496 Goodbye Rose Royce - Love Me Right Now

Chart  entered : 6  April  1985

Chart  peak : 60

After  the  initial  success  of  "Car  Wash", Rose  Royce  had  gone  on  to  be  one  of  the  top  disco acts  in  the  late  seventies. While  their  success  in  the  US  was  tailing  off  by  1978  that  was their  peak  year  in  the  UK  with  the  number  7  album,  "Rose  Royce III  ; Strikes  Again" spawning  two  top  3  singles  in  "Wishing  On  A  Star"  and  "Love  Don't  Live  Here  Anymore"  ( a song  we'll  be  discussing  again  shortly, more's  the  pity  ). That  may  have  been  their  undoing actually  as  both  were  plaintive  ballads  sung  by  Gwen  Dickey ;  when  one  of  the  male vocalists  in  the  band, Kenny  Copeland  or  Kenji  Brown  did  the  lead  vocal,  the  hits  weren't as  big. Gwen  has  said  there  was  resentment  about  the  way  she  was  drafted  in  by Norman Whitfield  from  the  start  and  in  1980  she  quit,  not  long  after  their  Greatest  Hits  album  was a  surprise  UK  number  1.  The  band  considered  breaking  up  but  soon  returned  with  a  revamped line  up. Richee  Benson  took  over  from  Gwen. Kenji  was  replaced  on  guitar by  Walter McKinney  and  Michael  Nash  came  in  for  Victor  Nix  on  keyboards. Without Gwen  they  had a  much  harder  time  of  it, their  albums  no  longer  charted  and most  of  their  singles  flopped. In 1981  they  deserted  Whitield  for  a  completely  barren  time  on  Epic.  Percussionist  Terry Santiel   left  after  a  dispute  over  management  and  wasn't  permanently  replaced.  They moved on  to  Streetwave  where there  was  a  modest  revival  in  their  fortunes  with  the  album "Music Magic"  and  single  "Magic  Touch"  both  minor  hits  in  the  UK.

"Love  Me  Right  Now "  was  the  taster  single  for  their  next  LP  "The  Show Must  Go  On".  It's a  competent   contemporary  pop  soul  workout  with  a  Billie  Jean-ish  bassline. Richee's  a  better than  average  soul  singer  but  her  voice  lacks  that  girl-ish  quality  that  made  Gwen  so appealing. It's  the  sort  of  single  that  needs  steady  airplay  to  make  real  progress  and  that wasn't  forthcoming.  

There  were  no  more singles  from  the  album  suggesting  that  Streetwave  had  already  decided   to  end  the  association  before  the  record  came  out. The  group moved  on  to  Omni  ( Carerre  in the  UK ), their  fourth  label  in  five  years.  They  re-emerged  in  1987  ( without  bassist  Lequeint  Jobe  who  had  to  be  fired  for  an  out  of  control  cocaine  addiction  or  saxophonist  Michael  Moore  for  reasons  unknown  to me  )   with  "Lonely  Road "  an MOR  soul  ballad  that  sounds  like  a  run  of  the  mill  Tina  Turner  single. They  followed  up with  a  version  of  Whitfield's  "Just  My  Imagination"  sung  by  Kenny  in  falsetto  so  that  it sounds  like  The  Stylistics. It's  not  awful, just  dull. Both  tracks  were  on  their  album  "Fresh Cut "  which  bombed.  To  rub  salt  in  the  wound,  a  re-release  of   "Car  Wash / Is  It  Love  You're  After ", the  latter  chosen  after  the  prominent  use  of  its  startling,  stabbing  brass  intro  in  the  recent  number  one  hit  Theme  from  S-Express , reached  number  20  in  the  UK  in  1988.

There  was  one  more  album  in  1989. "Perfect  Lover " . From  the  tracks  I've  heard  it  sounds like  they  were  keeping  up  with  current  trends  in  dance  music   with  Richee  deliberately recorded   to  sound  like  Madonna   but  not  coming  up  with  anything  distinctive. With  that  they ceased  to  be  a  recording  act.

Rose  Royce  continue  to  tour  and  occasionally  release  a  live  album   to  this  day  but,  over the years,  have  contracted  to  a  five  piece  of  Richee,  Kenny , Michael  Nash, trumpeter  Freddie  Dunn and  drummer  Henry  Garner . They  don't  come  to  the  UK  where  Gwen  has  a  rival  outfit.

The  former  singer  had  gone  into  seclusion  in  Miami  after  leaving  the  group  and  took  some persuading  to  return  to  the  music  business. In  1987  she  signed  up  with  Joey  Boy  Records for a  couple  of   electro-disco   singles  "I'm  In  Love  Again"  and  "Why  Can't  We  Be  Lovers "  (  a collaboration  with  girl  group  Sequal ). They're  both  pretty good  but  nothing  happened. Gwen then  re-located  to  the  UK  and  re-embraced  her  past  with  a  house  version  of  "Car Wash"  on Swanyard  Records  which  was  a  minor  hit  ( number  72 ). I  prefer  the  original  to  be  honest. After  one  more  single  , "Don't  Stop " in  1992  which  I  haven't  heard  , Gwen  ceased  to  have  a recording  contract  of  her  own   but  started  popping  up  on  other  people's  records   as  a   featured  artist  , especially  if  they  were  attacking  the  Rose  Royce  back  catalogue. She  also started  touring  her  own  new  version  of  the  band. She   has  had  hits  with  K.W.S. ( "Ain't Nobody ", number  21, 1994 ) , Jay -Z ( "Wishing  On  A  Star ", number  13, 1998 )  and  her  own Rose  Royce  ( "Car  Wash"  again  , number  18, 1998 ) . Gwen  is  open  to  the  idea  of  performing with  the  old  band  again  but  doesn't  expect  it  to  happen.

Kenji  did  some  backing  vocals  for  the  group's  1984  album  "Music  Magic " but  other  than   that  seems  to  have  left  the  music  business.

Victor  settled  into  session  work  before  moving  into  contemporary  gospel  in  the  mid-nineties . He   works  as  a  producer  and  occasional  recording  artist  in  California.

Walter  played  on  with  Rose  Royce  for  a  number  of  years  then  switched  to  an  outfit  called  Man  Vs  Man  in  Omaha. He  died  last  September.

Lequeint  started  living  on  the  streets  after  quitting  the  band  and  eventually  did  a  four  year  stint  in  prison  for  drugs  offences. He  now  performs  as  The  Duke  of  Royce.

Terry  is  a  successful  percussionist  for  hire  who  has  toured  with  Janet  Jackson  and  Elton  John.

I  have  no  information  on  Michael  Moore.