GREETINGS EARTHLINGS
Welcome to the revisted version of the debut of my honors series. Because of the tremendous lack of respect for architects in this music biz, a real artist like myself has decided to take matters on his hands to pay serious homage to the artists that influenced my sound and many others. I will not wait until i get a hit record for my fans to know who I listened to to help shape my sound. Yall will learn how they changed the game and set standards and with that being said, the first one is up is one of the most musically gifted, talented and sometimes overlooked families in the R&b/Pop/Soul/Funk realm - The Debarge Family. As kids, me and my brothers and cousins would sit at the record player for hours trying to learn all the harmony parts to "Love me in a special way" , "I Like it", "Dance the night away" ," What's your name" and especially "Stay with me" (that was the hardest...The harmonies on that s*** was serious) but somewhere between El Debarge's fender rhodes playing and ill chord changes and the harmonies between him, Randy, Mark, James and Bunny - the sister and only girl in the group holding it down, it was easy to get lost in it and seeing them perform on American Bandstand, Motown 25 and that classic Soul Train performance when they sang acapella to silence the haters that didn't think they were really singing on those records....I'm sure those critics felt real stupid afterwards
Family groups have always played a vital role in music and some of the best ones left legacies that can't denied such as The Five Stairsteps (remember "Ooh Child" - we will learn more about them later down the line), The Osmonds, The Sylvers, The Bee Gees and of course, The Jacksons. But in the early 80's, a family group out of Grand Rapids, Michigan would smoothly come in the game and leave their mark with their incredible unforgettable songwriting, eclectic fashion taste and those complex harmonies: The Debarge family
The Debarge family is made up 10 children who were raised in church by their beautifully Gospel singing mother Etterlene and their minister father and musically rooted in Gospel and Jazz training. The interesting part is that most of them played at least 2-3 instruments fluently. Now true Funk/R&b heads know where the story begins and that's with a group called Switch that was ironically discovered by the multi-talented Jermaine Jackson and signed to Motown Records. This heavily underrated and severely multi-talented group was led by the older Debarge siblings Tommy (bass and one of many reasons why i chose Fender basses) and the late Bobby Debarge (keyboards, drums and lead vocals) - it also included James Ingram's younger brother Phillip Ingram. They recorded 4 albums and total and though they never scored heavy on the Pop charts, their songs "They'll Never Be" and "I Call Your Name" are bonafied classics that still get regular rotation & crazy crowd reaction. If you listen closely to these records, you will hear the seeds of that famous Debarge falsetto smooth/funk sound being planted and you can definitely tell who their younger siblings were studying and learning it from
As Switch was winding down by 1980, Bobby began to focus on working with his younger brothers and sisters with the intention of bringing them to Motown. Then there's that classic story of how Bobby got his family to audition for Jermaine Jackson without them knowing The result was the breakthrough of The Debarges - Mark, Randy, sister Bunny and of course, Eldra (El for short) who would become one of the quintessential lead singers of the 80's R&B group movement. Their heavily underrated first album didn't make any marks but showed the Debarge family magic and what was to come. The unique thing about this Debarge collective is that every last one of them can sing lead, play an instrument and write their asses off and this first album shows this. Their harmonies were so weaved and locked in that it was hard to tell who sang high first tenor because they all can sing. It also didn't hurt that their other brother James was asked to join the group and though he's mostly known for his brief marriage to Janet Jackson, you can hear his vocal prowess and songwriting ability on songs like "Be My Lady" , "Need Somebody" (my favorite of his), "I Give Up On You" both written with and arranged by the late great Billy Preston.
Things finally broke through with their classic second album "All This Love" which featured the unforgettable title song and one of the most memorable, sampled and quoted songs in R&B "I Like it". The song is led by Randy and El and though every part of the song was excellent - it was the funky bridge that would become an eternal coin phrase in urban music & society "I like the way you comb your hair / I like the stylish clothes you wear / it's just the little things you do / that shows how much you really care" - the memories (lol)
Now finally convincing Motown that they were capable of making major things happen, the company decided to move full speed and push for the release of yet another classic album with timeless, classic songs called "In a Special Way" - once again, Debarge crafted songs (mostly written by El) that would influence the next generation. In addition to classics cuts like "Queen Of my Heart" and the often covered "Love Me In a Special Way", Their song "Stay with Me" is familiar to hip-hop heads who loved The Notorious B.I.G's "One More Chance" because it sampled it. His rival 2 Pac was also a Debarge fan. For his song " I Aint Mad At Cha" , he sampled Bunny Debarge's ballad masterpiece "A Dream" which features one of the greatest keyboard-piano lines of all time and gives Bunny the spotlight in midst of her brothers. This song was also sampled by Blackstreet for "Don't Leave Me Girl" and just recently, Rich Boy's hit "Throw Some D's" sampled Switch's "I Call Your Name" and Mariah Carey's latest single samples "Stay With Me" cementing the Debarge legacy even further.
The "In A Special Way" album cover also showed Debarge family getting with the times trading in their more normal look for 1980's wild hair and abstract fashion. Their album covers and looks have always been a heated topic and the fact that Prince was somewhat of the black leader of this 80's androgynous movement didn't make it no better but like I always tell people - that was the time and back then, you had to go along with it or be lost and because i'm a musician, I UNDERSTOOD FROM THE GATE. It gave people the perception that these guys were very campy and cheesy because they weren't afraid to smile heavy and moose their hair. But as many fans like myself know - it was all just image at the end of the day especially when stories of drug and alcohol abuse, fist-fights/squabbles started to surface in the industry. It was then and later realized that The Debarge family was the total opposite of what their public image gave off which made them even more intriguing to the public.
With that being said, Their fourth and sadly their last album for the classic line-up also became their biggest pop achievement "Rhythm Of The Night". The signs of conflict were so evident with the first example being that they were only three songs written by Debarge - one being a funky classic joint called "You Wear It Well" written by El and the youngest brother Chico (we'll get to him in a minute). Their biggest Pop hits were "Who's Holding Donna Now" - which was credited as El Debarge featuring Debarge adding insult to injury and of course, the Diane Warren penned "Rhythm Of The Night - the song that became their calling card and featured in the movie "The Last Dragon". And another great gem and my favorite song from this album is "Give It Up" in which debuts Mark singing lead showing off his silky r&b/pop vocal style. It was supposed to be a sign of things to come now that the group was making the mainstream take notice to their group & individual talents.
But just as the endorsements for Coke, tv specials and sitcom appearances were starting to roll in, Debarge was caught in the all-too familiar record company plot. Even though El was always noted as the lead singer, Motown decided to further expand on that idea and it was obvious from the way his photo on the "Rhythm" cover was larger than the other members. In addition to James Debarge's marriage/divorce to Janet
Jackson making headlines, members began missing rehearsals and sometimes missing even shows due to internal conflict which was usually spearheaded by some of the members dependency on drugs. It was clear that Debarge as a group was no more and It was never officially announced but it sure didn't stop the name from being heard.
In 1985, El began his solo career with the cheesy pop single "Who's Johnny" and released a few more albums like 1989's "Gemini" which featured two classic jams "Real Love" & my favorite "Somebody Loves You" and then appeared on one of the greatest slow jams of all time in 1990- Quincy Jones "The Secret Garden". But truthfully, his greatest solo album and my all-time favorite album was the mostly Babyface-produced, "Heart, Mind & Soul" - i tremendously love this album and it stays in my travel case and if you listen closely to the songs, you will hear Bunny, James and Randy singing background on several tracks showing that classic Debarge harmony- i strongly recommend this out of print album. Speaking of which, let me also point out the fact that Bunny Debarge also put out a verrry exceptional solo album in 1986 called "In Love" with the top 20 hit "Save the best for me". Bunny's personal struggles and industry experiences can be heard in her powerful testimony as she has redirected her path going back to her Gospel roots. Go to www.myspace.com/bunnydebarge and you will clearly hear that this woman still sounds amazing. I also heard that some of the other Debarge members have also been working on Gospel projects.
Younger brother Chico Debarge made his debut with his hit single "Talk To Me" in 1985-1986 which showed that Motown was really set on making the Debarge name an even bigger brand. But even then, Chico definitely developed a different thing from his siblings focusing more on the family's taste for funk. But his early rise to success was cut short when him and older brother Bobby from Switch was arrested and sentenced to six years in prison based on drug trafficking charges. Sadly, Bobby, who was in the process of performing and recording again died upon his release - the last testament of Bobby's genius can be heard in the post-Debarge album without El and Bunny called "Bad Boys" - THIS ALBUM IS TRULY AN OVERLOOKED GEM. In 1996, Chico resurfaced back on the scene just in time for the Neo-soul movement releasing two critically acclaimed albums "Long Time No See" and my favorite "The Game"
Lastly, i was delighted as many other folks when the original Debarge minus Bunny reunited one last time for SInbad's 70's funk festival and tour the house down playing in 1997 with that classic clip of them doing their late brother Bobby's classic "I Call Your Name" and El overwhelmed by grief left the stage early and I UNDERSTOOD THAT TOO. There is no doubt in my mind if they were to do it again, every show would be sold-out simply because the Debarge sound has stood the test of time and still continues to as their songs get regular rotation on radio. El and Chico's shows especially in New York together have become legendary. Everyone from Babyface to Teddy Riley and yes, especially me have studied and implemented the Debarge blueprint in their sounds. A lot of my harmonies and keyboard chord structures are definitely Debarge derivited - just listen to my song ' The Description" and you'll see what i mean. The Debarge name will continue to live on as i have discovered on My Space there are many Debarge children including the sons of Bobby and El as well as the daughters of James and Randy and they are all making music keeping that tradition and sound alive . To every last member of the family that's doing so and even the ones who are not doing music, rock on and on, keep God first and uphold the family tradition - I'm lovin it and you better believe that I will always have your back ! Debarge 4 life !
TO VISUALIZE THIS FAMILY IN ACTION - HERE'S THE L*A*W TIME MACHINE TAKING YOU ALL THE WAY BACK FROM THE SWITCH YEARS TO THE PRESENT TIMES, CHECK OUT DEBARGE IN ACTION:
(SWITCH - THERE WILL NEVER BE)
(EL DEBARGE ON ARSENIO HALL SHOW WITH RANDY, BUNNY & TOMMY)
(DEBARGE REUNION IN 1999: MARK, JAMES, RANDY & EL)