En Vogue

Released: April 3, 1990

Songwriter: Denzil Foster Thomas McElroy En Vogue Don Ray Hughie Prince

Producer: Denzil Foster Thomas McElroy

[Intro - Cindy (Terry)]
Ay, you guys, remember the Andrews Sisters?
He was a famous trumpet man from out Chicago way
(Yeah, what about it?) Well, I like the song
I think we should do it
(No, not that version)
Well, what version?
(This one. Denny, drop that beat)

[Verse - En Vogue (Max)]
He was a sexy lover boy from out Chicago way
He had a hip-hop style no one could take away
He was the top man of his class (Oh yeah)
But then his number came up
And he was gone with the draft
He's in the Army now, a rappin' revelry
He's the boogie-woogie hip-hop boy from Company B

Cindy Herron, Terry Ellis, Maxine Jones, and Dawn Robinson are the original members of the R&B girl group En Vogue. The group was put together by producers Thomas McElroy and Denzil Foster after a talent search in Oakland, California in 1989. Their debut album Born to Sing was released in 1990 and featured the #1 R&B hits “You Don’t Have To Worry,” “Lies,” and their platinum debut single “Hold On,” which also peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and won a Billboard and Soul Train Music Award. Their 1992 follow-up album Funky Divas hit #1 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart and peaked at #8 on the Billboard 200 on its way to triple platinum status. The lead single, “My Lovin' (You’re Never Gonna Get It),” helped propel that success as it hit #1 on the Billboard R&B Singles chart and #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album also featured the #1 R&B hit cover of Aretha Franklin’s “Giving Him Something He Can Feel” as well as the Top 10 pop single “Free Your Mind.”

In 1993, they released the EP Runaway Love and made appearances on the TV shows In Living Color, Roc and A Different World. In 1994, they collaborated with Salt-N-Pepa on their Top 3 platinum single “Whatta Man” and in 1996 they contributed to the Set It Off soundtrack with their hit single “Don’t Let Go (Love)” which peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and hit #1 on the R&B Singles chart.

While working on their third album, Dawn Robinson decided to leave the group due to issues with management. The group decided to go on as a trio and released their third platinum album EV3 in 1997 featuring the Top 10 R&B/Top 20 pop hit “Whatever,” which was produced and co-written by Babyface. They went on to release three more albums—Masterpiece Theatre in 2000, The Gift of Christmas in 2002, and Soul Flower in 2004. During that time, Maxine Jones left the group in 2001 and was replaced by Amanda Cole, and Cole was later replaced in 2003 by Rhona Bennett. While the original four members have reunited for performances throughout the years, the current lineup consists of Herron, Ellis, and Bennett, and they released the single “Déjà Vu” in 2016 and released their album Electric Café in 2018.

more tracks from the album

Born to Sing

From the album

Born to Sing (1990)

En Vogue popular songs

Boogie Woogie Bugle BoyEn Vogue

En Vogue

Born to Sing