The Force M.D.'s are an American R&B vocal group that was formed in 1981 in Staten Island, New York. Although the group has old school hip hop roots, it is perhaps best known for two tunes that are widely considered 1980s

quiet storm Quiet storm is a radio format and genre of R&B, performed in a smooth, romantic, jazz-influenced style. It was named after the title song on Smokey Robinson's 1975 album ''A Quiet Storm''. The radio format was pioneered in 1976 by Melvin Lin ...

classics, " Tender Love" and "

Love Is a House "Love Is a House" is a 1987 song by American R&B group Force M.D.'s. Released on the band's ''Touch and Go'' album, the single was the group's third top ten hit on the ''Billboard''s Black Singles chart, and their most successful on that chart pe ...

". They are considered major forerunners of the new jack swing movement.

History

Origins

The band was originally named The L.D.s, and then became the Force MCs, but ultimately preferred the name Force MDs, which stood for Musical Diversity. Though the group was not quite always as recognizable as other New York R&B acts when it first started, they were among the first R&B vocal groups to intermix

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

-affected singing with and sometimes over hip-hop beats. The group was composed of brothers Stevie D., Antoine "T.C.D." (February 3, 1963 – January 18, 1998), and Rodney "Khalil" Lundy, and their uncle Jessie Lee Daniels (July 4, 1963 – January 4, 2022). Later, friends Trisco Pearson (October 23, 1962 – September 16, 2016) and Charles "Mercury" Nelson (December 19, 1964 – March 9, 1995) from the Mariners Harbor housing projects joined the group.

Performing and signing with a record label

The group began performing on Times Square,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

street corners and during trips on the

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey b ...

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water ta ...

. After the L.D.s connected with DJ Dr. Rock (Roger Daniels) they then performed as "Dr. Rock & the Force MCs." The group was discovered by hip hop promoter Vansilk in summer 1981. The three members were Dr. Rock, Stevie D. and Mercury. In collaboration with Dr. Rock, the group continued to perfect their unique sound, which was unusual at the time: a fusion of doo-wop harmonies and hip-hop that involved singing, rapping and group member's "human beatbox" melodies at underground hip hop shows. They gained even more credibility and respect from local fans after competing in an emcee lyrical battle against the well known Cold Crush Brothers from the Bronx in 1983. By 1984, the group signed with Tommy Boy Records, and they had developed into a

/contemporary R&B group, with its top-ten R&B hit, "Tears", from the debut album, ''Love Letters''. (With the exception of their first album, the group was the first act on Tommy Boy to have major-label distribution through its then-parent Warner Bros. Records.)

Success

The group produced a collection of R&B hits throughout the 1980s, and received overwhelming commercial success from the Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis-penned love song " Tender Love" from their second album, 1985's '' Chillin'''. The song was featured in the 1985

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

and soundtrack '' Krush Groove'', and proved to be a success, peaking at No. 10 in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, becoming an instant R&B classic after it stayed on the chart for 19 weeks. "Tender Love" was also one of the tracks that helped Jam & Lewis garner a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

for Producer of the Year. The song "Itchin' for a Scratch" was performed by the group in the 1985 feature film '' Rappin''', and was also part of the soundtrack. In 1987 they finally scored their first R&B #1 hit, "

," from their third album, ''Touch & Go''.

Waning popularity and member changes

By the late 1980s the group's popularity began to wane. A fourth album, ''Step to Me'', was released in 1990, which featured record production by Full Force, Marley Marl, Monte Moir (of the band The Time), and others. Members Pearson and Nelson left soon afterward, replaced by original member Rodney "Khalil" Lundy (who had initially left the band early in their career) and new member Shawn Waters. The group then released the album ''Moments in Time'' in 1994, but failed to chart or produce any hits. In 1996 the group appeared on several tracks on the

Ghostface Killah Dennis Coles (born May 9, 1970), better known by his stage name Ghostface Killah, is an American rapper and a member of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan. After the group achieved breakthrough success in the aftermath of '' Enter the Wu-Tang (36 ...

album ''

Ironman Iron Man, Ironman or Ironmen may refer to: *Nathaniel "Iron Man" Avery (1939–1985), American caddie for Arnold Palmer *Travis Fulton (1977–2021), American mixed martial arts fighter *Gunnar Graps (1951–2004), Estonian musician * Mick Murphy ...

''.

Deaths in the group and a last reunion

Three of the group's members died within five years of each other: Nelson suffered a fatal heart attack in 1995; former collaborator DJ Dr. Rock died suddenly of natural causes in 1996; and in 1998, Antoine Lundy died of

Lou Gehrig's disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most com ...

. The remaining members returned with a comeback album, ''The Reunion'', in 2000, but it failed to chart or register any hits. Damen Heyward, a native of

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

who has toured with artists such as Joe, left the group to join his brother Lance Heyward, and two cousins Jeraude Jackson and Steve Gray, to form the group 4 By Four in 1987. The group released their first and only self-titled debut album under Capitol Records that year. Their album had little fanfare but charted hits such as "Come Over" which was written by Ready for the World lead singer Melvin Riley, "Want You for My Girlfriend" and "Don't Put the Blame on Me". 4 By Four quietly disbanded after the release of their album and a live appearance on an episode of '' Soul Train'', where they performed "Want You for My Girlfriend" and "Don't Put the Blame on Me", and undertook an interview with Don Cornelius. Trisco Pearson died on September 16, 2016, at age 53, after a battle with stage 4 cancer. His death was announced by Bow Legged Lou of Full Force. Jessie Daniels died on January 4, 2022, at the age of 58.

Legacy

* The song "Tender Love" has been sampled in the 1996 Bone Thugs-n-Harmony hit "

Days of Our Livez "Days of Our Livez" is a single by Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. The instrumental is primarily based on samples of "Tender Love" by Force MDs and " Making Love in the Rain" by Herb Alpert. It was released on the soundtrack to the movie '' Set It Off' ...

", and a number of current musicians have covered the song, including

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...

The Backstreet Boys Backstreet Boys (often abbreviated as BSB) are an American vocal group consisting of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, and cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson. Lou Pearlman formed the group in 1993 in Orlando, Florida. The gro ...

Kelly Rowland Kelendria Trene Rowland (born February 11, 1981) is an American singer, actress, and television personality. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a member of Destiny's Child, one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. During the g ...

, Marques Houston and Marsha Ambrosius. * In an interview in 2009 U.S. President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

highlighted the band among other artists included in his

Air Force One Air Force One is the official air traffic control designated call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. In common parlance, the term is used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modified and us ...

iPod The iPod is a discontinued series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The first version was released on October 23, 2001, about months after the Macintosh version of iTunes wa ...

playlist A playlist is a list of video or audio files that can be played back on a media player either sequentially or in a shuffled order. In its most general form, an audio playlist is simply a list of songs, but sometimes a loop. The term has sev ...

when he travels. * On April 8, 2010, the newly reformed Force MD's made their first national television appearance in over a decade on

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...

's '' The Mo'Nique Show''. * A documentary film titled ''The Force M.D.s Relived'' was shot recently, but the release date for a DVD is unknown at the moment. * On September 9, 2015, they were featured on an episode of TV One's '' Unsung''.

Members

* Zieme Capers * Stevie D. (Stevie D. Lundy) * Khalil (Rodney Lundy)

Former members

* T.C.D. (Antoine Lundy) * Mercury (Charles Nelson) * DJ Dr. Rock * Shawn Waters * Trisco (Trisco Pearson) * Jessie D. (Jessie Lee Daniels) * Damen Heyward

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles

Filmography

* 1985: '' Rappin''' * 1989: '' Limit Up''

Cover version

One of their songs "Tender Love" was covered by Jordan Knight, Kenny Thomas, Usher, Uncle Sam,

and Meshell Ndegeocello.

References

External links

The Force M.D.'s The Force M.D.'s are an American R&B vocal group that was formed in 1981 in Staten Island, New York. Although the group has old school hip hop roots, it is perhaps best known for two tunes that are widely considered 1980s quiet storm classics ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

The Force M.D.'s
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Force MDs American soul musical groups African-American musical groups People from Staten Island American street performers Tommy Boy Records artists Musical groups established in 1981 1981 establishments in New York City Musical groups from Staten Island