“Ever since the day that you appeared, I’m telling you you
made the difference, now love is so clear”
Welcome back
friends, to the latest transmission from Kyle’s Radio Dial! Today,
we are beaming a forgotten former hit from the dawn of the ‘90s to
your speakers, to get your week going with a little bit of
positivity. And can’t we all use some of that right now? I mean, am
I right?
So, without
further ado, I am proud to present After 7, and their hit “Can’t
Stop”.
After 7… (Which is not to be confused with Nestle’s chocolate mint candy,
that was After Eight !)
is an Indianapolis based R&B vocal trio comprised of
brothers Kevon and Melvin Edmonds, and Keith Mitchell. These
gentlemen have music in their backgrounds as Keith sang with Kevon in
a group that toured Indianapolis as college students, and the Edmonds
brothers are the elder siblings of Babyface, R&B producer
extraordinaire. Babyface, along with producing partner L.A. Reid,
co-wrote and produced much of the material on After 7’s albums.
Taken from their
1989 debut self titled LP, “Can’t Stop” followed the singles
“Heat of the Moment” (US #19, R&B #5), and their pop
breakthrough “Ready or Not”, a US #7, and R&B #1
smash. “Can’t Stop” continued After 7’s hit-making streak by
peaking at US #6, and once again topping the R&B singles chart.
Following this,
the trio’s pop chart success dwindled, however they continued
scoring R&B hits well into the decade, among which was their 1992
cover of “Baby I’m for Real”, originally recorded in
1969 by The Originals (funny how that worked out), and their 1995
smash “’Til You Do Me Right”, both of which reached R&B
#5. The trio even enjoyed a successful comeback in 2016 with their
Timeless LP (their first album in 20 years), which reunited
them with Babyface, and landed them five top 10 singles on
Billboard’s Adult R&B songs chart.
I’ll never get
tired of listening to “Can’t Stop”. It’s just so exuberant
and truly romantic. It’s not at all schmaltzy or emotionally
overwrought like so many tunes that are considered romantic classics.
(“My Heart Will Go On”, “Everything I Do (I Do It For
You)”, etc.) “Can’t Stop” successfully captures the
euphoria and excitement of falling in love, in which the proverbial
sun, moon, and stars revolve around your partner and you can’t wait
to spend as much time as possible with them. It’s much like a ‘90s
version of the Temptations’ 1964 masterpiece “My Girl”.
Actually, that’s a very apt comparison, as like the legendary
Motown pioneers, After 7 display pristine soulful harmonies, classy
personas, and lyrical content that speaks to us all.
Plus, I just love
the progression of the bridge into the chorus… it’s simply an
awesome groove.
Now, at the time
this song was a hit, I was in eleventh grade, and my high school bus
driver only played the local urban contemporary station (WPGC-FM for
those of you in the Washington DC market). As I was still listening
to early to mid 80s top 40 on my Walkman, (Hall & Oates, Duran
Duran, The Police – yeah I was retro even then), I tended to crank
my cassettes to drown out the bus driver’s musical choice. However,
if I heard “Can’t Stop” over the bus radio, you can bet I would
put my Walkman on pause and get lost in After 7’s soulful
masterpiece.
On a related
note, one of the songs I really disliked hearing on those bus rides
back then was The Rude Boys “Written All Over your
Face”. Now I don’t mean to offend any readers who may love
that song or that group, but I found the vocals to be whiny and
nasally, and above all, quite irritating. In fact, for the longest
time I thought the lyrics of the chorus was actually... “I
really don’t know what to say”… because those nasally
vocals just made the words hard to decipher to my ears. But it has
been nearly 30 years since I’ve heard it. So, I decided to listen
to “Written…” just now for the first time since then to see if
my opinion has become more forgiving given the intervening years. And
I have to say…
No. No it hasn’t.
Keep in mind that music is very subjective. But my conclusion is The
Rude Boys… lame… After 7… classy. There ya go.
Now to get
serious for a moment. Sadly, Melvin Edmonds passed away on May 18,
2019 at the age of 65. After 7 continues his legacy, and Melvin’s
son Jason fills in for his father on tours alongside his uncle Kevon
and friend Keith, delivering on the promise of classic soulful
harmonies began three decades prior. Much love and respect to you
Melvin, we’ll see you on the other side.
So, check out the
song below and give After 7 some love. You might even get some love
back from them, as you get caught up in their musical celebration of
romance and infatuation. And we could all use any additional love
these days.
Stay well
everyone, and stay tuned to Kyle’s Radio Dial for more overlooked
and forgotten classic tracks from years past!
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