About The Stylistics
The Stylistics are an American Philadelphia soul group that achieved their greatest chart success in the 1970s. They formed in 1968, with a lineup of singers Russell Thompkins Jr., Herb Murrell, Airrion Love, James Smith and James Dunn. All of their US hits were ballads characterized by the falsetto of Russell Thompkins Jr. and the production of Thom Bell. During the early 1970s, the group had twelve consecutive R&B top ten hits, including "Stop, Look, Listen", "You Are Everything", "Betcha by Golly, Wow", "I'm Stone in Love with You", "Break Up to Make Up" and "You Make Me Feel Brand New", which earned them 5 gold singles and 3 gold albums.
The Stylistics were created from two Philadelphia groups, the Percussions and the Monarchs. The two bands were in the same high school. The Stylistics was first conceived when Airrion Love's English teacher, Beverly Hamilton, suggested the two bands become one. Russell Thompkins Jr., James Smith and Airrion Love came from the Monarchs, and James Dunn and Herb Murrell came from the Percussions. The name "the Stylistics" came from their guitar player Robert Douglas.
Three original members, Airrion Love, James Dunn, and Russell Thompkins Jr., were born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Herb Murrell was born in Lane, South Carolina and James Smith was born in New York City, but moved to Philadelphia following his father's death in 1962.
In 1970, the group recorded "You're a Big Girl Now", a song their road manager Marty Bryant co-wrote with Robert Douglas, a member of their backing band Slim and the Boys, and the single became a regional hit for Sebring Records. Producer Bill Perry spent $400 to record the song in the Virtue Studios in Philadelphia. The larger Avco Records soon signed the Stylistics, and the single eventually climbed to No. 7 on the US Billboard R&B chart in early 1971.
After signing to Avco, the record label approached producer Thom Bell, who had already produced a catalogue of hits for the Delfonics, to work with the group. The Stylistics auditioned for Bell, but he was initially unimpressed. He ultimately agreed to produce the group because he believed in the potential of lead singer Russell Thompkins, Jr.'s distinctive, nasal high tenor and falsetto voice. Avco gave Bell complete creative control over the Stylistics and he proceeded to focus the group's sound exclusively around Thompkins's voice. On most of the group hits, Bell would have Thompkins sing virtually solo.
The first song recorded with Bell and his collaborator, lyricist Linda Creed, was "Stop, Look, Listen".
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