Full Force

by Jason BirchmeierFull Force rose to prominence in the mid-80s, writing and producing popular R&B hits for Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam before embarking on a moderately successful solo career that ultimately led them back to production work in the late 90s. The six-man collective — featuring Paul Anthony, Bowlegged Lou, B-Fine, Baby Gerry, Shy Shy, and Curt-t-t — originated in Brooklyn, NY, where they originally met up with Steve Salem in the late 70s, a business-savvy individual who functioned as their manager. With a manager in place and plenty of talent between the various group members, Full Force struggled throughout the early 80s to find a label willing to sign them. Eventually they got a break when they wrote and produced fellow Brooklyn group U.T.F.O.s Roxanne Roxanne, a rap song that would attain a certain level of fame thanks to a series of answer records. In early 1985, the single peaked at number ten on Billboards R&B charts, proving a substantial hit for both the rap group and the production team. From there, Full Force moved onto their next major success with Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam, a dance-pop group led by a 16-year-old singer named Lisa Velez. Originally Velez had auditioned for the production team, who then went ahead and recorded I Wonder if I Take You Home with her, releasing the single under the moniker Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam With Full Force on an indie New York label, Personal. The song scored success initially overseas before eventually being released by Columbia in the U.S. after getting immense play in New York clubs as an import single. Almost overnight, the song topped Billboards dance chart and went on to peak at number six on the R&B chart by summer 1985. Thanks to the momentum surrounding the hit single, Full Force signed a deal with Columbia to release solo material. Though they scored some minor R&B hits on their own (Temporary Love Thing, Unfaithful So Much, All in My Mind), their biggest success continued to be as a production team for Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam (All Cried Out, Head to Toe, Lost in Emotion). In 1988, Full Force produced James Browns Im Real, scoring a substantial hit for the struggling legend with the albums title track, and worked with a number of late-80s dance-pop stars: Jasmine Guy, Cheryl Pepsii Riley, and Samantha Fox, among others. Throughout the early and mid-90s, the production team remained relatively quiet before again churning out a number of late-90s R&B-flavored pop hits with Selena, Backstreet Boys, and LFO, among others.