Happy 25th Anniversary to Groove Theory’s eponymous debut album Groove Theory, originally released October 24, 1995.
“I’ve been doing my own thing / Love has always had a way of having bad timing.” If you know the first line of Groove Theory’s “Tell Me,” then you can probably sing the whole thing from memory. The video for that inescapable hit introduced us to an angelic Amel Larrieux sporting Prada gear, exuding unbothered cool with her two-step. Silent partner Bryce Wilson nodded along, becoming the crush of a thousand fans without singing a note. The song charted #5 Pop and #3 R&B. These two had something special going on.
Their self-titled debut alchemized R&B when it dropped on October 24, 1995. Wilson’s hip-hop angled tracks bounced like hydraulics on a topless Jeep. The bass had hump, and his custom refunked beats felt like old-turned-new. Larrieux arrived fully equipped with a notepad full of sapient lyrics, and an unvarnished voice, lithe and majestic like baby’s breath in Minnie Riperton’s hair.
Surprisingly, their breakthrough hit almost escaped them. It was written for Mariah Carey’s spotlight-stealing “I’ll Be There” duet partner Trey Lorenz, but didn’t make the cut of his 1992 solo effort. It was then shipped overseas to UK quartet Rhythm N Bass. Their 1993 original recording was capable, but got buried on the B-side of a single that sunk better than it swam.
Larrieux and Wilson didn’t really want “Tell Me” on their album, but Epic Records insisted. The demo was dusted off and used to present Groove Theory to the world, even with Lorenz’s adlibs stuck to its latter half. No one was the wiser, and most assumed the unexpected male voice was Bryce Wilson.
Both follow-up singles had respectable R&B chart entries, only missing the Top 20 by the littlest bit. “Keep Tryin’” was first up, accompanied by an understated but beautiful visual. The percussive bass-boomer says everything you’d want to hear when discouraged (“Your day is coming, though it seems far / Things will be clear when you love who you are / Nothing can stop you as long as you listen to your heart”).
The following summer, Larrieux’s ode to her new daughter Sky took its turn at radio. “Baby Luv” came bounding in like a happy puppy. It’s almost got too much energy, but it’s so cute, you might let it lick you in the face a couple times. Of course, some people don’t play that, so a remix toned down the pop vibe until it resembled “Tell Me, Part 2.”
At the time, urban radio demanded mostly “good lovin’, body rockin’, knockin’ boots all night long” and “I will be a freak until the day, until the dawn.” It was like a high school lunchroom where everybody is talking about sex, but few are actually having it. Groove Theory entered the scene intent on discussing something else for a change.
On first impression, the disc is more What’s Going On than Let’s Get It On. An allegory about a young girl in the grips of addiction shakes the listener awake at track one (“10 Minute High”). A few cuts later, Larrieux tries to love someone away from the street life (“Come Home”). The CD closes the way it starts, narrating the gritty story of a child exposed to crime and poverty before he’s old enough to understand it (“Boy At The Window”). The lyrics are heavy at times, but the ring of Larrieux’s ethereal voice over brisk Wu-Tang-inspired beats is a spoonful of sugar to make the medicine go down.
They meant business, but GT’s balance was always a little more sweet than street. Like a good romcom that makes you venture to try dating apps again, its charm is in meetcutes and first kisses. It’s also in the drama of disappointment and rising again from the wreckage of heartbreak. Groove Theory became a soundtrack for R&B listeners who watch movies that simulate that ride. It made you want to be in love.
The romance begins here with four hits of a drum fill and a major-seventh wah-wah guitar that swings open like French doors to a garden in full bloom. Larrieux sings “hello” twelve different ways like a lover planting a kiss for each day you’ve been gone. This organic soul cover of Todd Rundgren’s “Hello It’s Me” (which faithfully recreates The Isley Brothers’ 1974 arrangement) fits so contiguously with the rest of the set, it could be mistaken for an Amel Larrieux-penned original.
On the other side, you have the nostalgic goodbye of “Time Flies” (“Here we are / Look how long it’s been / We’ve come far… / Now we’re grown / On our own / Everybody’s movin’ on”). Then there’s the slow-motion slap and boom-bap of “Hey U,” all about accepting the reluctant end of a love affair with no hard feelings.
Whether grimy or dainty, the music never broods. Wilson paces Groove Theory like a rap album that, believe it or not, has no samples. One might suspect “10 Minute High” employs “Check The Rhime” from ATCQ. “Time Flies” probably did use a sprinkle of Shelly Manne’s “Infinity” for flavor. And we can’t be certain Biz Markie has never freestyled over the “Hey U” beat.
More than anything else though, people still swear “Tell Me” samples the bass line of Mary Jane Girls’ “All Night Long.” It doesn’t, but it just sounds like it does. If it had, don’t you think you would’ve heard about that song’s author suing every single entity involved? (C’mon. He was Rick James, bitch.) These soundbeds might provoke heavy déjà entendu, but the musicians who fashioned the sound are right there in the credits.
Another person finding success in credits was Wilson. Producing the Groove Theor-ish megahit “You’re Makin’ Me High” for then-girlfriend Toni Braxton in 1996 raised anticipation about the group’s return. A release date was penciled in for September 1997, but came and went with no new music. We had been ghosted.
It was officially over when Bryce Wilson resurfaced with another girl on his arm in 2000. Makeda Davis was beautiful, but didn’t have the right synergy for a Groove Theory project fans would accept. One single from The Answer made it to radio, but its commercial sound and atypically explicit lyrics betrayed the virtues their debut stood for. The sophomore album was shelved and all parties went their separate ways.
Wilson continued producing for Mary J. Blige, Angie Stone, Beyoncé, and others, also minting a second career as an actor (Beauty Shop, Trois). Meanwhile, Larrieux began charting her solo path with the presciently titled Infinite Possibilities in 2000. She would eventually leave the majors behind altogether, encouraged by legendary music muckraker Prince to go independent. She and her husband formed Bliss Life Records and have released four critically acclaimed Amel Larrieux albums to date.
That’s not quite the way anyone wanted the Groove Theory saga to wrap after such a promising start. Perhaps like ill-fated lovers in our romcom, these two were meant to make magic on wax together for only a moment in time. The transience of that moment takes nothing away from the gold-certified, Billboard Top 20 triumph that this eponymous release was. It captures the mid-‘90s like a perfect Polaroid. The fact that it has aged so well is a testament to its extraordinary quality. Oh, how time flies indeed.
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