The Bite Magazine - Spring 2016 - Issue 15

Jada Brookes reports on the return of En Vogue to the UK for a one-off show and what still makes them the Funky Divas that influenced future female groups. B efore Destiny’s Child’s and TLC’s 1999 respective hits ‘Bills, Bills, Bills’ and ‘No Scrubs’, there was EnVogue’s 1992 no nonsense girl power track ‘My Lovin’ (Never Gonna Get It)’. Even well before Des- tiny’s Child got to rock sexy outfits, the En Vogue girls had their mini sequinned dresses locked down. It may have been over two decades since ‘My Lovin’ was released but it will forever be that funky song that empowered us women when the guy just wasn’t doing what he was supposed to.Without a doubt Terry Ellis, Dawn Robinson, Maxine Jones and Cindy Herron-Braggs had all the ingredients of a successful girl group that saw them release red-hot R&B and pop smash hits in the 1990s such as ‘Hold On’, ‘Giving Him Something He Can Feel’, ‘Free Your Mind’ and ‘Whatta Man’ featuring Salt- N-Pepa.With their sex appeal, sass, style and sophistication, the four ladies sold over eight million albums and recorded a total of five albums – Born To Sing (1990), Funky Divas (1992), EV3 (1997), Masterpiece Theatre (2000) and The Gift of Christmas (2002). They also released several compilations including Best of En Vogue (1999) and The Very Best of En Vogue (2001) and appeared on Elmo from Sesame Street’s compilation CD Elmo- palooza as well as Simply Mad About The Mouse,Why Do Fools Fall in Love and S et It Off soundtracks which produced the number one hit ‘Don’t Let Go’. The brainchild of production team en ogue bitemusic V Still F nky Div s Images courtesy of Deacon Communications