They are probably underrated in today's memory. But back in the day they were one of the top male vocal groups, and there were so many--the Temptations, of course, but also the Chi-Lites, Delfonics, Black Ivory, O'Jays, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, Blue Magic the Spinners and others, and the Stylistics were one of the best.
The orchestration with the wind and string instruments back in the 70s complimented the talented singers of that time!! No "sound effects"....all acoustic.
That was that Philadelphia International sound... Basically it was MFSB Orchestra that did background for all of Signed performers from Teddy Pendergrass to Billy Paul to the Jackson's, To Jean Carne
We have Thom Bell to thank for THAT “sound”, he did MANY of the arrangements & was known for putting that lush, orchestral feeling in those tunes. Our brother transitioned on Dec 22, 2022 at the age of 79. Honors & respect to him for sharing his musical gifts with us. RIP Thomas Randolph Bell, bless up. 🙏🏽
The Stylistics are (were) a very, very respected group and sold MILLIONS of records because they had "crossover" appeal. They sold millions of records outside of the R&B charts and outside the U.S. You hear their music played in shopping malls and grocery stores. The charts called it "MOR" music; meaning "Middle of the Road". It's sanitized soul. As a group, they were non-descript. Nobody knows the members beyond the iconic lead Russell Thompkins, Jr. (who led so much he could have been a solo act) and Arron Love III (who is the only other featured voice). In studio, producer Thom Bell was uninterested in the other members and often used female background singers Carla Benton, Evette Benson and I forget the 3rd one). An great, iconic, hall of fame group, but almost faceless. Everybody knows The Stylistics...no one knows who they are. The Stylistics, Delfonics and The Spinners all owe a lot of their success to Thom Bell. (Look him up, Wikipedia.) They all declined (selling records) and slowly faded when he stopped working with them.
The female voices heard in the background were called The Sigma Sweethearts: Carla Benson, Yvette Benton, Barbara Ingram, and on occasion, Linda Creed, who was one of the many writers for the Stylistics, Spinners and others 😉😊
I agree that The Stylistics are not mentioned enough but I guarantee you that anyone who was around when this came onto the radio stations came away affected by that falsetto and the lyrics and the composition which made they're music timeless. tender & forever memorable.
This is my favorite Stylistics song. I bought the record and played it over and over.The song was just too short. Groups like The Dells,The Originals ,The Delfonics to name a few were underrated.They had beautiful voices and great sounds and lyrics.Brilliant love songs came out of that era. Young people have so much to explore and learn from this old school music.
Please check out their little known follow-up to "You Make Me Feel Brand New" entitled "You Ought To Be With Me." It has the same structure and is executed just as beautifully: ruclips.net/video/OuOM0mGxIIc/видео.html
Truth be told, there were so many great R&B groups/bands from the 70s, including The Stylistics, Earth, Wind & Fire, The Isley Brothers, The Whispers, ConFunkshun, and Lakeside to name a few. I mean, we could go on and on because it was truly an era of great soul music put out by brilliant musicians showcasing a plethora of talent.
The Stylistics - Stop Look Listen / Peek-A-Boo / Payback Is A Dog / Make up to Break Up Blue Magic - Loneliest House On The Block /Seems I Haven't Seen Her
It's nice to see the younger generation is picking up on the old music from back in the day, it's funny I'm 56 and I was very young when this joint dropped; I grow up on this music and it's timeless straight classic. it never goes out of style.
Jj you are killing it man!!! Stylistics with that lead vocal of Russell Thompkins Jr. Yes, you are on point they deserve much praise and credit of the other great groups you mentioned. That Russell has the most purest, passionate, sweetest, smoothest, beautiful, and poignant "Head voices" of all. Btw, Russell and I have a very similar voice type🙂. He uses "pure Head voice". I noticed alot in the comments as referring to him as falsetto. It is not falsetto. Falsetto has a total different meaning from Head voice.
similar underrated group in the same vein is the group Blue Magic-check out sideshow and Three Ring circus-lead singer is also a falsetto like the Stylistics russell thompkins Jr.
Russell Tompkins, Jr. was the high tenor with the distinctive voice. Thom Bell, their producer loved his voice and really didn't think the other guys voices matched up.
You might also be interested in checking out the "Philadelphia Sound" in general. It was different from the "Motown Sound" and featured such great artists as Lou Rawls, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, The Delfonics, and so many more. If you like The Stylistics you will really enjoy The Delfonics.
they were part of the philly sound that took over from motown stylistics blue magic the delphonics harold melvin and the bluenotes the ojays philly international
Such a great era in music. I was a grade schooler and this is the first song I sang in a school concert. Fast fact. Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye covered this song in a duet
I was like 9 yrs old playing in the front yard in the summer and my mom listening to the radio with the window opened and these guys singing, I’m there now ....
You are correct Sir, The Stylistics were fantastic. Now, regarding you comments about how they are under rated or under the radar. Unfortunately, most groups and singers from the 1970's Seem to be forgotten and are unknown to today's new generation. That's their loss but the good news is that a lot of people like you seem to be rediscovering groups like The Stylistics. I was fortunate to live through this era and I can tell you that they very big in their time. From 1972 until around 1977 they always seemed to have a hit song on the radio and they were one of those groups that you always turned up the volume when one of their songs came on. I loved them in High School and throughout my time in the Marine Corps. Everybody thought they were great. One example of how big they were is the song "You Make Me Feel Brand New." This song came out in late 1973 but really hit it's stride in 1974. Now this group was not only big in the USA and Canada, they were also big in Europe (especially in the UK), Australia, South Africa, and even Japan. They never had a song go to number 1 in the USA but they often went to number 1 in other countries. "You Make Me Feel Brand New" was their biggest hit in terms of sales and chart position (going to #2 in the USA) but the song was such a big hit that it was the 14th biggest song of 1974. So The Stylistics were very popular and loved in their heyday. Check out the live video for "You Make Me Feel Brand New" and enjoy the twin leads of Russel Thompkins Jr. and Harold Eban Brown. It just doesn't get much better than that.
When the Stylistics did most of their hit songs, mid late 70s, music was changing rapidly. Disco and other forms of R&B, funk and dance music. Folks really danced back then. A lot of us love the Stylistics for their beautiful ballads, but we went to Kool & the Gang, EWF and others to get our groove on. Also the 70s was an incredibly rich time for popular music if all genres. People of all colors and backgrounds listen to everything from pop, rock, soul, punk, metal, disco. There were just too many talented groups out there competing for the market. These groups from Motown to rock bands like the Stones were legendary in music industry. With all that music talent in the 70s, it's a wonder anybody made any money. There are Stylistics fans out there. They are just dying out. Just like the fans of the 50s and 60s music. I graduated high School in 1975 so as kid I grew on 60s Motown and 70s great music era. The sad difference between my generation and yours, is we had little need or interest in music 40 years before our time. There is great music from my parents time WW2 big bands, swing, jazz into 50s and Sinatra, Sammy Davis , Nat King Cole. I love that music because my parents exposed me to it, but I had and overflowing buffet of all kinds of great music to consume from the 60s, 70s & 80s. I'm glad you take a real interest in music if the past. Good music never dies if we keep listening to it. Take Mozart. Motown will be around long after all the original artist and fans are gone. It just that good, not just in the U.S. but all over the world. The Stylistics are just as popular group in other parts of the world with some fans my age. Count yourself lucky that you live in an age that with a few taps on your phone you can call up just about any kind of music from any time or genre or place in the world and have it playing the palm of your hand. P.S. the old-school Stylistic R&B fans just haven't found your page yet. Good thing that you aren't the only reactor to the Stylistics and others will discover them and become new fans like there are fans of music even before my time. Good luck on your channel. I subscribed today.
My childhood soundtrack!! ❤😍 I sang this song to my baby son every day when he was under 1 yr old... he knows this song today & he's 26 now! Love this group! 🥰
I've always liked the voice of the lead singer, Russell Tompkins Junior. Definitely underrated compared to The Temptations, Earth, Wind and Fire and others.
I don't know if they were underrated. It's hard to tell because they were so many male vocal groups. This music just makes you happy. It's classic. I place the Stylistics right behind the Temptations as my favorites. To me they sounded the most distinctive.
To those of us from that era, they are not underrated, yhey just had a lot of competition. But of the groups that sounded like them, they were the best, the closest to their sound eas BLUE MAGIC, but they didn't last long, I think only 2 albums that did well. And the CHI-LITES came the closest to them in popularity and has very memorable hits. Another of my favorite STYLISTICS hit was "Rock and Roll Baby, a simi true story. Their last hit was "You'll Never Get To Heaven If You Break My Heart" they fell off the charts after that song. But their tours remained popular.
The Stylistics was underrated what you have to understand is there was a ton of great black groups during the 60s and 70s. So they were one great group out of a plethora of great boots there was no short of talent in male groups back during that time the reason why you might hear of The Temptations Dells spinners these groups 10 to cross over more Stylistics was more of in the hood when you went to the hood everybody talked about the Stylistics
Play peek a boo by the stylistics ,play love comes easy from the stylistics,play let's put it all together by the stylistics ,play payback is a dogg ,by the stylistics, play if I love you by the stylistics,play stop look listen to your heart,by the stylistics ,play if you don't watch out by the stylistics,and your as right as rain by the stylistics .play hurry up this way again by the stylistics
Play if you don't watch out I will fall in love with u again by the stylistics.and play Tamia video keep it smokin her new single that's out on the video .
Play if u don't watch out by the stylistics.and keep it smokin by Tamia her new video .and I'm officially missing you by Tamia ,and play also react to I got a real thang by Tamia .
The stylistics are known all over the world...and probably only stopped touring because of the pandemic...Russell is a God...they are not underated it is the constant push of hip hop and rap being the greatest thing...yuk...is what you nubbies hear...old schoolers love the stylistics!
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They are probably underrated in today's memory. But back in the day they were one of the top male vocal groups, and there were so many--the Temptations, of course, but also the Chi-Lites, Delfonics, Black Ivory, O'Jays, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, Blue Magic the Spinners and others, and the Stylistics were one of the best.
Very astute ... Black Ivory is Taster's Choice.
Yassss....best music by these awesome groups
Right?
I love the Stylistics. They are absolutely underrated.
Now you're cookin'... Break Up To Make Up, Stone In Love With You, You Make Me Feel Brand New, Betcha By Golly Wow.
The voices, arrangements, and lyrics are pure perfection.
The orchestration with the wind and string instruments back in the 70s complimented the talented singers of that time!! No "sound effects"....all acoustic.
That was MFSB, Philadelphia International records in-house band, like the Funk Brothers were Motown's in-house band.
TSOP baby!! Philly in the building!! 💙✌🏾😊
That was that Philadelphia International sound... Basically it was MFSB Orchestra that did background for all of Signed performers from Teddy Pendergrass to Billy Paul to the Jackson's, To Jean Carne
We have Thom Bell to thank for THAT “sound”, he did MANY of the arrangements & was known for putting that lush, orchestral feeling in those tunes. Our brother transitioned on Dec 22, 2022 at the age of 79. Honors & respect to him for sharing his musical gifts with us. RIP Thomas Randolph Bell, bless up. 🙏🏽
Yes they are under rated. Their fans do not forget, however, so keep pulling out these great oldies.
You are right. 70s child here and Stylistics fan. Will never forget the joy they brought and still bring.
To make that beautiful music by The Stylistics Delfonics and the Spinners Thom Bell had the pulse of the best RB Music of that time
One of the most beautiful songs ever written 💙
The Wonder Years ,👍
It is my very favorite song. Every woman wishes a man would love her like this.
The Stylistics are (were) a very, very respected group and sold MILLIONS of records because they had "crossover" appeal. They sold millions of records outside of the R&B charts and outside the U.S. You hear their music played in shopping malls and grocery stores. The charts called it "MOR" music; meaning "Middle of the Road". It's sanitized soul. As a group, they were non-descript. Nobody knows the members beyond the iconic lead Russell Thompkins, Jr. (who led so much he could have been a solo act) and Arron Love III (who is the only other featured voice). In studio, producer Thom Bell was uninterested in the other members and often used female background singers Carla Benton, Evette Benson and I forget the 3rd one). An great, iconic, hall of fame group, but almost faceless. Everybody knows The Stylistics...no one knows who they are. The Stylistics, Delfonics and The Spinners all owe a lot of their success to Thom Bell. (Look him up, Wikipedia.) They all declined (selling records) and slowly faded when he stopped working with them.
The female voices heard in the background were called The Sigma Sweethearts: Carla Benson, Yvette Benton, Barbara Ingram, and on occasion, Linda Creed, who was one of the many writers for the Stylistics, Spinners and others 😉😊
I agree that The Stylistics are not mentioned enough but I guarantee you that anyone who was around when this came onto the radio stations came away affected by that falsetto and the lyrics and the composition which made they're music timeless. tender & forever memorable.
The stylistics-god bless you
J Their "You Make Me Feel Brand New" is next for you!
That's my favorite by them.
@@kaylad4486 Mine too!
G.O.A.T. For their genre of music 🎼
The Stylistics were extremely underrated. I fell in love with this song the very first time I heard it, & it still sounds just as beautiful today💜💜💜
Yes, the most underrated group of the 70s!! Russell Tompkins Jr is one of the most of amazing voices of the 70s hands-down,.
They were not underrated.
You are so humble. But they were very popular in their time. Love their music.
This is my favorite Stylistics song.
I bought the record and played it over and over.The song was just too short.
Groups like The Dells,The Originals ,The Delfonics to name a few were underrated.They had beautiful voices and great sounds and lyrics.Brilliant love songs came out of that era.
Young people have so much to explore and learn from this old school music.
Please check out their little known follow-up to "You Make Me Feel Brand New" entitled "You Ought To Be With Me." It has the same structure and is executed just as beautifully: ruclips.net/video/OuOM0mGxIIc/видео.html
Mine too, and they had some great music too choose from.
Russell Thompkins AKA THE KING OF PHILLY!!!!!
Truth be told, there were so many great R&B groups/bands from the 70s, including The Stylistics, Earth, Wind & Fire, The Isley Brothers, The Whispers, ConFunkshun, and Lakeside to name a few. I mean, we could go on and on because it was truly an era of great soul music put out by brilliant musicians showcasing a plethora of talent.
The greatest music ever.
ConFunkShun and Lakeside were from the 80s love
The Whispers actually started in the late 60s
When this music was the soundtrack to my life growing up .... Great Times!!!
The Stylistics - Stop Look Listen / Peek-A-Boo / Payback Is A Dog / Make up to Break Up
Blue Magic - Loneliest House On The Block /Seems I Haven't Seen Her
It's nice to see the younger generation is picking up on the old music from back in the day, it's funny I'm 56 and I was very young when this joint dropped; I grow up on this music and it's timeless straight classic. it never goes out of style.
I Love The Stylistics too.❤️
Jj you are killing it man!!! Stylistics with that lead vocal of Russell Thompkins Jr. Yes, you are on point they deserve much praise and credit of the other great groups you mentioned. That Russell has the most purest, passionate, sweetest, smoothest, beautiful, and poignant "Head voices" of all. Btw, Russell and I have a very similar voice type🙂. He uses "pure Head voice". I noticed alot in the comments as referring to him as falsetto. It is not falsetto. Falsetto has a total different meaning from Head voice.
You'll never get to heaven if you break my heart that is a another classic From the stylistics
similar underrated group in the same vein is the group Blue Magic-check out sideshow and Three Ring circus-lead singer is also a falsetto like the Stylistics russell thompkins Jr.
They were amazing! We were blessed.
The ending of this song hits pretty hard. Beautiful but sad.
Russell Tompkins, Jr. was the high tenor with the distinctive voice. Thom Bell, their producer loved his voice and really didn't think the other guys voices matched up.
You might also be interested in checking out the "Philadelphia Sound" in general. It was different from the "Motown Sound" and featured such great artists as Lou Rawls, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, The Delfonics, and so many more. If you like The Stylistics you will really enjoy The Delfonics.
Listen to Stop,look and listen to your heart by The Stylistics.
Yes mary j has sample but the stylistics was the group songs that have value could never be played out.
You are correct. It’s amazing how they are definitely a favorite group of all time while still being underrated.
they were part of the philly sound that took over from motown stylistics blue magic the delphonics harold melvin and the bluenotes the ojays philly international
I remember when seeing them in concert how we were waiting for that ending when Russell Thompkins started ...yoooooou are everything to me..
Stylistics: legends, icons. 🔥
My favourite album. It has to be the best debut album ever - just look at all the songs.
The miracle is another song to check out and It started out , from the Stylistics
Best voice ever these guys were timeless 😍 ❤
Such a great era in music. I was a grade schooler and this is the first song I sang in a school concert. Fast fact. Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye covered this song in a duet
I was like 9 yrs old playing in the front yard in the summer and my mom listening to the radio with the window opened and these guys singing, I’m there now ....
Just classic music. Love it!
People make the world go round is my favorite as well. They aren't underrated for connoisseurs of soul/RB music...
You are correct Sir, The Stylistics were fantastic. Now, regarding you comments about how they are under rated or under the radar. Unfortunately, most groups and singers from the 1970's Seem to be forgotten and are unknown to today's new generation. That's their loss but the good news is that a lot of people like you seem to be rediscovering groups like The Stylistics. I was fortunate to live through this era and I can tell you that they very big in their time. From 1972 until around 1977 they always seemed to have a hit song on the radio and they were one of those groups that you always turned up the volume when one of their songs came on. I loved them in High School and throughout my time in the Marine Corps. Everybody thought they were great. One example of how big they were is the song "You Make Me Feel Brand New." This song came out in late 1973 but really hit it's stride in 1974. Now this group was not only big in the USA and Canada, they were also big in Europe (especially in the UK), Australia, South Africa, and even Japan. They never had a song go to number 1 in the USA but they often went to number 1 in other countries. "You Make Me Feel Brand New" was their biggest hit in terms of sales and chart position (going to #2 in the USA) but the song was such a big hit that it was the 14th biggest song of 1974. So The Stylistics were very popular and loved in their heyday. Check out the live video for "You Make Me Feel Brand New" and enjoy the twin leads of Russel Thompkins Jr. and Harold Eban Brown. It just doesn't get much better than that.
When the Stylistics did most of their hit songs, mid late 70s, music was changing rapidly. Disco and other forms of R&B, funk and dance music. Folks really danced back then. A lot of us love the Stylistics for their beautiful ballads, but we went to Kool & the Gang, EWF and others to get our groove on. Also the 70s was an incredibly rich time for popular music if all genres. People of all colors and backgrounds listen to everything from pop, rock, soul, punk, metal, disco. There were just too many talented groups out there competing for the market. These groups from Motown to rock bands like the Stones were legendary in music industry. With all that music talent in the 70s, it's a wonder anybody made any money. There are Stylistics fans out there. They are just dying out. Just like the fans of the 50s and 60s music. I graduated high School in 1975 so as kid I grew on 60s Motown and 70s great music era. The sad difference between my generation and yours, is we had little need or interest in music 40 years before our time. There is great music from my parents time WW2 big bands, swing, jazz into 50s and Sinatra, Sammy Davis , Nat King Cole. I love that music because my parents exposed me to it, but I had and overflowing buffet of all kinds of great music to consume from the 60s, 70s & 80s. I'm glad you take a real interest in music if the past. Good music never dies if we keep listening to it. Take Mozart. Motown will be around long after all the original artist and fans are gone. It just that good, not just in the U.S. but all over the world. The Stylistics are just as popular group in other parts of the world with some fans my age. Count yourself lucky that you live in an age that with a few taps on your phone you can call up just about any kind of music from any time or genre or place in the world and have it playing the palm of your hand. P.S. the old-school Stylistic R&B fans just haven't found your page yet. Good thing that you aren't the only reactor to the Stylistics and others will discover them and become new fans like there are fans of music even before my time. Good luck on your channel. I subscribed today.
My childhood soundtrack!! ❤😍 I sang this song to my baby son every day when he was under 1 yr old... he knows this song today & he's 26 now! Love this group! 🥰
Hall & Oates did a cover of this song on their album OUR KIND OF SOUL 👍🏾
Yes! My favorite by them. I was in the 6th grade, it was one of the first 45's I ever bought.
The Stylistics are my favorites over EWF alongside the Isley Brothers and Ohio Players. Check out "Rockin Roll Baby"
And yes. The Stylistics classics are known worldwide but yet so underrated!!, smdh.
I've always liked the voice of the lead singer, Russell Tompkins Junior. Definitely underrated compared to The Temptations, Earth, Wind and Fire and others.
I agree - They are underrated! I have felt that way all the time because they are probably my favorite group ever.
I don't know if they were underrated. It's hard to tell because they were so many male vocal groups. This music just makes you happy. It's classic. I place the Stylistics right behind the Temptations as my favorites. To me they sounded the most distinctive.
To those of us from that era, they are not underrated, yhey just had a lot of competition. But of the groups that sounded like them, they were the best, the closest to their sound eas BLUE MAGIC, but they didn't last long, I think only 2 albums that did well. And the CHI-LITES came the closest to them in popularity and has very memorable hits. Another of my favorite STYLISTICS hit was "Rock and Roll Baby, a simi true story. Their last hit was "You'll Never Get To Heaven If You Break My Heart" they fell off the charts after that song. But their tours remained popular.
Just subscribed to ur channel a week ago...The Stylistics.."Payback Is A Dog...and Marvin Gaye..,It's Too Late...
ruclips.net/video/qI5a7eJBcp8/видео.html
I love the Stylistics
Totally underrated! And I've been guilty of underrating them too. These guys were so much the soundtrack to my childhood.
Classic! Classic! Classic!
They are DEFINITELY UNDERATED. Flawless!!
The Stylistics were mainly popular and hot from the early 70's through the mid 70's.
The Stylistics moved to New York, hooked up with Van McCoy and produced "I Can't Give You Anything But My Love."
Giving a like goes without saying just jammin and satory my g best reacting people keep going dont stop the music
Underrated is right!!
Check out the Group Blue Magic another great Philly group.
The Stylistics was underrated what you have to understand is there was a ton of great black groups during the 60s and 70s. So they were one great group out of a plethora of great boots there was no short of talent in male groups back during that time the reason why you might hear of The Temptations Dells spinners these groups 10 to cross over more Stylistics was more of in the hood when you went to the hood everybody talked about the Stylistics
Another great song by them is "Children Of The Night"!
❤️❤️❤️
Anutha cut!💛
Break up to make up.
They're nice
Hey JJ, have you heard of or reacted to Mary J. Blige's "Everything" ?
Nope.
Play peek a boo by the stylistics ,play love comes easy from the stylistics,play let's put it all together by the stylistics ,play payback is a dogg ,by the stylistics, play if I love you by the stylistics,play stop look listen to your heart,by the stylistics ,play if you don't watch out by the stylistics,and your as right as rain by the stylistics .play hurry up this way again by the stylistics
Play if you don't watch out I will fall in love with u again by the stylistics.and play Tamia video keep it smokin her new single that's out on the video .
Play if u don't watch out by the stylistics.and keep it smokin by Tamia her new video .and I'm officially missing you by Tamia ,and play also react to I got a real thang by Tamia .
Play make it last by the stylistics
Play stone in love with u by the stylistics .
fyi early Michael Jackson when e was younger did the cover People make. the world round
The album is titled, Ben , I believe he was 12 or 13yrs old when he sang People make the World go round.
Check out the Dells awesome
Very much underrated
yes very very underrated
I love the stylistics but i actually prefer the diana ross and Marvin gaye version.
The stylistics are known all over the world...and probably only stopped touring because of the pandemic...Russell is a God...they are not underated it is the constant push of hip hop and rap being the greatest thing...yuk...is what you nubbies hear...old schoolers love the stylistics!
Late 60's early 70's was the shiznit when it came to R&B, Soul and Do Wop.