Success, says Boyz II Men is hard work.
That's what gave the narmonious crooners record-breaking
victories-hard work along with behind-the-scenes support,
great fans, the love of Jesus Christ and "a lot of
frequent-flyer miles."
And said band member Nathan Morris, that's why they are
taking 1996 off, the first time in four and a half years
that they've allowed themselves to slow the pace and enjoy
the fruits of their labels.
But first, Morris and bandmates Michael McCary, Wanya
Morris, and Shawn Stockman will perform Friday at
Clarkston's Pine Knob Music Theater, and in late August at
the Michian State Fair in Detroit. Admission to that
concert is included in the $7 gate fee.
"I want to sit on the grass and play with the dogs," said
Morris, taking a short break from the band's rehersals in
Miami. "We want to sit down and enjoy what we've worked
for. Then we'll come back and everybody will be there to
do it again."
It's not the end of the road, McCary stressed. There are
still songs to sing, still music to create, record and
produce. And in response to those who credit Boyz II Men with
bringing music back in style, there are still those great
doo-wop memories of the 1960's, the music Boyz II Men says put it
on the road to success.
"We're just a resurgence of the past," McCary said. "We're
bringing back the harmonies of the 1960s. It's nothing
new."
Actually he said, the band's background is in classical,
studied as schoolmates at Philadelphia's performing arts
high school.
Don't count out gospel, jazz, maybe even country, McCary
added, as the group refines its sound.
"We love rap," Morris said. "We love all kinds of music, even gangsta rap. Any way someone protrays life, and expresses themselves with their music, it's all right, even though we may not understand it."
"We don't want to be catergoized," McCary said. "We have gone more and more in depth, though, with what we've learned on the road, meeting people, and through our relationships.
Which, by the way, are hard to sustain these days. McCary said, "While romance hasn't surviced the road, the experience makes for good songs."
"We're growing," he said. "Man hood comes with wisdom, and we're still learning."
Some might trace Boyz II Men's story back to New Edition, the group of young R&B crooners who tilled arenas with screaming teeny-boppers in the 1980's, and to Bell Biv Devoe, both former stomping grounds of charter Boyz member Michael Bivins.
He's the one who discovered the four Philadelphians and hand-walked them into the limelight, and then stepped aside to pursue his dream of becoming a record excecutive.
"He surrounded us with people," Morris said. "Michael's cool."
But it was songs like "It's so Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday," easily the senior class anthem of 1991, and generation-bridgers like "In the Still of the Nite (I'll Remember)" that gave Boyz II Men its international appeal.
Since then, the sentiment that tumbled Elvis Presley from king of the charts when "End of the Road" held the No. 1 position on the popular music charts for an unprecedented 13 weeks has worked its magic on "I'll Make Love to You," "On Bended Knee," and a cover of the Lennon, McCartney classic, "Yesterday."
"I think everyone wants romance." McCary said. "The toughest thing is to be sedimental. We kind of speak for everyone.
"We put all our energy into the song."
"We live it like everyone else," Morris said. "We live in this world like anyone else, and we make mistakes like anyone else.
"We take it one day at a time."
If that means crossover success, "we'll take it," Morris said. If that means renaming MTV in honor of his favorite faces, "that's cool," he laughed.
"We as individuals listen to different things, and when we came together to create, it comes across. History repeats itself, like the Commodores, the Tmpatations, and New Edition. There is nothing greater than the whole.
"We believe this with all our hearts. We know we can't accomplish anything without each other."
It's like brotherhood, he said, forged in high school and now like family. That's why, in still another Motown tradition, they appear in uniform - "It says this is a unit in step with itself," Morris explained.
Still, he admitted, he looks forward to spending some time at home, walking around in his shorts and socks, clicking channells without really stopping on anything, maybe listening to a little Wynton Marshalls.
But first, a last question, this one posed by an 11-year-old reporter for Kids Today.
How do you pick, she began, the people you pull on stage and give a $100 dollar bill?
"You're thinking of someone else," Morris gentley answered. "That's Babyface.
She took another shot, this time asking advice for youngsters interested in a musical career.
"In anything you want to do, go for it, despite the obstacles thrown in your way," Morris answered. "It will only make you stronger if you really believe."
"No matter what you do, don't give up," McCary said. "Keep reaching for your goals."