The System (band)
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The System was an American
synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...
duo that debuted in the 1980s, composed of vocalist-guitarist
Mic Murphy Michael Austin "Mic" Murphy (born January 9, 1958) is an American musician, lead singer of the successful 1980s synth R&B duo the System. He is well known for singing the group's biggest hit, " Don't Disturb This Groove," a 1987 US #4 Pop and #1 ...
and seasoned session keyboardist David Frank. The band was founded in 1982 in
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
and backed up by
Paul Pesco Paul Pesco (born May 13, 1959) is an American session guitarist, singer-songwriter, film score composer and record producer. Biography Pesco was born in Canandaigua, New York, to a Sicilian father (an opera singer and voice instructor) and ...
on electric guitar and Kris Khellow on keyboards and synthesizers. The group was sometimes referred to as being "emotio-electro" because of its hi-tech, synthesizer-driven sound, married with passionate vocals and sensitive lyrics.


Origins

David Frank and Mic Murphy met in the early 1980s while working for the soul-funk band
Kleeer Kleeer was an American New York City–based funk, disco and post-disco band, which was formed in 1972 under the name The Jam Band, as a backup group to different disco bands and vocalists. Members * Woodrow "Woody" Cunningham (lead vocalist an ...
. Frank had gotten a break when Atlantic Records enlisted him as Kleeer's tour keyboardist. The band's road manager was Mic Murphy, and although Murphy was obviously aware of Frank's skills, Frank was unaware Murphy could sing. Later in New York City, David Frank was working on a session that evolved into a track called "It's Passion," which was to feature a pre-stardom
Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...
on vocals. However, due to creative differences, Madonna bowed out. Frank then remembered Murphy and invited him to work on it. The results were so impressive that Mirage/Atlantic Records offered Murphy and Frank a recording deal of their own. Murphy came up with the band's name, and within weeks "It's Passion" was receiving massive radio airplay in New York. "It's Passion" became both a radio and club hit in New York. The interest sparked enough interest for Mirage to give David and Mic an advance for an album.


Career

The resulting 1983 album ''
Sweat Perspiration, also known as sweat, is the fluid secreted by sweat glands in the skin of mammals. Two types of sweat glands can be found in humans: eccrine glands and Apocrine sweat gland, apocrine glands. The eccrine sweat glands are distribu ...
'' launched the club hits "Sweat," "I Won't Let Go" and "
You Are in My System "You Are in My System" is a 1982 song recorded by American band the System. The song, written by Mic Murphy and David Frank, was released in August 1982 by Mirage Records. The song is also included on their debut studio album ''Sweat'' (1983). T ...
," which became a number-ten R&B smash. Robert Palmer's cover of the song became a mainstream rock hit. In 1983, Murphy and Frank also wrote and produced "Pump the Nation," a one-off album for a project called ''Attitude''. Attitude featured Khris Kellow, who worked on many of the System's later albums and appears as a member of the band in the movie ''Beat Street'' during the song "Baptize the Beat." It was also around this time that budding session guitarist
Paul Pesco Paul Pesco (born May 13, 1959) is an American session guitarist, singer-songwriter, film score composer and record producer. Biography Pesco was born in Canandaigua, New York, to a Sicilian father (an opera singer and voice instructor) and ...
began joining the group in the studio and on live tours. In 1984, the group released its second album, ''
X-Periment ''X-Periment'' is the second studio album by American band the System, released in 1984. The album was produced by band members David Frank and Mic Murphy. It entered the ''Billboard'' pop albums chart in 1984. Critical reception ''The New Y ...
''. Frank's expertise in
recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for Sound recording and reproduction, recording and Audio mixing, mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home proje ...
technology Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...
gave the material a sound that many felt was ahead of its time. Indeed, the heavy use of
synths A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis an ...
and electric
percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...
was a step beyond the dance-influenced flavor of the previous album, and Murphy's soulful vocals gave the songs a definite R&B flavor. Besides the upbeat electronics-laden tracks, the album also introduced a more mature and pop-friendly quality, evident in tracks such as "Promises Can Break," "I Wanna Make You Feel Good," and "I Can't Take Losing You." The System also appeared in the 1984 breakdancing film ''
Beat Street ''Beat Street'' is a 1984 American dance drama film featuring New York City hip hop culture of the early 1980s. Set in the South Bronx, the film follows the lives of a pair of brothers and their group of friends, all of whom are devoted to vari ...
'' and its soundtrack, performing the song "Baptize the Beat." On their 1985 album, '' The Pleasure Seekers,'' significant tracks include "It Takes 2", "Love Won't Wait for Lovin'", and "This is for You". In 1985, David Frank and Mic Murphy teamed up with
Jeff Lorber Jeffrey H. Lorber (born November 4, 1952) is an American keyboardist, composer, and record producer. After six previous nominations, Lorber won his first Grammy Award on January 28, 2018 for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for ''Prototype'' ...
to collaborate on Lorber's album ''Step by Step''. The System's greatest success came in 1987 with the release of its #1 single " Don't Disturb This Groove," from the album of the same name. The duo hired Steven Machat and Rick Smith to be its managers. Machat and Smith took control of the promotion and marketing of the duo on behalf of Atlantic and helped the duo achieve its biggest US Pop hit. The single reached No. 1 on the Billboard
R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...
and No. 4 on the
Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...
. The follow-up single, " Nighttime Lover", was also a top 10 R&B hit, peaking at No. 3. In 1989, The System released its fifth and final album, '' Rhythm & Romance''.


Soundtrack work and other contributions

Their version of the Marc Benno song "Rock 'n Roll Me Again" became famous in the 1984
action comedy The action comedy is a film genre that applies to action films where humor plays a much more central role. While early films feature stuntwork and humor, academic Cynthia King wrote that the genre only came into its own as a mainstay of the America ...
''
Beverly Hills Cop ''Beverly Hills Cop'' is a 1984 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Martin Brest, with a screenplay by Daniel Petrie Jr., and story by Danilo Bach and Daniel Petrie Jr. It stars Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley, a street-smart Det ...
'' with
Eddie Murphy Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He had his breakthrough as a standup comic before gaining stardom for his film roles; he is widely recognized as one of the greatest comedians of all time. H ...
. The
soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ( ...
would go on to win a
Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...
. The group would also reach No. 23 on Billboard's
R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...
with the title track from the 1988
Eddie Murphy Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He had his breakthrough as a standup comic before gaining stardom for his film roles; he is widely recognized as one of the greatest comedians of all time. H ...
film ''
Coming to America ''Coming to America'' is a 1988 American romantic comedy film directed by John Landis, based on a story originally created by Eddie Murphy, written by David Sheffield and Barry W. Blaustein, and starring Murphy (in various roles), Arsenio ...
''. All of this success occurred while the group was contributing its talents to projects such as the
Scritti Politti Scritti Politti are a British band formed in 1977 in Leeds by singer-songwriter Green Gartside, who is the sole remaining member of the original band. Initially formed as a punk culture, punk-aligned underground act influenced by leftist poli ...
album ''
Cupid & Psyche 85 ''Cupid & Psyche 85'' is the second studio album by the British pop band Scritti Politti, released in the UK on 10 June 1985 by Virgin Records. The release continued frontman Green Gartside's embrace of commercial pop music stylings and state-of-t ...
'';
Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...
' "
Sussudio "Sussudio" is a song by the English singer-songwriter Phil Collins. It was released on 14 January 1985 in the United Kingdom by Virgin Records as the lead single from his third solo studio album, '' No Jacket Required'' (1985). The song served a ...
";
Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan ( ), is an American singer. Known as the " Queen of Funk", her career has spanned more than five decades beginning in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of ...
's "
I Feel for You "I Feel for You" is a song written by American musician Prince that originally appeared on his 1979 self-titled album. The most successful and best-known version was recorded by R&B singer Chaka Khan and appeared on her 1984 album of the same ...
" and "This is My Night"; and
Mtume Mtume (pronounced ''em-tu-may'') was an American funk and soul group that rose to prominence during the early 1980s and had several R&B hits during its career. Its founder, former percussionist James Mtume, previously played and toured with Mil ...
's "
Juicy Fruit Juicy Fruit is an American brand of chewing gum made by the Wrigley Company, a U.S. company that since 2008 has been a subsidiary of the privately held Mars, Incorporated. It was introduced in 1893, and in the 21st century the brand name is reco ...
", among many others.


Hiatus

Murphy and Frank parted ways professionally after releasing their final album '' Rhythm & Romance'' in 1989. Murphy recorded the solo album ''Touch'' and charted in 1991 with a single from that project. Frank found more recent success as a
songwriter 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. ...
and producer, most notably for hit singles such as
Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera ( , ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter, actress and television personality. Recognized as Cultural impact of Christina Aguilera, an influential figure in music and having received Public imag ...
's "
Genie in a Bottle "Genie in a Bottle" is a song by the American singer Christina Aguilera from her debut studio album, ''Christina Aguilera'' (1999). Pam Sheyne, Steve Kipner, and David Frank wrote the track; the latter two produced it. The singer herself also ...
" in 1999, and teen girl-group
Dream A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensation (psychology), sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around ...
's "
He Loves U Not "He Loves U Not" is a song by American girl group Dream. It was released on August 22, 2000, as the group's debut single and is featured on their debut album, '' It Was All a Dream'' (2001). The song was written in 1999 by Steve Kipner, David Fra ...
" in 2000.


Reunions

In 2000, the duo reunited for the album ''ESP'', which featured a reworked version of "You Are in My System," originally on 1983's ''Sweat''. In late 2009, the group released the album ''Unreleased Unleashed'', a collection of prototype and unreleased songs recorded at various points over the span of The System's recording career. Two of these tracks, "Hole in My Love" and "You Are in My System (Redux)," were taken directly from the ''ESP'' album. Also, the track "Sonic Fire" was previously released as the B-side for some 7-inch singles of "I Wanna Make You Feel Good" in 1984. 2013 marked another reunion of The System, with a new 12-inch remix collection of the recording for the Breakdance film ''Beat Street'', "Baptize the Beat". The 12-inch limited-edition vinyl was released on Electroavenue Records in the UK and features remixes by Funkmaster Ozone, Fleck, Lloyd da Zoid / Diplomat & Sace. In September 2012, the group unveiled two new singles, "Motha" and "The Toast", which would be featured on their then-forthcoming album, ''System Overload''. The songs were mixed by Unique Recording Studio mixer
Chris Lord-Alge Chris Lord-Alge is an American mix engineer. He is the brother of both Tom Lord-Alge and Jeff Lord-Alge, both of whom are also audio engineers. Chris and Tom are known for their abundant use of dynamic range compression for molding mixes that ...
, whose association with the band dates to 1983. The sessions took place in Topanga Canyon's Canyon Reverb, the Village Recorders, and NYC Spanish Harlem SPAHA Studios and with contributions from longtime collaborator guitarist/unofficial bandmember
Paul Pesco Paul Pesco (born May 13, 1959) is an American session guitarist, singer-songwriter, film score composer and record producer. Biography Pesco was born in Canandaigua, New York, to a Sicilian father (an opera singer and voice instructor) and ...
, drummer
Steven Wolf Steven Wolf (aka Wolf) is an American drummer, programmer, songwriter and music producer. His discography several numerous gold, platinum, and Grammy winning records. He has worked with a range of artists including Alicia Keys, Katy Perry, B ...
, and sound architect
Tim K Timothy John Kvasnosky, known professionally as Tim K, is an American record producer, musician, and film score composer. Tim K composed the score (along with collaborator Jake Shears of the Scissor Sisters) to the 2015 Sundance Film Festival sel ...
. ''System Overload'' was released in 2013 on the band's own label, Science Lab Records.


Band members

*
Mic Murphy Michael Austin "Mic" Murphy (born January 9, 1958) is an American musician, lead singer of the successful 1980s synth R&B duo the System. He is well known for singing the group's biggest hit, " Don't Disturb This Groove," a 1987 US #4 Pop and #1 ...
– vocals, guitar * David Frank – keyboards, synthesizers


Past members

*Kris Khellow – keyboards, synthesizers *
Paul Pesco Paul Pesco (born May 13, 1959) is an American session guitarist, singer-songwriter, film score composer and record producer. Biography Pesco was born in Canandaigua, New York, to a Sicilian father (an opera singer and voice instructor) and ...
– guitar


Discography


Studio albums

* ''
Sweat Perspiration, also known as sweat, is the fluid secreted by sweat glands in the skin of mammals. Two types of sweat glands can be found in humans: eccrine glands and Apocrine sweat gland, apocrine glands. The eccrine sweat glands are distribu ...
'' (1983) * ''
X-Periment ''X-Periment'' is the second studio album by American band the System, released in 1984. The album was produced by band members David Frank and Mic Murphy. It entered the ''Billboard'' pop albums chart in 1984. Critical reception ''The New Y ...
'' (1984) * '' The Pleasure Seekers'' (1985) * '' Don't Disturb This Groove'' (1987) * '' Rhythm & Romance'' (1989) * ''ESP'' (2000) * ''System Overload'' (2013)


Compilation albums

* ''Unreleased Unleashed'' (2009)


References


External links


David Frank's website

Live streams

Musicmatch.com

David Frank 2012 Audio Interview at Soulinterviews.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:System (Band), The American boogie musicians American dance music groups American synth-pop groups Musical duos from New York (state) Atlantic Records artists American electronic music duos Electronic music groups from New York (state) Mirage Records artists Musical groups established in 1982 Musical groups disestablished in 1989