Babyface (The Deele)

THE DEELE

Formed in Cincinatti, Ohio in 1981. Original members were Darnell "Dee" Bristol (vocals,guitar), Carlos "Satin" Greene (vocals), Kevin "Kayo" Roberson (bass), and Antonio "L.A." Reid - nicknamed "L.A." because of the being called "Little Antonio" - other stories say the nickname came from the Los Angeles Dodgers cap he wore or that he got his nickname because of an ant farm he had as a kid, with "L.A." standing for "Little Ant"; son of the Exciters' Herb Rooney and Brenda Reid; previosuly married to singer Pebbles) (percussion, drums). Later, Stanley "Stick" Burke (guitar, keyboards) and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds (previously with Tarnished Silver, Manchild, Crowd Pleasers, and April) (vocals, keyboards, guitar) were added. Edmonds left his previous group Crowd Pleasers "since they didn't have a recording contract" to join The Deele. At first, the group was called Essence, but changed their name to The Deele. L.A. Reid describes the naming of the group, "We took our name from our experiences. It's synonymous with the way we live our lives. In such a short time we have had to experience a lot of things; and yet we have been able to deal with it all. Hence, we're The Deele! The spelling? Oh, that just makes us different and unique!"

Stanley Burke left the group before 1985.

Babyface recorded his first solo album 'Lovers' in 1986 before the group's third album 'Eyes Of A Stranger' (released in 1987) due to Solar Records' change in distribution. Babyface explains, "On ['Eyes Of A Stranger'], they basically wanted me to sing only one song, and that was "Two Occasions". Because of my solo album, we had actually been in the process of weaning Babyface out of the front-line anyway so that we could concentrate on the other members of The Deele as vocalists, because each vocalist has his own thing and they need to be heard. Basically that's why we did a Babyface album in the first place. The intention being for me to exit from The Deele at some point, and we had set up for that, so it could be a smooth transition. The last thing we expected was that "Two Occasions" would be the main big hit. The only reason I sang on that song was because the vocalist who was supposed to sing that part didn't show up at the studio that day!"

L.A. and Babyface officially left the group in 1989 to produce Babyface's second solo album 'Tender Lover'. Kayo followed to assist with their musical production.

The Deele continued to record without L.A. and Babyface. Their work includes the song "Digits" from the 'Deep Cover' soundtrack (Solar Records) in 1992, and the album 'Invitation To Love' (Solar Records) in 1994.

Click on the song title for a RealAudio sound clip.

'Eyes Of A Stranger'

(Right Stuff Records)

Re-issued 1997

"Two Occasions"

Contains the live version used on Babyface's 'A Closer Look', not the original studio version from the original album release

"Shoot 'Em Up Movies"

"Let No One Separate Us"

"Eyes Of A Stranger"

"Can-U-Dance"

"She Wanted"

"Hip Chic"

"So Many Thangz"

'Eyes Of A Stranger'

(Unidisc Music Inc.)

Canadian; Re-issued 1997

"Two Occasions"

"Shoot 'Em Up Movies"

"Let No One Separate Us"

"Eyes Of A Stranger"

"Can-U-Dance"

"She Wanted"

"Hip Chic"

"So Many Thangz"

"Two Occasions" (The Live Remix)

"Can-U-Dance" (Club Dub)

'The Best Of The Deele (The Definitive Hits Collection)'

(Deep Beat Records) (UK Import)

Released 1996

"Two Occasions"

"Shoot 'Em Up Movies"

"Body Talk"

"I Surrender"

"Just My Luck"

"Sexy Love"

"You're All I've Ever Known"

"Suspicious"

"Material Thangz"

"I'll Send You Roses"

"Sweet November"

"Let No One Separate Us"

"Can-U-Dance"

"Dry Your Eyes"

"Crazy 'Bout 'Cha"

"Eyes Of A Stranger"

'The Best Of The Deele'

(Castle Records) (Japanese Import)

Released 1995

"Body Talk"

"I Surrender"

"Just My Luck"

"Sexy Love"

"Street Beat"

"You're All I've Ever Known"

"Suspicious"

"Material Thangz"

"I'll Send You Roses"

"Sweet November"

"Two Occasions"

"Shoot 'Em Up Movies"

"Let No One Separate Us"

"Can-U-Dance"

"Dry Your Eyes"

'Greatest Hits'

(Unidisc Music) (UK Import)

Released 1994

"Body Talk"

"I Surrender"

"Just My Luck"

"Material Thangz"

"Suspicious"

"Can-U-Dance"

"Two Occasions"

"Shoot 'Em Up Movies"

"Street Beat"

"You're All I've Ever Known"

"I'll Send You Roses"

"Eyes Of A Stranger"

"Sweet November"

"Let No One Separate Us"

"Dry Your Eyes"

'Eyes Of A Stranger'

(Solar Records)

Released 1987

"Two Occasions"

Written (with Darnell Bristol and Sid Johnson), produced (with L.A. Reid), lead and background vocals, and keyboards; limited edition version of the album contained the live version of this song; peak chart positions: Pop #10, R&B #4; re-recorded by Kotch in 1988 (from the album 'Kotch', Mango Records); re-recorded by the Whispers in 1997 (from the album 'Songbook Volume 1 - The Songs Of Babyface', Interscope Records); was sampled in 1997 in "Yeah Yeah Yeah" [remix] by Simone Hines (originally from the album 'Simone Hines', Epic Records); portions of the lyrics were used in 1997 in "I Still Love You" by Next (from the album 'Rated Next', Arista Records) (peak chart positions: Pop #14, R&B #4)

"Shoot 'Em Up Movies"

Produced (with L.A. Reid), lead and background vocals, and keyboards; peak chart position: R&B #10

"Let No One Separate Us"

Written (with L.A. Reid and Darnell Bristol), produced (with L.A. Reid), background vocals, and keyboards

"Eyes Of A Stranger"

Produced (with L.A. Reid), background vocals, and keyboards

"Dry Your Eyes"

Written (with Darnell Bristol and Daryl Simmons), produced (with L.A. Reid), background vocals, and keyboards; this song can be heard in the background of the intro on the Babyface song 'Lovers' from the album of the same name (1986), even though 'Lovers' was released before The Deele's "Dry Your Eyes" track not included on the Right Stuff Records 1997 reissue