Enchantment is a soul/ R&B band formed in Detroit, Michigan by Emanuel "EJ" Johnson, Joe "Jobie" Thomas, Bobby Green, Edgar "Mickey" Clanton, and David Banks. They are best known for their mid-1970s hits, "

Gloria Gloria may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Christian liturgy and music * Gloria in excelsis Deo, the Greater Doxology, a hymn of praise * Gloria Patri, the Lesser Doxology, a short hymn of praise ** Gloria (Handel) ** Gloria (Jenkins) ...

", "Sunshine" and " It's You That I Need".

History

Beginnings

Enchantment was formed in the late 1960s at Detroit's Pershing High School, with the visually impaired Emanuel "EJ" Johnson as their lead singer. In 1971, Enchantment came to the attention of Dick Scott, a former Motown executive who headed his own artist development company, Artists International. In 1973, they formed an alliance with Michael Stokes, producer of

Creative Source Creative Source was an American R&B group from Los Angeles, who had several funk and disco hits during the 1970s. History Creative Source was formed in 1972 by several session musician, veterans of the West Coast recording studios. They were man ...

's hit, "Who Is He (And What Is He To You)".

Success

By 1976, Stokes had negotiated a recording deal through his association with Fred Frank, then head of Roadshow Records, who was also guiding the careers of

B.T. Express B.T. Express (originally named Brooklyn Transit Express) was an American funk/disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on- ...

and Brass Construction. After their disco-oriented song "Come On And Ride", the band changed their focus to writing ballads. Their self titled debut album, '' Enchantment'', contained two singles in that vein which charted well on the Billboard R&B chart – "

" at number five and "Sunshine" at number three. Their second album, '' Once Upon a Dream'' far surpassed its predecessor by charting at No. 8 on the R&B albums chart and at No. 46 on the Pop albums charts. It featured the crossover ballad " It's You That I Need", which topped the R&B charts. Overall, their attempts to diversify their sound by appealing to the disco audience failed, but their song, "If You're Ready (Here It Comes)" reached No. 14 on the R&B charts. In 1978, Roadshow ended its distribution agreement with United Artists and formed an alliance with

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

. In 1979, Enchantment released their third album, '' Journey to the Land Of... Enchantment'', which was their final recording with Roadshow Records.

Decline

By 1980, Roadshow had folded as a label and Enchantment signed with

, where they recorded their fourth album, '' Soft Lights, Sweet Music'', with top R&B producer, Don Davis. Both singles released charted at No. 47 in the 1981 charts. In 1982, they signed with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

and released two more albums; ''

Enchanted Lady ''Enchanted Lady'' is the fifth album by Detroit, Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million a ...

'' (1982) and ''

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...

'' (1984). By the end of the 1980s, the rise of funk and rap put a virtual end to ballad groups. All three albums barely dented the charts.

Recent work

In 2003, Enchantment released "God Bless America", in honor of troops fighting in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. Proceeds from the single benefited the United Way. Jobie Thomas later left the group and has formed his own group known as Enchantment featuring Jobie Thomas.

Legacy

Although it was not a charting single itself, the Enchantment song "Forever More" (from '' Journey to the Land Of... Enchantment'') was later sampled by singer-songwriter Anthony David for his song "4Evermore" (featuring

Algebra Algebra () is one of the broad areas of mathematics. Roughly speaking, algebra is the study of mathematical symbols and the rules for manipulating these symbols in formulas; it is a unifying thread of almost all of mathematics. Elementary a ...

and

Phonte Phonte Lyshod Coleman, known mononymously as Phonte (born December 28, 1978), is an American rapper, singer, and producer. He is currently of the North Carolina hip-hop trio/duo Little Brother (revived in 2019 without producer 9th Wonder) and ...

), which became a top-20 R&B hit in 2011.

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

*''Golden Classics'' (1991,

Collectables A collectable (collectible or collector's item) is any object regarded as being of value or interest to a collector. Collectable items are not necessarily monetarily valuable or uncommon. There are numerous types of collectables and terms t ...

) *''If You're Ready... The Best of Enchantment'' (1996,

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

) *''Sunshine: The Enchantment Anthology (1975–1984)'' (2017, Big Break)

Singles

References

External links

* {{Authority control Musical groups from Detroit American soul musical groups United Artists Records artists RCA Records artists Columbia Records artists Musical quintets 1967 establishments in Michigan Musical groups established in 1967 Pershing High School alumni