Post by Sweet Meat aka CC on Mar 17, 2004 20:47:30 GMT -5
...4.0?
Background Info:
4.0 [Four Point Oh] has its roots in Atlanta, Georgia. "Hotlanta" may be a sizzling musical Mecca, but for Tony "T-Bone" Hightower, Sammy "Cat Daddy" Crumbley, Jason "JJ" Sylvain and Ron "Hollywood" Jackson, the city is also home. It's there in 1989 that the four men first came together while they all attended Northside High School of the Performing Arts, studying all types of music and music theory, including classical, show tunes, and jazz. "We definitely received a very strong arts foundation," offers Cat Daddy. In between classes, the students would run into each other and started hanging out. "A bunch of us just started singing together," offers T-Bone. "So we kept it together, and eventually some folks dropped out and the four of us remained."
Influenced by such vocal groups as Force MDs (who, not incidentally also worked with Jam & Lewis) as well as classic groups like the Temptations and the Four Tops, and held together by solid friendships, the four teenagers decided to take their hallway harmonies to the next level. "We always took singing very seriously, individually so when we all came together, we had four guys who were all very serious about making music our lives," recalls JJ. While still in high school, they started playing around Atlanta. "Our manager would take us around to the night clubs and while most people were asleep, at two in the morning there we were. 15, 16 years old singing,"T-Bone says, adding quickly, "Of course on school nights, we took our homework with us!"
Seasoned performers, yet still adolescents, 4.0 would, ironically, have their first swipe at the brass ring in 1991, when they turned up at a local audition, being conducted by Perri Reid. The quartet met Reid, performed for her, and were greeted with much enthusiasm, yet, nothing concrete happened. "I guess the timing wasn't right," T-Bone shrugs. After graduating, 4.0 went back to work, hitting the club circuit, honing their skills, working on their moves, polishing their sounds and keeping their eyes on the prize they knew lay directly ahead of them. Organized Noize, another Atlanta based crew given help by Reid, began to work with the young quartet, helping to frame 4.0's down-south roots into songs of their own. "We liked the fact that Organized Noize, like us, were from Atlanta," JJ says, "because our music definitely has a little twang to it."
While working with Organized Noize, ( who would eventually contribute "Can I Spend The Night" ) 4.0 kept their juices flowing with session work for Outkast, Goodie Mob, and Society of Soul. Each step, each note sung bringing them that much closer to the dream that still lay this close. Namely their own project. The hard work started to payoff. Although 4.0 had not passed Perri Reid's audition, (the winner...just a little trio by the name of TLC) their unique singing style had caught Reid's attention. So much so that when she started up Savvy Records, she quickly signed the singing group. Immediately, Reid, in much the same manner that she'd helped jump-start the careers of TLC and Tony Rich, began to pair 4.0's flowing harmonies and new perspective to other seasoned song writers and producers.
The dream became tangible when Reid hooked up her group with Alexander Richbourg, who'd earned his stripes under Sean "Puffy" Combs and whose credits included Soul IV Real, Solo and Barry White. Together Richbourg and 4.0 cooked up the stately and lush ballad "Oh Baby" for The Money Train soundtrack. "Oh Baby" is also included on 4.0. While recording "Oh Baby"in Minneapolis, the kids from Atlanta found themselves hanging out with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, two of their all-time musical idols. "They liked us, we liked them and we started playing around with some stuff," JJ explains. "Then they said `we'd like to work with you, do you want to work with us?'" He laughs. "We said: `Of course!' We're not fools!" The collaboration yielded not only the dramatic loverlorn ballad, lead off single "Have A Little Mercy", but also "I Won't Run Out of Love", co-written by 4.0. "Mercy" boasts a powerful haunting video directed by Reid. Jam and Lewis also invited 4.0, in addition, to add background vocals for Lionel Richie's 1995 comeback CD.
Artist Release:
Release Date: 9/23/97
Tracklisting:
1. Keep Doin' It
2. Have a Little Mercy *Most Recognized Song*
3. I Won't Run Out of Love
4. Slow Jam [Radio Interlude]
5. Slow Jam
6. Gotta Make It Through
7. Just a Little
8. If You Want Me
9. Don't Act Like (You Don't Wanna)
10. Can I Spend the Night
11. So Much Love
12. What You Wanna Do?
13. Oh Baby
14. Through the Eyes of an Angel
Last Heard On:
Their debut release 4.0
