293 Goodbye The Stylistics - $7000 and You

Chart  entered : 26  March  1977

Chart  peak : 24

It's  strange  that  we're  saying  goodbye  to  The  Stylistics  in  what  was  a  notably  good  year  for  black  acts. This  final  hit  ( which  I  don't  remember )  also  came  barely  six  months  after  they  topped  the  UK  album  chart  with  "The  Best  of  the  Stylistics  Volume  II"

The  Stylistics  peaked  when  "Can't  Give  You  Anything ( But  My  Love ) "  topped  the  UK  singles  chart  for  three  weeks  in  the  summer  of  1975. Unfortunately  I'll  always  associate  it  with  endless  trips  to  Rochdale  Swimming  Baths  to  try  and  get  me  afloat ; I  can  swim  now  but  all  efforts   during  my  youth  were  in  vain. All  their  singles  had  been  hits  since  but  the  previous  EP  had  failed  to  get  past  number 24  in  the  Christmas  chart  so  there  were  signs  their  appeal  was  on  the  wane.

"$7,000  Dollars  and  You" is  a  bit  of  a  surprise  to  me. I  was  expecting  another dozy  slice  of  soft  soul  but  instead  it  sounds  like  they  teamed  up  with  Herb  Alpert  with  its  calypso  rhythms  and  staccato  brass  arrangement. Russell  Thompkins  Junior  coos  the  song  with  his  usual  grace  but  there's  a  sting  in  the  tail  lyrically ; after  outlining  all  the  treats  his  lover  could  expect  from  escalating  amounts  of  dosh, when  it  gets  to  a  million  she's  no  longer  required  and  the  other  guys  chip  in  with  some  muscle  to  drive  the  point  home.

You  might  have  expected  that  The  Stylistics  were  on  the  cabaret  circuit  by  the  early  eighties  but  no. They  remained  recording  artists  with  a  steady  string  of  placings  on  the  US  R  &  B  charts  ( their  hit  run  on  the  Billboard   chart   had  ceased   at  the  beginning  of  1976 ) up  until  1992  but  nowhere  else. They  had  two  more  singles  out  in  the  UK  "I Plead  Guilty"  and  "Wonder  Woman" , neither  of  which  I've  heard  before  their  contract  ended  and  they  switched  to  Mercury  who  don't  seem  to  have  been  interested  in  releasing  their  records  in  the  UK. Like  The  Drifters  they  had  a  song  on  the  soundtrack  of  The  Bitch  "I  Feel  Lucky  Tonight"  but  it  did  nothing  as  a  single in  February  1980.

When  Mercury  dropped  them  that  year  James  Dunn  ,who  had  health  problems , and  James  Smith  quit. The  group  recruited  just  one  replacement  Raymond  Johnson  and  went  back  to  Thom  Bell  and  his  TSOP  label  for  their  next  two  albums. This  gave  them  a  modest  boost  as  the  first  album  "Hurry  Up  This  Way  Again"  made  a  minor  showing  on  the  chart  but  the  title  track ,  which  updates  their  sound  to the  light  R &  B  groove  of  George  Benson  and  his  ilk  did  nothing  as  a  single  that  September. Despite  Russell's  best  efforts  it's  pretty  boring.

In  1984  they  moved  on  to  Streetwise  in  the  US  and  Virgin  in  the  UK. The  single  "Give  A  Little  Love  For  Love "  was  written  by  Michael  Jonzun  and  Maurice  Starr  who  also  produced  with  Arthur  Baker. Not  surprisingly  this  sets  their  trademark  sound  against  a  modern  electro-dance  production  sheen  but  it  still  sounds  a  bit  dated  not  helped  by  the  song's  close  resemblance  to  "Stop  Look  Listen  ( To  Your  Heart)". The  follow  up  "Love Is  Not  The  Answer"  is  more  overtly  contemporary  and  by  only  using  Russell  for  the  chorus  hook  it's  much  less  identifiable  as  them. It  briefly  threatened to  chart  in  July  1985  when  it  appeared  in  the  "Bubbling  Under"  list  but  didn't  get  over  the  line. It  was  their  last  single  release  in  the  UK.

Johnson  quit  the  following  year  leaving  the  group  a  trio  of  Russell, Airrion  Love  and  Herb  Murrell. They  were without  a  label  between  1986  and  1991 when  Amherst  picked  them  up. Their  last  showing  on  the  R & B  chart  was  with  a  version  of  "Always  On  My Mind"  in  1992. It's  given  a  Whitney-esque  power  ballad  treatment  -  the  other  members are  inaudible -  with  obligatory  corny  sax  solo  and  is  ghastly.

Thereafter  they  were  just  a  touring  outfit  until  2000  when   Russell  decided  to  quit. The  other  two  recruited  a couple  of  Delfonics  and  soldiered  on. In  2003  Russell  put  out  a  solo  album  "A  Matter  of  Style"  and  when  that  didn't  sell  he  launched  his  New Stylistics  which  included  Johnson  in  the  line  up  the  following  year   so  now  there  are  rival  versions  treading  the  boards. The  two  James's  have  disappeared  into  obscurity  but  are  thought  to  be  still  alive.