born To Sing” (1991), encouraged the release of the 6-track remix E.P titled “Remix To Sing”, which included the Hip Hop Remix of “Hold On”.
En Vogue returned to the music scene in 1992 with their critically acclaimed sophomore album “Funky Divas”, which spawned no less than five hit singles. The album’s instantly recognisable lead single “My Lovin’ (Never Gonna Get It)” garnered the group four MTV Video Music Award nominations and was later certified Gold by the RIAA (sales in excess of 500,000 units). The follow-up single “Giving Him Something He Can Feel” (a Curtis Mayfield cover) proved to be equally popular and was the group’s fifth No.1 R&B hit. The release of the rock-infused “Free Your Mind” (another Gold-selling single), which controversially spread the message of intolerance to racial prejudice, propelled the “Funky Divas” album to triple Platinum status – selling over three million copies in the US alone. A limited edition remix album, “Funky Divas Remixed”, was also released in 1992 and the group performed a tour of the US as the opening act for the soul legend Luther Vandross, which would later be followed by their own world tour.
The explosive “Free Your Mind” (released in 1992) earned the group three MTV Video Music Awards in 1993, as well as a further three nominations. The singles “Give It Up Turn It Loose” and “Love Don’t Love You” (taken from the “Funky Divas” album) were also released.
Having already established themselves as the premier vocal group of the nineties, the group’s sell-out “Funky Divas” world tour established them as one of the best live acts of our time – silencing critics who had previously labelled them as “average recording artists”. Their world tour included dates in the United Kingdom, Germany, France and the Netherlands.
The group also released the E.P “Runaway Love”, which included a hit single of the same name as well as their hugely popular collaboration with Salt & Peppa – “Whatta Man”. The single “Runaway Love” earned En Vogue an American Music Award for Best R&B Single, and they were also honoured with the Soul Train Award for Entertainers Of The Year.
During the group’s well-earned, but extended, break member Terry Ellis used the time to record her solo album “Southern Gal”. The album was produced entirely by En Vogue’s founding producers Foster and McElroy and included seven songs written by Terry herself. “Southern Gal” featured the R&B hit singles “Wherever You Are” and “What Did I Do To You?”. Terry also decided to venture into the cosmetics industry with her own fragrance “Southern Exposure”.
En Vogue returned to the music scene once again in 1996 with their massive hit single “Don’t Let Go (Love)”, which is their biggest selling single to-date having sold over a million copies in the US (RIAA Platinum) as well as becoming an international success. The song was recorded for the “Set It Off” soundtrack and was produced by R&B guru Ivan Matias. “Don’t Let Go (Love)” became En Vogue’s sixth R&B No.1 and peaked at No.2 in the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart – making it one of the biggest selling singles of the year.
In 1997 the group received the Lady Of Soul Awards for Best Single – for “Don’t Let Go (Love)” – and for Best R&B Group at the annual Soul Train Awards. However despite the success of “Don’t Let Go (Love)”, member Dawn Robinson decided to leave the group to pursue a solo career. Dawn was briefly signed to rapper Dr. Dre’s Aftermath label but later joined the R&B group Lucy Pearl with an independent label.
The remaining trio continued as a group without Dawn and released the follow-up single “Whatever” in June. Produced by the renowned Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, the track was released with a Marilyn Manson style video and the group were criticised for their drastic change of style. Nevertheless the single became a Top 10 R&B hit and managed to sell over 500,000 copies in the US (RIAA Gold). En Vogue were later invited to perform “Whatever” at the MTV Video Music Awards and received some very positive feedback for their performance.
A month later En Vogue released their third full-length album “EV3” (with Elektra Records), of which half the tracks included vocals by former-member Dawn. For the first time En Vogue used a variety of big name producers (Babyface, Ivan Matias, Andrea Martin, David Foster etc…) as well as their founding producers Foster and McElroy.
Prior to the release of “EV3” everyone expected the group’s third full-length release to be a runaway success, especially after the release of two massive albums. However that was not the case. Although the album managed to shift a million copies in the US (RIAA Platinum), it never really made a lasting impact in the charts.
The dynamic power ballad “Too Gone Too Long” (written by Diane Warren) was the third and final single to be released from the album “EV3” in an attempt to boost the sales of “EV3”. A second world tour was also planned to promote album sales but was cancelled due to unknown reasons.
In 1998 En Vogue contributed to the “Soul Food” soundtrack with the track “You Are The Man”.
“The Best Of En Vogue” – a compilation of their biggest hits – was released in 1999 to mark the first ten years of the group’s career. The 14 track compilation also included the track “No Fool No More” (written by Diane Warren), which was the title track recorded for the soundtrack to the motion picture “Why Do Fools Fall In Love?”. “No Fool No More” provided En Vogue with yet another R&B hit despite the absence of a promotional video. “The Best Of En Vogue” was also available in VHS format.
After another change of style, En Vogue returned in 2000 with the urban-influenced hit single “Riddle”. Although the song only became a moderate hit in the group’s home country, it was a major success all over Europe – peaking at No.4 in the Official European Chart compiled by MTV Europe.
In May 2000 En Vogue released their highly anticipated fourth studio album “Masterpiece Theatre”, which was the group’s first full effort without former member Dawn. “Masterpiece Theatre” was a fusion of contemporary R&B and classical music, and saw the group fully re-united with their founding members Foster and McElroy.
R&B group Lucy Pearl, featuring former member Dawn, released their self-titled debut album on the same week as En Vogue’s “Masterpiece Theatre”. Lucy Pearl’s debut album would eventually sell over 500,000 copies (RIAA Gold).
Due to extremely poor promotional methods by their label, Elektra Records, En Vogue only managed to peak at No.67 in the Billboard Hot 100 Albums chart despite being one of the biggest selling female groups of all time. “Riddle” became the only single released from “Masterpiece Theatre”, which by then was considered "a commercial disaster".
Nevertheless “Masterpiece Theatre” was nominated for the Lady Of Soul Award for Best album.
“The Very Best Of En Vogue” was released (2001) as Elektra Record’s last attempt to profit from the group. Shortly after, En Vogue were officially dropped from Elektra Records.
The group’s producers Foster and McElroy decided that auditioning for a fourth member was essential in re-capturing the original “En Vogue” sound. 29 year old Amanda Cole would eventually be selected as the belated replacement for Dawn.
With a new line-up in place, the group had to rebuild themselves without a record deal. They began by touring the US, performing mainly in small venues. However during their promotional tour, original member Maxine decided to leave the group to spend more time with her family. For the second time in four years En Vogue were reduced to a trio. The departure of Maxine was made official when the remaining members announced their situation when presenting an award at the 2001 Lady Of Soul Awards.
The new En Vogue line-up continued with their tour of the US without Maxine and were eventually signed to an independent label – of which they kept secret until 2003.
During their tour the group began recording their next album, which was originally scheduled for an Autumn release. However the album was never released. Instead, the group released a Christmas album – titled “The Gift Of Christmas” with a temporary contract with Discretion Records. Although the album never became a major success it introduced En Vogue fans to the talent of the new addition, Amanda. En Vogue also contributed to the “Deliver Us From Eva” soundtrack with the track “Lovin’ You (Easy)”.
At the same time former member Dawn (who had previously left Lucy Pearl) released her solo debut album “Dawn” with Q Records, which included the single “Envious”. However her debut solo effort received little success and consequently she decided to leave Q Records to start her own record label for unsigned artists.
In January 2003, loyal fans of En Vogue were shocked to learn that latest member Amanda had officially walked out of the group. The decision was rumoured to be a result of conflict within the group.
Reduced to a duo, the original members Terry Ellis and Cindy Herron recorded a cover of the Bee Gees’ “How Deep Is Your Love?” for the gospel compilation “Church: Songs of Inspiration”. However the concept of En Vogue as a duo was only a temporary solution to the group’s fragile situation.
In the summer of 2003 Rhona Bennet, who had previously released the Darkchild produced album “Rhona” in 2001, was introduced to the group as the replacement for Amanda. Rhona had previously worked with En Vogue in 2002, writing and producing some of the songs for their unreleased album.
As part of a promotional event the new En Vogue toured around Europe as part of the Night Of The Proms programme, performing some of their biggest hits as well as unreleased tracks from the “Masterpiece Theatre” album. Former member Maxine temporarily replaced Cindy during the tour, who by then was in the late stage of pregnancy with her third child.
After returning from Europe En Vogue made an official announcement to their fans, informing them of their new record deal with 33rd Street Records – an independent label which is a division of Tower Records. The group returned to the studio to begin re-recording their album to include the vocals of new member Rhona, and “Losing My Mind” – the first promotional single from the upcoming album - was released onto US radio in December. The new track featured Rhona on lead vocals and immediately became the most added track of US Urban Contemporary radio stations. The group began their official photo-shoot for the new album, entitled “Soul Flower”, a few days after Christmas Day.
En Vogue began 2004 by contributing to the “My Baby’s Daddy” soundtrack with a new track “Ez-A-Lee”, a song taken off the upcoming album – featuring Rhona on lead vocals. Having re-invented themselves the group introduced themselves to the world when they performed a selection of new songs live on the hit US show Soul Train.
The first official single “Ooh Boy” from the upcoming album, “Soul Flower”, was released onto US radio on January 26th and also became the most added track of US Urban Contemporary radio stations. The group also made a public appearance at the annual Grammy Music Awards and explained to the general public about their newest member Rhona during a press conference.
En Vogue’s sixth full-length album, “Soul Flower”, was released on February 24th 2004 (March 8th 2004 in the UK).
In March the group released another greatest hits collection, “Hold On: The Hits”, in Europe with Charly Records.
Bio written by: Fruitylicious |
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