Saturday Night Music, March 26, 2011: En Vogue, “(My Lovin’) You’re Never Gonna Get It,” 1992

These are indeed some funky divas.  Oh, yes.  They are still around, but they are not necessarily as big as they were when they first burst onto the music scene in the early Nineties, a group put together by music producers Denzil Foster and Thomas McElroy.   They still do albums, and have survived break-ups (notably, Dawn Robinson‘s contractual disagreements), getting new personnel, label changes, and some time outs.  I miss their electric excitement as much as I do an Eighties singer, producer, songwriter, stylist and trendsetter, Jody Watley, on the charts.  And they came straight from Oakland, California. From Wiki:

The group has won more MTV Video Music Awards than any other female group in MTV history, a total of seven, along with four Soul Train Awards, six American Music Awards, and seven Grammy nominations. According to Billboard Magazine they were the 18th most successful act of the 1990s, and one of the most popular and successful female groups of all time. En Vogue have accumulated over 2,800 weeks on various Billboard charts.

In 2009, the group was interviewed by A&E’s Private Sessions for the first time in 20 years.  You can find the proceedings here, in five parts, and get all the lowdown on what they have been up to.

On March 20, En Vogue appeared at the Miami 6th Annual Jazz in the Gardens.  According to the reviewer, they brought it. They may be older, and they may not be doing the same hot, on-time steps as they did in the video above before the kids came, but they haven’t lost their chops.

En Vogue, with its original members, are planning to release an album, possibly this year, under the Rufftown Records label  (Dawn Robinson, however, hasn’t signed with the new label, but she will continue to do live shows with the group, according to Wikipedia). They may be appearing at several venues this spring, including:

• May 18:  B.B. King Blues Club and Grill, New York
• May 19:  Showcase Live, Foxborough
• May 20-21:  Birchmere, Alexandria
• May 22:  Bourbon Street Ballroom, Baltimore

Related Articles

• Best R&B Singers of the ’90s (aloftyexistence.wordpress.com)
• Throwback Thursdays: En Vogue – ‘Don’t Let Go (love)’ (dreblacksofresh.com)

~ by blksista on March 26, 2011.