Flyte Bros LogoLast year, I joined Popdose‘s Jeff Giles and Robert Cass for a column called “‘Face Time,” in which we discussed essential (and some non-essential) cuts in the catalog of Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, one of the most prolific singer/songwriters of the ’80s and ’90s. ‘Face and his partner Antonio “L.A.” Reid were one of the big 3 production teams that ruled pop and R&B during that era. There was also Teddy Riley and his New Jack Swing camp, and perhaps most notably, Minneapolis’s James “Jimmy Jam” Harris III and Terry Lewis. The former members of Prince offshoot band The Time turned out to be legends in their own right, composing and producing hits for a who’s-who of the music industry and proving to be as (if not more) influential than their purple-clad benefactor.

So in 2014, Jeff, Robert and I (along two new team members, fellow Popdose editor/Popblerd podcast co-host Michael Parr, along with badass co-conspirator Dr. Z) are back to talk all things Flyte Tyme.

Boyz II Men | “4 Seasons of Loneliness” (written & produced by Jam & Lewis) | #1 pop, #2 R&B, 1997 | Amazon

Michael Parr: Is it a coincidence that the first word that popped into my head when I saw the subject of this week’s discussion was “melisma”?

MJ: I LOVE this song. Vocal arrangement gives me chills.

Jeff Giles: This song isn’t bad. I managed to completely avoid it at the time on account of having developed an extreme allergy to the whining of that one Boyz who always sounded like was about to cry (editor’s note: that would be Wanya Morris,) but this is some primo baby-makin’ stuff. All glossy and pillow soft, just like a fine R&B ballad should be.

MJ: I wouldn’t call this baby makin’ music…it’s a pretty depressing song. Bit of a daring choice for a first single, too. Love the understated production, though. It’s all about the voices on this one.

JG: That’s definitely a solid point regarding the understated production. It’s slick without being overbearing, and a perfect complement for the vocal arrangement. I think their ballads are often guilty of trying too hard, but this one works.

Dr. Z: It’s a good enough song, I just feel like Boyz II Men found their sweet spot with the polished R&B balladry, and never let themselves out of that box. I get it, go with what you know, and with what your audience expects to some degree. But it’s not as if these guys (Men? Boyz?) aren’t vocally talented. I had essentially tuned them out by or around this time. I love R&B, but I feel like this particular strand of the genre is more limiting than anything else. That said, it was 1997 and this particular strand of R&B was still very much in demand from a commercial standpoint, so I can’t fault them. I just don’t find it particularly interesting.

MJ: I certainly think they saw a successful avenue and exploited it to the hilt (hey, it’s what pop stars do.)

Maybe my ears are differently attenuated to the different sub-strands of R&B, but to my ears, this sounds almost daringly uncommercial for the time. That Jam & Lewis drum program hadn’t been used in half a decade, at least. Also, the song’s a little wordy for a pop/R&B record, and they never actually say (sing?) the chorus.
I’d say it only hit #1 because it was Boyz II Men (and this was the first single from the follow up to the enormously successful II) but radio would’ve ignored it had it been any other act.
JG: Everything you say about the song’s ingredients is correct, but it still doesn’t sound the least bit uncommercial to me — just a series of pleasant variations on the dominant sound of the time that still fit well within the parameters of mainstream mid-to-late ’90s R&B.

MP: MJ has a point, though; there are 78 words in that chorus and nary a discernible hook to be found.

From a production perspective I think it was an attempt to take the group a step forward. Forward into what? Well that’s a little debatable. They seemed willing to shed all traces of the uptempo-new jack flavor that they started with and ease into the smoothed out, borderline easy listening, quiet storm jams that made them major bank.
JG: A far, far less interesting direction, if you ask me, although I confess to never once skipping past After 7’s “Ready or Not.” Is mentioning that song committing a Flyte Brothers foul?
MJ: We’ll see whether Jimmy shows up at your front door to beat your ass.
Robert Cass: After “Motownphilly” I was excited to hear what came next. But what came next was a whole lotta ballads and not much shakin’ goin’ on.
MJ: I think “End of the Road” put them into the ballad business for as long as the checks continued rolling in. Then came “I’ll Make Love To You,” which I personally wanted to take out back and shoot.
JG: Seconded. I think the only song from that whole sappy run that I really enjoyed was “Water Runs Dry.”

MJ: “End of the Road” was a great song the first 10,000 times I heard it. I graduated high school in 1993; let’s just say it wore out its welcome.
JG: I graduated in ’92 — I’m right there with you. Between that and our prom theme “Save the Best for Last,” the airwaves grew fairly toothless there for a spell.

Z: What the hell prom committee chose” Save the Best for Last” as a theme? I don’t follow the logic. But if the snow comes down in June, what do I know?

MP: I also suffered a “Save the Best for Last” prom, as well as a “Never Say Goodbye” prom. You know, because a song that actually refers to getting laid on prom night is the proper choice.

That said, I have zero love for “Save the Best for Last,” but can tolerate “I’ll Make Love to You.”

Z: This could be a separate rant in and of itself. It seems my high school experience was not unique in that they always opted for some sappy assed bullshit ballad as a Prom/Homecoming theme. Off the top of my head, I can remember Richard Marx (“Hold on to the Nights”) and Clapton (“Wonderful Tonight”) being themes during my tenure. “Wonderful Tonight” ain’t a bad tune, though overplayed. The Marx choice is particularly egregious–there was no good rationale for that being a dance them in the late 1990s.

I remember campaigning heavily for our prom theme to be “1999” but was shut down by the head of the committee (my Spanish teacher) in favor some similarly sappy drivel.

RC: “Hold On to the Nights” was my school’s prom theme in ’94, though I think “Don’t Mean Nothin'” would’ve been more appropriate.

(Can I get a “YOUNT!”?)
All: YOUNT!!

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