i'm watching this old school funk special on PBS...and they got Dennis Edwards and The Temptation Review and Russell Thompkins and The New Stylistics...the LEAD singers of some of the groups biggest songs and they can't even sing with the other original members anymore..man that's fucked up...I know Otis is the only other original Temp alive, but it's not like he sang lead on any of their big hits...Russell sang lead on all the Stylistics hits...why can't grown men pull together and work shit out?



Dennis’ gritty leads fueled such hit songs as "I Can’t Get Next To You", Cloud Nine", "Ball of Confusion", "Psychedelic Shack" , "Runaway Child, Runnin’ Wild", as well as the three Grammy Award winning "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone".

The Stylistics' first session with Bell produced "Stop, Look, Listen (to Your Heart)," a Top 40 single in the summer of 1971. Their second date yielded "You Are Everything" and "Betcha By Golly, Wow," both of which made it to the Top 10. After that, there was no stopping the group: in 1972, there wee "People Make the World Go Round" and "I'm Stone in Love with You"; in 1973, "Break Up, to Make Up," Rockin' Roll Baby," and "You'll Never Get to Heaven (If You Break My Heart)."You Make Me Feel Brand New" was, in Thom's words, his "parting shot." It was unique among Stylistics' records in that it featured two lead vocals, Airrion Love and Russell Thompkins, Jr. Released as a single in March 1974, it quickly scaled the pop, soul, and easy listening charts. On May 22, it was certified gold -- the sixth and last million-seller for the Stylistics.




BTW...A Taste of Honey reunited on there and they sounded great singing Sukiyaki

Dennis Edwards is singing with the Temptation Review sometime soon in Mississippi.

Russel Thompkins is PISSED at the original guys in the Stylistics.He recently said that he would never re-unite with them.He is currently touring with new guys,calling themselves Russell Thompkins and The New Stylistics.Meanwhile,the original members continue to tour as The Stylistics,and they have a new lead singer who sounds like a Russell Thompkins clone.This is silly and confusing.I wish they could all sit down and patch up their differences.


btw,those PBS specials are great,aren't they? This past weekend,they aired one with artists like Evelyn Champagne King,The Main Ingredient,Billy Paul,The Chi-Lites and many others.

meltwithu said:

They look and sound GREAT.

meltwithu said:

well that would be a neat trick since David ruffin is i dont know ummmm DEAD!!???

well that would be a neat trick since David ruffin is i dont know ummmm DEAD!!???[/quote]

uhmmm...show me any reference to the late great david ruffin in this post and i'll eat glass this is about dennis edwards and russell thompkins, who actually sang lead on some of their group's biggest hits but have to tour with their own group

DavidEye said:

i've seen the Stylistics perform with Harold "Eban" Brown as lead singer and I swear I would've never known that it wasn't Russell Thompkins belting those notes other than the fact that he's only 30-sumthin years old...but he can sing those songs...when listening to Russell, my mother and i both agreed that the younger guy has a better, stronger voice right now (even though as a fan, i'd rather have as many original roup members as possible)...

BTW, is it me, or did Billy Paul used to be a lot bigger? He looks like Huggy Bear now, all small and pimped out

meltwithu said:

uhmmm...show me any reference to the late great david ruffin in this post and i'll eat glass this is about dennis edwards and russell thompkins, who actually sang lead on some of their group's biggest hits but have to tour with their own group[/quote]


sorry i misread the post .. i thought u meant "original" lead singers

meltwithu said:

I was watching that PBS special a few weeks ago,and at first I thought it was Russell singing lead,but the cornrows gave it away...lol...you can clearly tell that guy is young.He sounds just like Russell though.

Billy Paul has "shrunk" hasn't he? LOL.He used to be this big,tall guy,but now he looks smaller.I saw him at a Super Oldies concert last year.Fortunately,he still has a strong voice.

DavidEye said:

billy sued Kenny and Leon for Unpaid royalties.. and got his justice too.. as are the o'jays as well.

DavidEye said:

These men are too old to be arguing...it's like a senior citizen match between 50 Cent and The Game. They need to grow up and get it together.

I thought most of the temptations have passed away?

Rhondab said:

they have..that's why it would seem logical that the one original member left would bury the hatchet with the one who gave the Temps some of their best songs and get rid of all these fake as replacements...don't need 2 real Temps and 11 fake azz wannabees running around...give the fans what they want