The Boys

Jheryl Busby signed the Abdulsamad Brothers, better known as the Boys, while employed at MCA Records. When Berry Gordy retired, Busby made an upward-lateral move (MCA purchased Motown) to Hitsville USA and brought the talented siblings along. Busby was shooting for Jackson Five type accomplishments, but would settle for New Edition figures. The talent was definitely there, but Motown soon discovered that trying to mold the brothers was exasperating.

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Kym Mazelle

Date of Birth

1960, Gary, Indiana, USA

Birth Name

Kimberly Grisby

Height

5' 5" (1.65 m)

Mini Biography

Kym is a soul singer from the U.S.A. She started her career in the mid 80's . She is notably known for her 1996 cover version of "Young Hearts Run Free" which featured in the film "Romeo and Juliet" starring Leonardo Dicaprio. She also featured with the 90's group Soul 2 Soul with the song "Missing You"

Kym has appeared in reality TV shows like Celebrity Fit Club, Celebrity Masterchef and the game show.

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Jody Vanessa Watley

Jody Vanessa Watley (born January 30, 1959) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and one of the defining iconic artists of the 1980s whose music crosses genres from Pop, R&B, Jazz, Dance and Electronic Soul. In 1987, she won the Grammy Award for "Best New Artist." Along with Janet Jackson and Madonna, she ranks as one of MTV Video Music Awards most nominated female artists ever, with six nominations for her ‘Real Love’ video.

To date, she is best known for her role in being a pioneer setting trends and standards for dance, style, music and video.[1][7][8][9] Early in her solo career she was also noted for her commercial dance pop stylings with a funky edge.[10] Jody Watley is also noted as being the first Pop/R&B singer to include a rapper on the specialized verse/bridge with their collaboration on "Friends" featuring Eric B. & Rakim, which would become a popular formula in commercial Pop/R&B/Hip-Hop.

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Julio Iglesias

Born: September 23, 1943 in Madrid, Spain
Years Active: 70 's, 80 's, 90 's, 00's
Genre: VOCAL

Julio Iglesias was the most popular Latin singer of the '70s, '80s, and beyond, selling over 300 million albums around the world. He was a smooth, romantic crooner, and his appeal translated to many different countries in many different languages.


Initially, Iglesias planned to be a lawyer. As he studied, he was a goalkeeper for the Real Madrid football team. His career as an athlete was ended after an automobile accident in the mid-'60s. While he was recovering, Iglesias started playing guitar and writing songs. Before he began a musical career, he finished his law studies at Cambridge University. In 1968, he was a contestant at the 1968 Spanish Song Festival at Benidorm, singing his original song "La Vida Sigue Igual." Iglesias won the first prize at the contest, which led to a record contract with Discos Columbia, an independent record label.

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Luther Vandross

 

Born: April 20, 1951
Died: July 1, 2005

Luther Vandross was one of the most successful R&B artists of the 1980s and '90s. Not only did he score a series of multi-million-selling albums containing chart-topping hit singles and perform sold-out tours of the U.S. and around the world, but he also took charge of his music creatively, writing or co-writing most of his songs and arranging and producing his records. He also performed these functions for other artists, providing them with hits as well. He was, however, equally well known for his distinctive interpretations of classic pop and R&B songs, reflecting his knowledge and appreciation of the popular music of his youth. Possessed of a smooth, versatile tenor voice, he charmed millions with his romantic music.


Vandross was born in New York City on April 20, 1951, and grew up in the Alfred E. Smith housing projects in lower Manhattan. Both of his parents, Luther Vandross, Sr., an upholsterer, and Mary Ida Vandross, a nurse, sang, and they encouraged their children to pursue music as a career. Vandross Sr.'s older sister Patricia Van Dross was an early member of the Crests in the mid-'50s (appearing on their early singles, but leaving before they achieved success with "Sixteen Candles"), and Vandross himself began playing the piano at the age of three and took lessons at five, although he remained a largely self-taught musician. After the death of his father in 1959 when he was eight years old, he was raised by his mother, who moved the family to the Bronx. While attending William Howard Taft High School, he formed a vocal group, Shades of Jade, with friends Carlos Alomar, Robin Clark, Anthony Hinton, Diane Sumler, and Fonzi Thornton. All five, along with 11 other teenage performers, were also part of a musical theater workshop, Listen, My Brother, organized by the Apollo Theater in Harlem that recorded a single, "Listen, My Brother"/"Only Love Can Make a Better World," and appeared on the initial episodes of the children's television series Sesame Street in 1969. After graduating from high school that year, Vandross attended Western Michigan University, but dropped out after a year and returned home. He spent the next few years working at odd jobs while trying to break into the music business.

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 Jeffrey Osborne

 

Born: March 9, 1948

Jeffrey Osborne began his professional singing career in 1969 with a popular funk and soul group called Love Men Ltd. The band moved to Los Angeles in 1970 and changed its name to L.T.D. Osborne was originally brought on as the drummer and eventually became the lead vocalist. After more than ten years with the band, he decided to pursue a solo career, which produced such Top 40 hits as "Don't You Get So Mad," "Stay With Me Tonight," and "Love Power," which he performed with Dionne Warwick.

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 Frederick Anthony "Freddie" Jackson

 

Frederick Anthony "Freddie" Jackson (born on October 2, 1956) is an American soul singer. He was an important figure in R&B during the 1980s and early 1990s. Among his well-known hits are "Rock Me Tonight (For Old Times Sake)", "Jam Tonight", "Do Me Again," and "You Are My Lady".

Jackson was trained as a gospel singer from an early age, singing at the White Rock Baptist Church. There he met Paul Laurence, who would later become his record producer and songwriting partner. After completing school, Jackson joined Laurence's group LJE (Laurence-Jones Ensemble) and played the New York nightclub scene. During the early 1980s, Jackson moved to the West Coast and sang lead with the R&B band 'Mystic Merlin', but soon returned to New York to work with Laurence at the Hush Productions company. He sang on demo recordings of Laurence's compositions, and also served as a backing singer for Melba Moore after she saw his nightclub act.

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