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25 Oct

Posted at 09:00h in Features, Reviews
Come on, admit it. If you are a female of a certain age you wanted to be a member of En Vogue just like I did when I was little. They are the girl group ideal; one of the best that ever recorded. A quartet of talented, gorgeous women whose looks and voices complemented each other so well as they sang in close, often quite complex, harmonies. Maybe EV helped to kick start my lifelong fascination with airtight harmony. I recall when I first heard debut single ‘Hold On’ circa 1989, courtesy of Tim Westwood’s Saturday evening show on Capital FM. The track was avant garde yet sort of vintage. This classic/modern fusion was to become trademark En Vogue. ‘Hold On’ rocked my world and that of many others. The playground soon teemed with dodgy renditions. Despite being ‘manufactured’ after an open audition held in the late '80s by production team Foster & McElroy, you would think En Vogue had sung together all their lives. They sounded like four variations of the same voice; something usually only bands comprised of childhood friends could manage. Amongst the many harmony groups of the 1990s they stood out as the premiere female outfit; the men had Boyz II Men leading the pack, the women had En Vogue. Plus there was none of this lead-singer-with-glorified-backing-vocalists rubbish that was the downfall of other bands (I’m looking at you Miss Ross, Gamble, Knowles etc). Solo spots were an egalitarian affair with En Vogue. They also mastered the (not smutty but) sexy-sophisticated image like no other girl group then or since.

25 Oct

Posted at 09:00h in Features, Reviews
Come on, admit it. If you are a female of a certain age you wanted to be a member of En Vogue just like I did when I was little. They are the girl group ideal; one of the best that ever recorded. A quartet of talented, gorgeous women whose looks and voices complemented each other so well as they sang in close, often quite complex, harmonies. Maybe EV helped to kick start my lifelong fascination with airtight harmony. I recall when I first heard debut single ‘Hold On’ circa 1989, courtesy of Tim Westwood’s Saturday evening show on Capital FM. The track was avant garde yet sort of vintage. This classic/modern fusion was to become trademark En Vogue. ‘Hold On’ rocked my world and that of many others. The playground soon teemed with dodgy renditions. Despite being ‘manufactured’ after an open audition held in the late '80s by production team Foster & McElroy, you would think En Vogue had sung together all their lives. They sounded like four variations of the same voice; something usually only bands comprised of childhood friends could manage. Amongst the many harmony groups of the 1990s they stood out as the premiere female outfit; the men had Boyz II Men leading the pack, the women had En Vogue. Plus there was none of this lead-singer-with-glorified-backing-vocalists rubbish that was the downfall of other bands (I’m looking at you Miss Ross, Gamble, Knowles etc). Solo spots were an egalitarian affair with En Vogue. They also mastered the (not smutty but) sexy-sophisticated image like no other girl group then or since.