Stuart D. Bascombe (born January 20, 1954) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Bascombe is an original member of the R&B/

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

vocal group

Black Ivory Black Ivory is an American rhythm and blues, R&B group from Harlem, which had a number of hits in the 1970s, including "Don't Turn Around (R&B Song), Don't Turn Around", "You and I (Black Ivory song), You and I", "I'll Find Away (Loneliest Man ...

who recorded a number of R&B hits in the 1970s, including "

Don't Turn Around "Don't Turn Around" is a Popular music, popular song written by Albert Hammond and Diane Warren. It was originally recorded by American singer Tina Turner and released as the A-side and B-side, B-side to her 1986 Hit song, hit single "Typical ...

", " You and I", " Time Is Love", " I'll Find a Way (The Loneliest Man in Town)", and their disco hit "Mainline".

Early life

Bascombe was born in

Harlem, New York City Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

and grew up there and in

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

History

Career

Bascombe, along with songwriter and prolific disco producer

Leroy Burgess Leroy O'Neil Jackson Jr. (born August 20, 1953), known by his stage name Leroy Burgess, is an American singer, songwriter, keyboard player, recording artist, arranger and record producer. Burgess is a member of Black Ivory and lead vocalist on ...

, and

Russell Patterson Russell Patterson (December 26, 1893 – March 17, 1977) was an American cartoonist, illustrator and scenic designer. Patterson's art deco magazine illustrations helped develop and promote the idea of the 1920s and 1930s fashion style known as t ...

released their debut album while still attending high school. Black Ivory was first signed to the East Coast

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affix ...

Today/ Perception Records, which was run by record producer, Patrick Adams, who was also the group's manager. Black Ivory first promo picture

Bascombe with his group had three top 40 R&B hits in 1972, including "Don't Turn Around" No. 38, and "You And I" No. 32 from their hit debut album, "Don't Turn Around", which peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard R&B Album Chart in May 1972. Bascombe is credited as co-writer on four songs from that album. Another single from that album, "I'll Find A Way (The Loneliest Man In Town)" peaked at No. 46 on Billboard R&B Chart. Their single, "Time Is Love" was the third top 40 hit peaking at No. 37. Other charting singles included, "Spinning Around" #45, "What Goes Around (Comes Around)" #44, and "Will We Ever Come Together" #40. Although they recorded several uptempo tracks, such as "Big Apple Rock", "Walking Downtown (On A Saturday Night)", "What Goes Around (Comes Around)" and later, "Mainline" with

as lead singer (written by Burgess, but recorded after he left the group in 1977), they were primarily known for sweet soul ballads. On June 1, 1974, Bascombe appeared on season three of

Soul train ''Soul Train'' is an American musical variety television show. After airing locally on WCIU-TV in Chicago, Illinois, for a year, it aired in syndication from October 2, 1971, to March 25, 2006. In its 35-year history, the show primarily featu ...

and on the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

television show,

SOUL! ''Soul!'' (also stylized in uppercaseC. Gerald Fraser January 30, 1991, ''New York Times''. Accessed online 21 April 2008.) is a performance/ variety television program that showcased African American music, dance and literature in the late 1960 ...

March 1, 1972, with his group Black Ivory. In 1976, Bascombe scored the lead role as Moses in a made for TV children's film "Turkey Treasure" which aired on WABC 7. In 1983, Bascombe again reprising the lead role as Moses in the

WABC-TV WABC-TV (channel 7) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, WABC-TV maintains studios in the Hudson Square neighborhood ...

Children's Special, "To Be A Man" which was produced by

Neema Barnette Neema Barnette is an American film director and producer, and the first African-American woman to direct a primetime sitcom. Barnette was the first African-American woman to get a three-picture deal with Sony Pictures. Since then, she accumulate ...

and Cliff Frazier. The production won an Emmy for Best Children's Programming on April 23, 1983. Bascombe received a contributing Emmy plaque. In 1995, the group reunited and returned to the stage on the Classic Soul circuit, featuring all three original members, with Stuart Bascombe doing most of the leads. They have been performing together ever since. Bascombe is a contributing writer on

Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop collective formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its members include RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and, until his death in 2004, O ...

rapper,

Raekwon Corey Woods (born January 12, 1970), better known by his stage name Raekwon ( ), is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as a founding member of the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, which achieved mainstream success following the release of the ...

's single,

Criminology Criminology (from Latin , 'accusation', and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'', 'word, reason') is the interdisciplinary study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is a multidisciplinary field in both the behaviou ...

off of his 1995 hit album " Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...". On October 2, 1995, the album was certified Gold by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

Recent years

Bascombe is a contributing writer on the single, " Gettin' Up" on Q-Tip's album,

The Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

, which was nominated for Best Rap Album at the

52nd Annual Grammy Awards The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards took place on January 31, 2010, at Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2009. Neil Young was honored as the 2010 MusiCares P ...

in 2010.

In 2011, Bascombe with his group released a

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

single entitled "Snow", and a CD/album (which he co-produced and co-wrote three of the songs) entitled Continuum on their own label, SLR Records LLC. He is a featured guest and performer in the award-winning 2018 documentary, Mr. Soul!. Bascombe and the cast of the film received Peabody Awards for Best Documentary in 2021. The film is based on the host and executive producer of ''SOUL!'',

Ellis Haizlip Ellis B. Haizlip (September 21, 1929 – January 25, 1991) was an American television and theatrical producer, broadcaster and promoter of African American culture. Haizlip is best known as the creator, producer and host of the television var ...

, the first "black Tonight Show." In 1968, SOUL! was launched as a local, New York City broadcast. In 1969 the series rolled out nationwide on PBS, on WNET Channel 13. Haizlip had produced over 130 hour-long shows featuring a dazzling array of A-list guests. Actor

Blair Underwood Blair Erwin Underwood (born August 25, 1964) is an American actor. He made his debut in the 1985 musical film '' Krush Groove'' and from 1987 to 1994 starred as attorney Jonathan Rollins in the NBC legal drama series ''L.A. Law''. Underwood has ...

is the executive director and narrator of the film. In October 2019, Bascombe along with Black Ivory's band-mate, Russell Patterson traveled to the UK and joined

on stage at the famous London's Jazz Cafe. It was the first time that Black Ivory performed in London together. They were honored with awards to commemorate their 50th Anniversary. In addition, Black Ivory was featured in a 13-page article in the London magazine, The Soul Survivors. As of 2020, Bascombe is still writing and performing with his group Black Ivory, one of the only classic soul/R&B groups from the 1970s, who are still performing with all of the original members from their first recordings.

Discography

With Black Ivory

Albums

*''

'' (1972) (Today Records) No.13 Billboard R&B Chart *'' 'Baby, Won't You Change Your Mind'' (1972) (Today Records) No.26 Billboard R&B Chart * ''Feel It'' (1975) (Buddah Records) *''Black Ivory'' (1976) (Buddah Records) *''Hangin' Heavy'' (1979) (Buddah Records/

Arista Records Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...

) *''Continuum'' (2011) (SLR Records)

Singles

" (1971) No.38 Billboard R&B Chart *" You and I" (1972) No.32 Billboard R&B Chart * "I'll Find a Way (The Loneliest Man In Town)" (1972) No.46 Billboard R&B Chart *"Time Is Love"/"Got to Be There" (1972) No.37 Billboard R&B Chart *"Spinning Around" (1973) No.45 Billboard R&B Chart *"What Goes Around (Comes Around)" (1974) No.44 Billboard R&B Chart *"Will We Ever Come Together" (1975) No.40 Billboard R&B Chart *"Daily News" *"You Mean Everything to Me" *"Walking Downtown (Saturday Night)" (1976) *"You Turned My Whole World Around" (1978) *"Mainline"/"Dance" (1979) No.57 Billboard Dance Club Chart *"I've Got My Eye On You" (1985) No.18 Billboard Dance Club Chart

References

External links

*
Stuart Bascombe Discogs

Stuart Bascombe All Music Credits
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bascombe, Stuart 1954 births Living people American male singer-songwriters Record producers from New York (state) American male film actors