Denzil Foster and Thomas McElroy are an American R&B

record production A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

and

songwriting A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

duo, releasing recordings under the names Foster & McElroy and Fmob. They have written and produced songs for musicians such as

Club Nouveau Club Nouveau () is an American R&B group formed by record producer/performer Jay King in 1986 in Sacramento, California, following the breakup of the Timex Social Club. The group's name ( French for "Club New") was changed from its original i ...

Tony! Toni! Toné! Tony! Toni! Toné! is an American R&B/Soul band from Oakland, California, popular during the late 1980s to mid-1990s. During the band's heyday, it was composed of D'Wayne Wiggins on lead vocals and guitar, his brother Raphael Saadiq (born Char ...

Alexander O'Neal Alexander O'Neal (born November 15, 1953) is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, songwriter and arranger from Natchez, Mississippi. O'Neal came to prominence in the mid-1980s as a solo artist, with eleven top 40 singles on the US R&B char ...

Regina Belle Regina Belle (born July 17, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter who started her career in the mid-1980s. Known for her singles "Baby Come to Me (Regina Belle song), Baby Come to Me" (1989) and "Make It Like It Was" (1990), Belle is most notabl ...

, and

Swing Out Sister Swing Out Sister are a British pop band, best known worldwide for the 1986 song " Breakout". Other hits include " Surrender", " You On My Mind", " Twilight World", " Waiting Game", and a remake of the Eugene Record soul composition "Am I the ...

. Their music has been

sampled Sample or samples may refer to: * Sample (graphics), an intersection of a color channel and a pixel * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of something * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample ...

in hit songs by the

Luniz Luniz (pronounced Loonies) (formerly Luniz Toons and LuniTunes) is an American hip hop music, hip hop duo from Oakland, California, formed by West Coast rappers Yukmouth and Numskull. They were signed to Noo Trybe Records and C-Note Records, and ...

Puff Daddy Sean John Combs (born November 4, 1969), better known by his stage name Diddy, and formerly Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, record producer, and record executive. Born in Harlem and raised in Mount Vernon, Combs worked as a ...

, Ashanti,

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and businesswoman. Lopez is regarded as one of the most influential entertainers of her time, credited with breaking ...

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, alongside fellow new school hip ho ...

Jessica Simpson Jessica Ann Johnson (née Simpson; born July 10, 1980) is an American singer, actress, and fashion designer. After performing in church choirs as a child, Simpson signed with Columbia Records in 1997, aged seventeen. Her debut studio album, '' ...

, and others. Foster & McElroy are best known as the founders of the group

En Vogue En Vogue is an American vocal girl group whose original lineup consisted of singers Terry Ellis, Dawn Robinson, Cindy Herron, and Maxine Jones. Formed in Oakland, California, in 1989, En Vogue reached No. 2 on the US Hot 100 with the singl ...

, listed by ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' as one of the "Top 10 Girl Groups of All Time". In addition to producing music for various television shows, they are also credited for songs in numerous movie soundtracks including ''

The Great White Hype ''The Great White Hype'' is a 1996 American sports comedy film directed by Reginald Hudlin. It stars Samuel L. Jackson, Peter Berg, Damon Wayans, Jeff Goldblum, Jon Lovitz, Cheech Marin, John Rhys-Davies, Salli Richardson and Jamie Foxx. The f ...

'', '' Lean on Me'', and ''

Who's That Girl Who's That Girl? may refer to: Film and television * Who's That Girl (1987 film), ''Who's That Girl'' (1987 film), an American film starring Madonna * ''Who's That Girl'', a List of Philippine films of 2011#Films, Philippine film of 2011 * "Who's T ...

''.

Biography

Denzil Foster was born in Oakland, CA and was greatly influenced by different styles of music, from

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

Parliament/Funkadelic Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic, both active since the 1960s. With an eclectic style ...

. Thomas McElroy, also born in Oakland, was influenced by his father's love for jazz music. The two musicians first met in California while attending college and decided to work together as colleagues.

Career

Signing to the independent Triangle label, they released one 12" single. Soon after, Foster & McElroy joined forces with Jay King producing

Timex Social Club Timex Social Club is an American R&B group, formed in 1985 and best known for the 1986 hit single "Rumors". History Originally known as the Timex Crew, members included Marcus Thompson (founder), Gregory "Greg B" Thomas, Michael Marshall, Cra ...

's hit single "

Rumors A rumor (American English), or rumour (British English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences; derived from Latin 'noise'), is an unverified piece of information circulating among people, especial ...

" in 1986. When that group disbanded, they regrouped with King to form

. Eventually, the duo left Club Nouveau after their first album ''

Life, Love & Pain ''Life, Love & Pain '' is the debut album by R&B group Club Nouveau. It was released in late 1986 with production by Denzil Foster, Thomas McElroy and Jay King. The album reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Top Soul Albums chart and numbe ...

'' to focus on production and songwriting. In 1988, they landed a production deal with Wing Records, eventually signing the band

, as well as brother and sister act Channel 2. Foster & McElroy are considered pioneers of

new jack swing New jack swing, new jack, or swingbeat is a fusion genre of the rhythms and production techniques of hip hop and dance-pop, and the urban contemporary sound of R&B. Spearheaded by producers Teddy Riley, Bernard Belle, Jimmy Jam and Te ...

, a genre they helped define with the group Tony! Toni! Tone!. The duo produced the group's first album and had success with the first single release, "

Little Walter Marion Walter Jacobs (May 1, 1930 – February 15, 1968), known as Little Walter, was an American blues musician, singer, and songwriter, whose revolutionary approach to the harmonica had a strong impact on succeeding generations, earning him ...

", which peaked at number 47 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In 1990, the group released ''

The Revival Revival most often refers to: *Resuscitation of a person *Language revival of an extinct language * Revival (sports team) of a defunct team *Revival (television) of a former television series *Revival (theatre), a new production of a previously pr ...

'', its second album which went 2× Platinum and had numerous number-one singles. Following the success of Tony! Toni! Toné!, Foster & McElroy released their first album as a group, '' FM2'', one of which included songs such as "Around the World in 80 Beats", "Gotta Be a Better Way", and "Dr. Soul", the latter of which was a top ten R&B hit featuring rapper

MC Lyte Lana Michele Moorer (born October 11, 1970), better known by her stage name MC Lyte, is an American rapper. Considered one of the pioneers of female rap, MC Lyte first gained fame in the late 1980s, becoming the first female rapper to release a ...

. It earned moderate success. While working on the album, Foster & McElroy made plans to put together a girl group that would be a modern-day version of

the Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959 as the Primettes. A premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful Amer ...

, with what eventually became the group En Vogue. After several audition calls, Foster & McElroy eventually selected

Cindy Herron Cynthia Ann Herron (born September 26, 1961), professionally known as Cindy Herron and sometimes credited as Cindy Herron–Braggs is an American singer and actress. Herron is best known as a founding member of the R&B/pop group En Vogue, one of ...

Maxine Jones Maxine Jones (born January 16, 1962), is an American singer, songwriter, actress and businesswoman, best known as a founding member of the R&B/ pop group En Vogue, one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. She sang lead vocals ...

, and

Dawn Robinson Dawn Sherrese Robinson (born November 24, 1966) is an American singer and actress best known as a founding member of the R&B/pop group En Vogue, one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. Following her departure from En Vogue, Rob ...

to become the members of the newly titled "For You". The group became a quartet after the addition of

Terry Ellis Terry Lynn Ellis (born September 5, 1963) is an American singer. She is best known as a founding member of the R&B/pop vocal group En Vogue which formed in 1989. Biography Early life Born in Houston, her father was a truck driver and her mother ...

and the name was changed to "Vogue". After learning that another group already had that moniker, Foster & McElroy changed the name to "En Vogue". The group's first album, '' Born to Sing'', was released in 1990 and sold over one million copies with numerous singles reaching number one on ''Billboard'' charts. En Vogue's second album, ''

Funky Divas ''Funky Divas'' is the second studio album by American recording group En Vogue, released by Atlantic Records division East West on March 24, 1992, in the United States. Conceived after the success of their Grammy Award–nominated debut album ...

'', was released in 1992 and became the highest-selling album to date and one of the top selling albums of that year with over five million copies sold worldwide. With hits such as "Hold On", "Lies", "Free Your Mind", "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)", and "Don't Let Go (Love)", En Vogue has become one of the most successful girl groups in music history. It was also listed as one of the Top 10 Girl Groups of All Time by ''

''. They recorded a second album in 1994, a hip-hop jazz album ''Once in a Blue Moon'', under their new name FMob. The duo has also written theme songs for television programs, including '' Hangin' with Mr. Cooper'', '' Roc'' (both themes, used during the former’s first season and the latter’s final two seasons, were performed by En Vogue), and BET's ''

Video Soul ''Video Soul'' was a two–hour long American music video program that originally aired on BET from June 26, 1981 to September 1996. The program was devoted to showcasing R&B and Soul recording artists and performers' music videos. History '' ...

''. They have also been credited with numerous movie soundtracks.

Discography

Singles

Albums

Movie soundtracks

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster And McElroy Songwriters from California Record producers from California American contemporary R&B musical groups Record production duos American songwriting teams