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Byron
Stingily's Bio:
The lead vocalist for Ten
City and later a solo star in his own right, Byron Stingily
had one of the most beautiful voices in house music, a sweet and
impeccably clear high register akin to Smokey Robinson or disco
celebrity Sylvester. A singer since the age of five, Stingily
grew up on the west side of Chicago, and though he attended Blackburn
College in rural Illinois during the early '80s, he became a part
of the Windy City's exploding house scene midway through the decade.
He recorded his first single "Funny Love" in 1985, and
licensed the song to Trax Records. After meeting up with house
maestro Marshall Jefferson, Stingily recorded two early Chicago
classics, "Can't Stay Away" and "Just a Little
Bit," and impressed many as the support slot for Jefferson's
visit to New York City.
While in town,
Jefferson and Stingily decided to make the rounds at the major
labels, and impressed Atlantic Records enough that the label offered
them a contract before they had even formed a group. By 1988,
the pair had recruited guitarist Herb Lawson and DJ-turned-keyboardist
Byron Burke to form Ragtyme. The trio released "Devotion"
and "Right
Back to You," later changing their name to Ten City and
recording their debut album Foundation. Though the group recorded
two more albums for Atlantic (all of which did well on the club
scene but failed commercially), the label dropped them by 1993.
Ten City then wrote a song with Masters at Work titled "Fantasy,"
and though the single received massive club play, it was over
a year before their fourth album That Was Then, This Is Now appeared.
By that time, the buzz had died down and Ten City rapidly disintegrated.
Though Byron
Stingily was offered a solo contract by Columbia, he opted to
return to the independents and began working on his composing
and production skills: he worked with Kim English for the singles
"Nitelife" and "Time for Love" plus Michael
Watford and Maysa Leak (of Incognito). Stingily began recording
for Nervous in 1996 with two singles, "Love You the Right
Way" and "Don't Fall in Love." The following year
both "Sing-A-Song" and "Get
Up" became rather large garage-crossover hits, and in
1998, Stingily released his debut solo full-length The Purist.
Club Stories followed two years later.
Check
out Byron Stingily's discography
Check
out Ten City's discography
DJ
Spen's Bio:
Spen began his career at the age of 13, producing mix shows for
WEBB AM in Baltimore. Even at that young age, Spen founded one
of the area's first hip hop production groups, the Numarx. In
1986 they wrote and recorded a track called Girl You Know
It's True, which was later covered and made famous by Milli
Vanilli.
Spens
radio career continued to grow and lead him to a radio career
working at various FM radio stations in the Baltimore and Washington
areas. In 1992, Spen developed a mixshow on 95.9 FM in Baltimore
called the Flashback Saturday Night Dance Party. Though
Spen eventually moved on from radio, the show is still a hit today,
with Spens close friend KW Griff at the helm.
Spen's production
talents lead him to Basement Boys Records in 1989. With the formation
of The Basement Boys record label in 1994, Spen formed Jasper
Street Company, and released his first full production, A
Feelin. With the Basement Boys and Jasper Street, Spen gained
consistent commercial and dancefloor success, and became an in-demand
remix producer. He has created remixes for some of clubland's
biggest names, such as Diana Ross, Everything but the Girl, Ann
Nesby, and Shaun Escoffery. While at Basement Boys, Spen partnered
with Teddy Douglas, Thommy Davis and Karizma to create works that
are still considered house anthems.
Having reached
his full potential with Basement Boys, Spen stepped out on his
own and partnered with Gary Deane at Code Red Recordings in January
2004. He hasnt stopped moving since! Spen is still producing
and making records that are sure to become legend. He has formed
a new group called the MuthaFunkaz whose first release, The
Best I Can shows a new side of Spen. Spens new venture
has found him back with former partners Thommy Davis and Karizma
creating the successful Voodoo Ray and 4 the
Love respectively. His new Spiritually Sound label will
be sure to give Spen fans more of the gospel and inspirational
house music Spen has become famous for.
With a career
span of more than 20 years and his famous studio and production
work, Spen has become one of the most sought-after DJs in the
U.S. Today, Spen can be found jetting off to gigs at some of the
premier clubs around the world while juggling his demanding studio
work and time with his new baby. He plays regularly in the UK,
as well as France, Italy, Japan, and Australia.
Check
out Spen's discography
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