THE STYLISTICS + TOM CRIDLAND – CONGRESS THEATRE, EASTBOURNE 28.11.24
American soul act The Stylistics were created in 1968 from two young groups who were studying at the same Philadelphia high school, these being the Percussions and the Monarchs. The Stylistics were conceived when band member Airrion Love’s English teacher, Beverly Hamilton, suggested the two bands become one. Russell Thompkins Jr., James Smith and Airrion Love came from the Monarchs, and James Dunn and Herb Murrell came from the Percussions. The name “The Stylistics” came from their guitar player Robert Douglas.
In 1970, The Stylistics recorded ‘You’re a Big Girl Now’, which soon became a regional hit for Sebring Records. The larger Avco Records soon signed The Stylistics, and the single eventually climbed to No. 7 on the R&B charts in early 1971. Avco approached record producer Thom Bell to work with the band and the group’s unique sound was finally cemented.
The Stylistics have captivated audiences for decades with their smooth harmonies and timeless hits, and during the early 1970s, the group had twelve consecutive R&B top ten hits, including ‘Stop, Look, Listen’, ‘You Are Everything’, ‘Betcha By Golly, Wow’, ‘I’m Stone In Love With You’, ‘Break Up To Make Up’ and ‘You Make Me Feel Brand New’, which earned them 5 gold singles and 3 gold albums. Although the band haven’t troubled the UK Albums Top 40 Chart since 1976 and the UK Singles Top 40 Chart since 1977, their sound doesn’t seem to go away and there have been a number of best of compilation albums released since then and a couple dented the album charts back in 1992 and 2007.
A few months back the band announced their ‘Greatest Hits Tour’ dates and the sole Sussex concert was to take place at the impressive Eastbourne Congress Theatre, a venue that the outfit played last year on 21st November and so they knew what warmth to expect from the mainly mature crowd this time around. So we moved around our personnel for the night in order that we could check them out for the very first time!
I grew up in the 1960’s and 1970’s and was fully aware of all of The Stylistics hit singles, especially as they appeared on ‘Top of the Pops’ no less than 10 times between 1972 and 1978, but in all honesty I was into other types of music rather than the sound of Philadelphia, but I decided that it was time to expand my palate and so with an open mind we headed off to Eastbourne! We arrived in plenty of time and were courteously greeted by management and staff, who I must say were very kind and attentive, which is so refreshing! Mind you, anyone thinking of sneaking some live footage of tonight’s gig on their phone might not have the same mindset, as the staff were kept on the toes by many “offenders”!. We did actually find this quite an amusing game of cat and mouse and something that we rarely come across these days, but having said that, it’s clear that the venue was not only looking after the artist’s interests but also other nearby punters who were (or would have been) distracted by the bright lights off the phones. I guess it’s maybe considered old hat these days, but we are in Eastbourne after all.
The Congress Theatre is a lovely bright and clean venue which is located a very short distance away from the beach and there’s plenty of free on street parking, so we are feeling happy as we order our bottles of pop. We are shown to our seats and immediately start worrying that we can’t actually see anyone else in the auditorium with a drink in their hand, which is very rare, but then we spot some stragglers making their way in from the bar and all is well with the world. There is a support artist, who we will come to shortly…
Having prepared for tonight’s concert, I was fully aware that we were to be entertained by two of the original band members who have been in the group since their formation in 1968 – Cue baritones Airrion Love and Herb Murrell. Tenor lead vocalist Russell Thompkins Jr. was in the band from 1968 to 2000, bass vocalist James Smith lasted from 1968 to 1981 and baritone James Dunn lasted from 1968 to 1980. Along the way, there have been a few other band members, these being Raymond Johnson – bass (1981 to 1985), Harold Eban Brown – tenor lead vocals (2000 to 2018), Van Fields – bass (2000 to 2011) and Barrington “Bo” Henderson – tenor lead vocals (2018 to August 2024). Instead of replacing ‘Bo’, bass singer Jason Sharp moved to lead tenor vocals, making the group a trio for the first time since 2000.
The Stylistics this evening have a seven-piece backing band who are known as ‘The Style Orchestra’ and three of them take care of the keyboards, there’s a backing vocalist, a guitarist, a drummer with chimes, and a bassist. Generally speaking they do manage to achieve that legendary and well-loved Stylistics sound, although personally, with a trio of keys on the go, they might have been just a tad higher up in the mix. The band name-checked the sound guys and I think they said Russell Preston and Charles Smith, which I think was a nice touch.
The venue is almost totally full tonight and we are in their presence for 77 minutes and during that period we are awarded 16 choice cuts from their 1971 to 1976 period. At 8:20pm the musicians take to the expansive stage and kick off with ‘People Make The World Go Round’ which is found on their 1971 ‘The Stylistics’ album. Airrion, Herb and Jason then appear from our right hand side of the stage. It’s showbiz time and the trio are looking rather dapper in their matching jackets and trousers. It is exactly what you would expect of a Stylistics show, it has the smooth Hollywood to Vegas vibe, as the trio work their way through their synchronised shoe shuffling and arms movements. One tune down and it’s blatantly obvious that The Stylistics have a loyal following of fans, many of whom have dressed up especially for the night in their best jackets and trousers and shiny disco dresses.
The No.9 UK hit single ‘I’m Stone In Love With You’ from 1972’s ‘Round 2’ album is selection two and already the eager seated crowd are clapping along and the concert is going down very well indeed. The choreographed moves continue with the arrival of the line “There’s a spark of magic in your eyes” of 1971’s ‘Betcha By Golly, Wow’ from their self-titled album. This was the band’s first UK hit single, reaching No.13 and to be honest a tune I had totally forgotten about, despite religiously listening to the brand new singles chart every single week as a child/teenager/young adult/adult. This had a true familiar ring to it and I was wondering exactly how many times this evening my brain would be jogged, by an old memory. Turns out it was a regular (and enjoyable) occurrence.
The title track of their 1974 ‘Let’s Put It All Together’ LP came next which again was a No.9 UK hit single. After that they said “Let’s go back to the disco era” and unveiled ‘Heavy Fallin’ Out’ which is found on their ‘Heavy’ album from 1974. They segued straight into their No.3 ‘Sing Baby Sing’ UK hit single which is from their 1975 ‘Thank You Baby’ album, and then went straight into the No.7 UK hit ‘Sixteen Bars’ from 1976’s ‘Fabulous’ album.
The second selection from 1972’s ‘Round 2’ album came next in the form of ‘Break Up To Make Up’ which astonishingly only got to No.34 in the singles chart in 1973, but I guess we are talking about the heyday of glam rock! The band then segued straight into ‘Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)’ from 1971’s ‘The Stylistics’ album, although I actually remember the Diana Ross & Marvin Gaye 1974 hit version of this tune, which as many ladies will recall turned up in 2001 on the movie soundtrack for ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’. The Stylistics then segued straight into ‘You Are Everything’ which is from the same self-titled album and like its predecessor is also written Thom Bell and Linda Creed and was also a (No.5) hit for Diana Ross & Marvin Gaye. At the end of this medley, the crowd showed their approval via a deafening applause – tonight’s is going very well indeed!
Up until this point, lead vocals have been delivered by Jason, but on my favourite ever Stylistics song, ‘You Make Me Feel Brand New’ which reached No.2 in the UK singles chart and is found on their 1973 ‘Rockin’ Roll Baby’ album, the lead vocals were shared with Airrion. I must confess that I did actually sing out loud to this number in my best high-pitched voice and thankfully didn’t get carted away to the funny farm! Phew…Got away with it! Your turn “God bless you; You make me feel brand new; For God blessed me with you; You make me feel brand new; I sing this song ’cause you; Make me feel brand new”.
After this epic tune, we were informed that The Stylistics were celebrating their 56 year (cue massive applause) and the trio were introduced as the band strummed away. After these introductions, it was back to business with 1975’s title tune from their ‘Thank You Baby’ album, and followed by 1973’s title tune of their ‘Rockin’ Roll Baby’ album, for which the crowd were asked to stand up and dance and indeed virtually everyone obliged. Part way through the tune Airrion, Herb and Jason briefly vacated the stage and the musicians stayed put. The trio then made an immediate return and set about singing the tailend of the tune, for which the crowd joined in on the “Na, na, na, na, na, na-na-na-na” chorus. Having got almost everyone up on their feet, they then switched to ballad mode with the arrival of ‘Jenny’ from 1975’s ‘You Are Beautiful’ album, followed by the easy singalong No.5 UK hit ‘Na-Na Is The Saddest World’ from the same LP.
For their final number they ended on a disco biggie and amazingly their sole UK No.1 single, ‘Can’t Give You Anything (But My Love)’ from 1975’s ‘Thank You Baby’ album. The fans were again out of their seats and dancing and swaying along, especially the man and woman next to me who must have easily been in their mid 70’s and yet they were dancing away hand-in-hand without a care in the world. That’s exactly what The Stylistics music does to people, as Airron informed us during proceedings that so many children have been conceived to their songs. As the musicians played on, the trio of vocalists came to the front of the stage and shook hands with some lucky folk in the front row. After which they left the stage and the band played on as in a 12” extended crowd hand-clapping mix of the track and finally ended about five minutes later. It’s fair to say that The Stylistics are way out of my usual musical remit, but even I enjoyed myself!
The Stylistics:
Airrion Love – baritone (1968–present)
Herb Murrell – baritone (1968–present)
Jason Sharp – tenor lead singer (2011–present)
The Stylistics setlist:
‘People Make The World Go Round’ (from 1971 ‘The Stylistics’ album)
‘I’m Stone In Love With You’ (from 1972 ‘Round 2’ album)
‘Betcha By Golly, Wow’ (from 1971 ‘The Stylistics’ album)
‘Let’s Put It All Together’ (from 1974 ‘Let’s Put It All Together’ album)
‘Heavy Fallin’ Out’ (from 1974 ‘Heavy’ album)
‘Sing Baby Sing’ (from 1975 ‘Thank You Baby’ album)
‘Sixteen Bars’ (from 1976 ‘Fabulous’ album)
‘Break Up To Make Up’ (from 1972 ‘Round 2’ album)
‘Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)’ (from 1971 ‘The Stylistics’ album)
‘You Are Everything’ (from 1971 ‘The Stylistics’ album)
‘You Make Me Feel Brand New’ (from 1973 ‘Rockin’ Roll Baby’ album)
“Band Intros Jam”
‘Thank You Baby’ (from 1975 ‘Thank You Baby’ album)
‘Rockin’ Roll Baby’ (from 1973 ‘Rockin’ Roll Baby’ album)
(encore)
‘Jenny’ (from 1975 ‘You Are Beautiful’ album)
‘Na-Na Is The Saddest World’ (from 1975 ‘You Are Beautiful’ album)
‘Can’t Give You Anything (But My Love)’ (from 1975 ‘Thank You Baby’ album)
Support this evening came from Anglo-Portuguese Tom Cridland who is a singer, songwriter, piano player and record producer. Tom grew up in London with his mother, Manuela, his father, Jonathan, and his brother, James. As he informs us this evening, he recovered from alcoholism by playing Elton John’s music live in concert as his alter ego, Sir Eltom John, and he tours with the show. Tom is also responsible for the ‘Greatest Music Of All Time’ podcast where he talks to the stars. Check out his interviews HERE.
We were in Tom’s company this evening for 27 minutes, from 7:30pm to 7:57pm and during this short time Tom performed a handful of Elton John tunes and won the crowd over with his likeable personality. He informed us that it was a true honour opening for The Stylistics and endearingly alluded that it was “well above his pay grade!”.
Tom bounded on stage and sat behind a keyboard that was positioned centre front of the expansive stage with just an overhead light beaming down on him. He was wearing a loud sparkly suit similar to what Elton John used to wear in the early 1970’s. The sound quality in the venue was superb and every word (that many punters already knew) was easily audible. He bigged up the writing prowess of Elton John and Bernie Taupin on more than one occasion and after his opening number ‘Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going To Be A Long, Long Time)’ he stood up and was rewarded a big applause from the crowd. This was the pattern of the performance, play the song, stand up and get a bigger applause after each tune! He even got the punters to clap and sing along to the final number ‘Crocodile Rock’ and I’m sure after he vacated the stage he was very pleased as to how it all went!
Tom Cridland:
Tom Cridland – vocals, keys
Tom Cridland setlist:
‘Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going To Be A Long, Long Time)’ (from 1972 ‘Honky Château’ Elton John album)
‘Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me’ (from 1974 ‘Caribou’ Elton John album)
‘Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word’ (from 1976 ‘Blue Moves’ Elton John album)
‘I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues’ (from 1983 ‘Too Low For Zero’ Elton John album)
‘Crocodile Rock’ (from 1973 ‘Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only The Piano Player’ Elton John album)
