. During the early '70s, the band had 12 straight Top Ten hits, including "You Are Everything," "Betcha by Golly, Wow," "I'm Stone in Love With You," "Break Up to Make Up," and "You Make Me Feel Brand New." Of all their peers,
were one of the smoothest and sweetest soul groups of their era. All of their hits were ballads, graced by the soaring falsetto of
one of the most successful soul groups of the first half of the '70s.
The Stylistics formed in 1968, when members of the Philadelphia soul groups
the Monarchs and the Percussions joined forces after their respective band dissolved.
Thompkins,
James Smith, and
Airrion Love hailed from
the Monarchs;
James Dunn and
Herbie Murrell were from the Percussions. In 1970, the group recorded "You're a Big Girl Now," a song their road manager
Marty Bryant co-wrote with
Robert Douglas, a member of their backing band Slim and the Boys, and the single became a regional hit for Sebring Records. The larger Avco Records soon signed
the Stylistics, and single eventually climbed to number seven in early 1971.
Once they were on Avco,
the Stylistics began working with producer/songwriter
Thom Bell, who had previously worked with
the Delfonics.
The Stylistics became
Bell's pet project and with lyricist
Linda Creed, he crafted a series of hit singles that relied as much on the intricately arranged and lush production as they did on
Thompkins' falsetto. Every single that
Bell produced for
the Stylistics was a Top Ten R&B hit, and several -- "You Are Everything," "Betcha by Golly, Wow," "I'm Stone in Love With You," "Break Up to Make Up," and "You Make Me Feel Brand New" -- were also Top Ten pop hits.
Following "You Make Me Feel Brand New" in the spring of 1974,
the Stylistics broke away from
Bell and began working with
Van McCoy, who helped move the group towards a softer, easy listening style. In 1976, they left Avco and signed with H&L. The group's American record sales declined, yet they remained popular in Europe, particularly in Great Britain, where "Sing Baby Sing" (1975), "Na Na Is the Saddest Word" (1975), "Can't Give You Anything" (1975), and "Can't Help Falling in Love" (1976) were all Top Five hits.
The Stylistics continued to tour and record throughout the latter half of the '70s, as their popularity steadily declined. In 1980,
Dunn left the group because of poor health, and he was followed later that year by
Smith. The remaining
Stylistics continued performing as a trio on oldies shows into the '90s.
–
Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi