When boys are evolving into men, changes in attitude are
inevitable. But the four "youngstas" in Boyz II Men say
that it's a down-to-earth attitude that will always keep
them on top. Certainly, their clean-cut, boy-next-door
image make them guys any mother could love-but it's thir
downright heavenly harmonies that make them the best in
their class. The bring romance and fantasy back to
R&B...and you thought Philly was only good for cheesesteak
sandwiches and that tacky ol' bell with the crack in it.
Ha!
When you think of Boyz II Men, do adjetives such as
"classy," and "distinctive" come to mind? Good, because
that's exactly what they're aiming for! Well, that...plus,
keeping Philly on the musical map.
The four members of Boyz II Men - Wanya "Squirt" Morris,
Michael "Bass" McCary, Shawn "Slim" Stockman, and Nate
"Alex Vanderpool" Morris (no relation to Wanya) - will
never forget their roots and their earliest musical
influences, which range from gospel to the great groups of
the '60's (Temptations, Four Tops, etc.). The group was
formed in 1988 at a performing arts high school in (you
guessed it!) Philadelphia, but they didn't "go pro" until
the next year, when they snuck backstage at a local concert
hosted by Michael Bivins of New Edition and Bell Biv DeVoe
fame.
The four "Philly dogs" cornered Bivins, told the former NE
member how much they admired his work, and sang a capella.
Bivins was so impressed, he called his lawyers the next
morning and had cotracts drawn up. By 1991, Bivins had
Boyz II Men signed to Motown, and their debut LP,
Cooleyhighharmony, came out to multi-platinum sales.
Despite rumors to the contrary, the Boyz had their
interesting moniker intact long before Biv heard a note.
Mike remembers the group's early days in the music theory
class at Philadelphia's High School of Creative &
Performing & Arts like it was yeaterday, including goofing
off when the teacher wasn't looking and doing unique
versions of New Edition hits. "Big M" recalls, "Nate and
Shawn were on the phone one day. We were all crazy about
New Edition's music. They heard a song by them called
'Boys To Men.' The lightbulb came on and when Shawn
suggested that song as our name, we agreed."
Does the Boyz II Men story sound too good to be true?
Well, when you've got their caliber of talent, someone
important's bound to find you. But the guys say it was
their attitude, not just their talent, they catapulted them
to the R&B newcomers "rat pack" back in '91. As Michael
says, "I think people liked the Alex Vanderpool look-it was
different then what anyone else had on that year. That was
when everyone either looked sloppy, like they didn't care,
or were into those really baggy pants, which looked dumb on
some people."
Wanya adds, "I also think people like the way we acted. We
try to be gentlemen. We have our moments, but we try to be
nice as possible to the fans (after all, they are who's
really responsible for our success) and to the press. After
all, you don't really hit the seven million sales mark by
yourself. There's awhole bunch of machinery working."
Nate chimes in, "Now, don't get the impression we're polite
because we want to stay on the top career-wise. Our mamas
raised us right!," he laughs. "We want to also point out
that we're not always light-hearted about everything...or
that the road has been paved with gold for us ever since we
got our record deal with Motown. We've done a lot of
growing up in the past three years. We dealt with the
death of our road manager on the Hammer tour, then Michael
(Bivins) told us that being a full-time, hands on manager
was a little too much for him to handle. Plus, we had to
deal with changing voices and changing roles in the group.
With all of that, we still have been blessed."
Through all the fame, the Boyz have kept their family
sequestered in the background, for reasons of privacyy,
and-quite honestly-to keep music indusrty leeches from
putting their claws in and trying to get a piece of the
action. We don't want to make the members of Boyz II Men
seem like mama's boys, but all four were raised by single
mothers of modest means, and are all eternally grateful for
their sacrifices. This definetly helps explain the empathy
toward females in lyrics. Shawn reveals, "Women go through
a great deal during the day, and we feel the man should be
the one to say, 'Hey relax, now I'm going to do the things
you want to be done.'"
It's nice to hear of such a down-to-earth attitude from the
group who broke Elvis Presley's world record for the
"single the longest at #1" with 1992's "End of the Road."
Not only did this record give the guys something they could
tell their grandkids about, but paved the way for groups
like Shai, SWV, and All-4-One to break into the Big
Time.
The group's current LP, II, was a long time coming, but
that's because the guys took their weet time working on it
in the California Desert (at a studio they dubbed "Granny's
House") with such producers as Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis,
L.A. Reid, Babyface-simply the best the business has to
offer. Still, at the time, normally well-groomed Shawn has
the most bitten nails on the planet. He exclaimed back in
August, "I can't tell you how nervous I am about the
record. I'm praying the record does well."
Between the group's first two albums was wedged a 1993
holiday LP called Christmas Interpretations, where they
tackled everything from "Jingle Bells" to Nat King Cole.
Wanya remarked upon the Christmas disc's release: "We all
love Christmas. We look forward t it 364 days a year, and
wanted to celebrate that in the studio."
The Boyz are presently enjoying the fact that their II
album is still on the top of the charts several months
after its release, and are still pinching themselves over
the fact that it debuted at #1 when it was released at the
end of August. The first single from the disc, "I'll Make
Love to You," is still making noise at presstime, and the
Boyz are busy picking a second single-which, undoubtedly,
will cause a comotion. Rumor has it that they will go for
a more uptempo track as a follow upto "I'll Make Love to
You." "We want people to know that we can do all things,"
remarks Mike."
It sounds corny, but we sincerley hope that Mike, Shawn,
Nate, and Wanya stay just the way they are-and that would
be difficult for a lot of other young superstars in their
position. After all, their deal with Motown alone will net
them a nice piece of change over the reign of a seven-album
contract. (The amount will fluctuate depending on record
sales.)
"We've been fortunate to have a lot of good people behind
us," Mike humbly remarks. "They've helped us learn a lot
along the way. But we have worked hard, you know, we're
always striving to give people our best-vocally, with
production, everything. And I think that's something our
fans appreciate about us, so they reward us with
unconditional love."
Maybe it's Motown executive Jheryl Bubsy who best sums up
Boyz II Men's appeal and special place in musical history
when he states, "America right now is being bombarded with
reality, whether it's talk shows or rap or trials on TV or
C-Span. This is a group that once again is introducing us
to fantasy, love affairs, romance."