I have been a follower of music my whole life. My mom exposed me to some of the greats like Issac Hayes and The Temptations and my dad introduced me to Ray Charles and more. But It was my cousin back in the 1980's He introduced me to two artists that became long time favorites one was the comedian Robert Townsend and my favorite movie of his was Hollywood Shuffle. I love it til this very day. The next was a supper group that I call unsung because this group with two of it's original members spun off a dynamic producing machine Baby Face aka Kenneth Edmunds and Antonio LA Reid. They went on to produce acts like TLC, Usher and Toni Braxton to name a few the label was based in Atlanta Ga. These men started in a group called the Deele. The original line up consisted of Kenny "Baby face" Edmunds(a nickname he got from Bootsy Collins the King of Funk) He played Keyboards, Guitar and Vocals, Antonio "LA" Reid, He played Drums, Carlos "Satin" Greene, Vocals, Darnell"Dee" Bristol, Vocals, Stanley "Stick" Burke Played keyboards (but left the group after the first album.), Kevin"Kayo"Roberson he played bass. They came from Cincinnati Ohio . Baby face came from Indianapolis. They formed in 1981. The six men released their debut album Street Beat in 1983. That was a year after I graduated out of high school. You know a lot of good music came out back then now that I think about it. The 1980's were my coming of age time. I was visiting family when I was introduced to these wonderful musicians their music has always stayed with me well after they "secretly" broke up. You see they were in denial and told us fans that they were all busy doing other projects, I know you all remember that and for years they had been promising us a reunion I was so mad at them for that but their music still brings me joy. I digress. In 1984 a single called Body Talk became their first hit and it reached #3 on the R&B charts and #77 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop charts. Stanley"stick" Burke left the group before they recorded a follow up album. This left the group a quintet and they recorded their next body of work that way. In 1985 Material Thangz was released according to the critics it was not as successful not to us fans it was da bombdigity. I however loved the title track. In 1987 they released their 3rd album called Eyes of A Stranger. This album produced 2 top 10 singles Shoot Em Up Movies and Two Occasions. These two songs made me fall more in love with them because of their musicianship and the quality of the lyrics, they had meaning and purpose and the emotions of the singer made you feel the love that was being expressed. Some more of my favorites were, Just My Luck (and it was rerecorded by Alyson Williams in 1993 check out the video)Sweet November, and so many others. The Latter of the top 2 singles reached #4 on the R&B charts. Two videos came out as well Shoot Em Up Movies which was directed by Martin Pitts and produced by Mickey Shapiro. This was my favorite video of theirs. I still love it and get very nostalgic when I see it or play it on line. It was at this time when L A Reid and Baby face began to write for and produce other people. One of the songs we all know and love was Girl Friend by the artist Pebbles."Hey deele - sing To believe or not to believe that is the question ,It just takes a street degree, You've lied your last lie, And I've cried my last cry, I'm out the door , babe, There's other fish in the sea." Remember that gem yeah I see ya bobbin your head looking through your music trying to find the song in your stash. The Deele did the back ground vocals for her in case you did not catch the reference. They also wrote Rock Steady for the legendary Whispers my mom liked this song. In 1988 Baby face and LA Reid made it official and left the group and founded LaFace Records in good ole ATL. Here is a little unknown musical fact........... In 1989 Kevin Robinson remained in association with LA Reid and Baby Face.... he was part of that musical giant team and he was the studio bass player. Baby Face and LA Reid became super producers in the 1990's. Baby Face later embarked on a successful solo career. Mean While in 1993 Green and Bristol reinvented The Deele and recorded An Invitation To Love. The group officially quit that same year. Boy oh Boy was I mad at them for that brilliant move. They have no idea how they could have been part of the LaFace Dynasty and kept the dream alive but for what ever reason they needed to quit I forgive them. Well in 2007 we Deele fans finally got our wish they are back y'all back and if you are a fan I will give you the link to their my space page so you can hear the classics and the new songs you will not be disappointed. I sure wasn't. Dee, Carlos, Kayo have reunited. They are part of a Dallas Texas record company called Eieg/DTown Records. Stick is also now part of the group. La Reid and Baby Face have not rejoined the group. Here are a list and years of the studio albums: Street Beat was on Solar Records Released in 1983, Material Thangz Solar Records Released in 1985, Eyes of A Stranger Solar Records, Released in 1987, Invitation To Love Solar records released in 1995. The Only 1(single) Eieg/D Town Records in 2007 and All I Want For Christmas (Single) Eieg/DTown 2007.
check out the Deele on my space their official page. www.myspace.com/dtrthedeele. You can also follow them on Twitter and on facebook. You can also check out their page on their record label, www.dtownrecords.com/TheDeele.html. You can also go to Amazon.com and get all of your Deele musical needs. www.amazon.com/Deele-Greatest-Hits-/dp/B00008NGEE.
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