Song:Two Occasions
Album:Greatest Hits
The Deele is best known as the group that brought Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and Antonio "L.A." Reid together and of course they went on to build a music empire at LaFace Records. The Deele had success in the 80s mostly on the R & B charts. Two Occasions was their only top ten pop hit in 1988. The Deele were from Cincinnati. They came out of the group Pure Essence who recorded one album in 1976 but had mainly regional success. After some personnel changes, Pure Essence moved to Indianapolis and renamed themselves Essence. But they soon split up and Essence drummer Antonio "L.A." Reid, bassist Kevin "Kayo" Roberson and guitarist Steve "Tuck" Walters formed a new group with lead singer Carlos "Satin" Greene, singer/percussionist Darnell "Dee" Bristol and guitarist/keyboardist Stanley "Stick" Burke. Soon after, Walters was replaced by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds who was the leader of the group Manchild. The Deele signed with Dick Griffey's SOLAR label which was a spinoff of the Soul Train TV show. They had success in the early 80s with groups like Midnight Star and The Whispers. The Deele's debut album Street Beat was released in 1983 and the single Body Talk reached #3 on the R & B Singles chart. Burke left and most of the songs on the 1985 album Material Thangz were written by Babyface and produced by Reid. It wasn't as successful as the first album and the single Material Thangz didn't crack the R & B top ten. After Babyface recorded a solo album, The Deele regrouped for the 1987 album Eyes of a Stranger. Two Occasions reached #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and would turn out to be The Deele's biggest hit. The song was written by Babyface, Bristol and Sid Johnson who worked with Babyface in Manchild. Babyface, Bristol and Greene trade lead vocals. By this time, Reid and Babyface had started producing other artists like Pebbles and this led to the formation of LaFace Records and the end of The Deele. You can get all their hits on this comp from the Canadian label Unidisc. Roberson also worked for LaFace as a studio bassist. Greene and Bristol recorded as The Deele in 1993 and then they reunited in 2007. They released a couple of singles but I don't think The Deele is active anymore. Here's the video for Two Occasions by The Deele.
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