Song:There'll Never Be
Album:20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: The Best Of Switch
Switch was an R & B band that bounced around quite a bit before having success with Motown in the late 70s. There'll Never Be was their 1978 debut single and their biggest hit. At first they were Barry White's backup band White Heat with Greg Williams, Eddie Fluellen, drummer Jody Sims, Phillip Ingram (James Ingram's brother) and Bobby Debarge. Except for Debarge, they were all from Ohio. Debarge was from Grand Rapids, MI. And except for Sims, they all sang, wrote songs and played various instruments. White Heat recorded a 1975 album for RCA but then White closed his production company. They changed their name to Hot Ice. By this time, Bobby Debarge's brother Tommy Debarge joined to play bass. Hot Ice recorded a 1977 album for German producer Bernd Lichters that was only released in Germany. The band got the attention of Jermaine Jackson and changed their name to Switch. Jackson's wife Hazel Gordy got them a deal with Motown. Jackson produced Switch's 1978 debut album with Motown house producer Michael B. Sutton. There'll Never Be was the first single. It reached #6 on the R & B Singles chart and #36 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was written and sung by Bobby Debarge. Switch recorded five albums for Motown and had three top ten R & B singles. You can get all their hits on this budget comp. The Debarge brothers left to form Debarge with their siblings in 1981. Phillip Ingram left to go solo and has had a long career as a session singer. Switch brought in new members and after recording a 1984 album, they split up. Bobby Debarge died in 1995. Williams, Fluellen and Ingram reformed Switch in 2003. They toured for a few years but it looks like they disbanded as they closed their website. Here's Switch performing There'll Never Be on Soul Train 1978.
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