En Vogue seem to be hanging out among the photo shoot equipment here on their lone MusiCard, as if the photographer just took a look around the room for props, or maybe wanted to go for a "behind the scenes" vibe.
Pro Set didn't bother coming up with a "Future Stars/Rated Rookie" type of subset designation for the set, but if they did, this card would likely be marked as such. En Vogue is among the few acts included that were still on the rise by 1991, not to mention went on to thrive throughout the decade.
When I think of En Vogue, I think of the songs "Free Your Mind", "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)", and "Whatta Man" with Salt-N-Pepa (who show up in the UK edition of the set). I apparently avoided En Vogue's biggest hit, 1996's "Don't Let Go (Love)", as it doesn't really ring a bell with me today, but I guess I wasn't paying a lot of attention to pop music by late '96.
The lineup has swapped out a lady here and there over the years, but at last check (Wiki link), their official lineup is currently a trio consisting of the latter three names listed on the back of their MusiCard, with Dawn no longer being in the fold.
CUSTOM CORNER
When thinking about contemporaries of En Vogue to pair up with in a post, I came to the conclusion that a MusiCard-that-never-was should go to TLC.
TLC initially formed in 1990, but didn't release their debut album until February 1992, so they narrowly missed making the scene in time to get into the set.
Their big songs were "No Scrubs", "Waterfalls", and "Creep". They also did the theme to popular Nickelodeon sketch comedy show All That.
The group's rapper Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes made headlines in 1994 when she sorta accidentally burned down the mansion she shared with NFL wide receiver Andre Rison. During a 2002 spiritual retreat in Honduras, she was tragically killed in a traffic accident. The group's other members, T-Boz and Chilli, have continued TLC as a duo, vowing to never replace Left Eye. The latest studio album from TLC is the self-titled release that came out in 2017, and they've toured a few times since. There's a big Wikipedia entry for further reading.
Thanks for stopping by and I'd love to hear in the comments if you've got any favorite songs or memories from En Vogue or TLC to share.
I give to the needy and not the greedy.
ReplyDeleteYes, Funky Divas was in my CD collection, though it was shared with my wife at the time so it's unclear who acquired it. My favorite song of there's is their cover of "Giving Him Something He Can Feel" ... I think "Don't Let Go" came out in 1990 or 1991. If you watch the video Dawn Robinson is the lead singer and she was long gone by 1996.
Well, good sir, the wiki for the song says it's their last single and music video featuring Dawn, and was first released on the soundtrack to the 1996 film Set It Off before later appearing on the group's 1997 album, so maybe you got it mixed up with a different song about love and/or not letting go, of which there are no doubt several! Fun fact about the song is that it was originally written for Aerosmith, again according to that wiki page. I can't picture that at all, but I guess back in the "Crazy"/"Don't Want to Miss a Thing" era they could have done something with it.
DeleteWeird. Maybe I'm mixing up Don't Let Go and Hold On. I didn't think Robinson was with the group for that long but the '90s years are starting to blur together.
DeleteI was at one of En Vogue's earliest live performances. They were part of the 1990 KMEL Summer Jam lineup and when they performed, their song Hold On was one of the most popular songs on the radio.
ReplyDeleteI'd say my favorite TLC song is What About Your Friends.
They may still be around, but both of these groups feel like (at least to me) they only existed in the 90's. I didn't hate the couple of En Vogue singles that got regular radio play back then. I never cared for any of TLC's stuff though; a couple of those songs were way overplayed.
ReplyDelete