The tradition of the soul male singing group is a story of community. It began with a blending of voices, high, clear, and fierce. While one voice might carry above the others, to success it had to be supported.
In the beginning, it was Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, which begat the Jackson 5. Which begat New Edition. Which begat Boyz II Men.
"I just think that we're definetly part of the musical genre that's making its circle around again," said Nathan Morris of Boyz II Men. "We're part of big musical circle that's coming around again. In the '60s they had that style of music and you always had rock 'n' roll on the other side. Rap is what you'd call the renegade R&B of today."
While the other groups have already carved a place for themselves in musical history, Boyz II Men, much like its name implies, is still finding its spot. The group will perform Sunday at New River Air Station in Jacksonville.
Michael McCary, 23, Nathan Morris, 24, Wanya Morris, 21, (not related) and Shawn Stockman, 23, are four nice boys from Philly. The wear clothes that require ironing, respect their families, have opened their own recording studio, and want to sing together forever. They're single, young, God-loving, thankful. And they teeter on the cusp-between being the good boys their mothers raised and becoming powerful men of the music industry.
Already they have done battle with the King. The group's single, "End of the Road," topped the singles chart for 13 consecutive weeks in 1992-93, knocking off Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel." Then in 1994, they did it again with "I'll Make Love to You," which tied Whitney Houston's version of "I Will Always Love You" as the longest-running #1 single of all time.
If any label has been hardest for the Boyz to unglue, its "New Edition for the '90s." A sweet-faced urban R&B, dance-pop group. New Edition was the breeding group for several successful independent careers: Bobby Brown, Bell Biv Devoe (Ricky Bell, Mike Bivins, and Ronnie Devoe), Ralph Tresvant, and Johnny Gill. The comparison is lent credence by the fact Mike Bivins was the one to discover the Boyz at the performing arts high school in Philadelphia.
"We're very happy with the position that we are in," Nathan Morris said. "We look up to New Edition as well. We've taken a lot from a lot of different groups. We're trying to be a little of every successful group there was."
Trying to be all groups to all listeners has earned the group a large following. Boyz II Men started out on the urban stations as the young band of voices lilting through swing and tender love songs on its debut, Cooleyhighharmony, which sold almost 8 million copies.
The rampant success of the group's second album, II, brought the Boyz a crossover audience that fell for its sentimental ballads and doo-wop harmonizing. Success also brought them criticism as sellout artists, which they flatly deny.
"When we became a group we didn't set out to get a black audience; we set out to get people that wanted to listen," Nathan Morris said. "I hope we crossed over-to anyone around the world."
Already they are diversifying and planning future projects. They have just built Stonecreek Studios, in Gladwyne, Pa., as a personal getaway and public recording studio. They just finished writing and producing a song on the new Color Me Badd album, they re-recorded some of their songs in Spanish to appeal to the Latin-American community, and this fall they're going overseas to tour. Perhaps the biggest advance in their career has been backup work on the title track of Michael Jackson's new album, HIStory.
The boys are now a business and far from the school days when they first formed. They still find joy in singing together and are driven not to repeat the hits, but to find new goals and outlets. But every now and then, they find themselves wistful for less complicated times.
"In the beginning, it didn't seem like work," Nathan Morris said. "It was something we enjoyed other than home and school work. Now sometimes it does seem like a job because of where we are. Sometimes you can't just sit back and enjoy it like you should."
The words of a much older man spoken with the voice of a choir boy. Having met with success, the mountains are fewer to climb. What drives the boys is continuing, reaching that same level time after time.
The name was an accident. Blurted out on the radio, none of them liked it at first, but it stuck. And it has become more than a label, a definition of an era as they continue to evolve.
"What it means is longevity," Nathan Morris said. "Boyz II Men means longevity and growth. No one can tell you when you've acheived manhood. Everyday you acheive more growth.