En Vogue
Vocal dance/R&B outfit consisting of Dawn Robinson (b. c.1965, Connecticut, USA), Terry Ellis (b. c.1966, Texas, USA), Cindy Herron (b. c.1963, San Francisco, California, USA) and Maxine Jones (b. c.1962, Patterson, New Jersey, USA). They formed in Oakland, California, where they were auditioned by Denzil Denny Foster and Thomas McElroy. The duo had worked together in both the Timex Social Club and Club Noveau (who enjoyed big hits with Rumours in 1986 and Lean On Me, a hip hop version of Bill Withers’ '70s classic, and a Grammy winner, in 1987). Afterwards they decided to write and produce under their own steam: ‘When Tommy and I bumped into each other in the early '80s, we had the same notion. Everyone was saying R&B was tired and worn out. The new era was hip hop and rap. But we thought: why not combine the two eras? Put good songs—and the '70s were loaded with good songs— over the new grooves’. En Vogue were formed in October 1988 after the duo auditioned to establish their own ‘girl group’. Of the four selected, only Cindy Herron had previous ‘showbiz’ experience, winning Miss San Francisco and Miss Black California pageants, and also working as an actress. The groups remained primarily responsible for their own image and songs, but they were groomed for success by joining Hammer's 1990 tour, and that of Freddie Jackson a year later. They would go on to score singles success with Hold On and Lies in 1990. The latter introduced female rapper Debbie T, and added a new, post-feminist outlook to traditional R&B concerns. Their second album, meanwhile, would incorporate two Curtis Mayfield covers, and produce further hits in Free Your Mind and Give It Up, Turn It Loose. Heavily influenced by Chaka Khan, En Vogue have in turn helped kickstart the New Jill Swing movement, which has so far thrown up the likes of SWV, Jade and TLC. They were approached by Roseanne Cash and then-husband Tom Arnold to appear in their own sitcom.