Funky Divas At 20

I came across an article in May 2008 that Dawn Robinson rejoined former group members Cindy Herron, Terry Ellis, and  Maxine Jones on some dates performing as En Vogue just April of that year.  On some dates, second replacement member Rhona Bennett filled in.  I was thinking, great… four original members on some gigs are better than no appearance together. But I didn’t think of the semi reunion much… in 2005, Robinson also briefly reunited with En Vogue only to back out soon after.  Apparently, business talks failed to come to a favorable agreement.

Rhona Bennett performs with Terry and Maxine during one of Cindy's maternity leaves.

I have this habit of checking up pop culture favorites and non-favorites — authors, actors, musicians, business people, companies, animators, thinkers, painters, toys, politicians, graphic artists, photographers — on their latest stuff when they have ‘em… one of the reasons I’m thankful we have the Net now (DSTS: yet another way of wasting time.  Get to work, woman!).  This kind of proves the saying you know you’re no longer young when you find yourself reminiscing more often than you used to.

So anyway, today I decided to look up old groups I liked when I was in high school.  After covering pop and grunge, I went on to R&B.  I look up En Vogue again and saw a Youtube post of EV on The View on May 11, when they announced their 20th anniversary tour… with Dawn Robinson.

The ladies today: Maxine Jones, Dawn Robinson, Cindy Herron, Terry Ellis. Look at Cindy's waist. She had four kids, dammit...

Before I go further… it’s actually been 20 years since that group was put together?  Man, now I really feel old.

I’m not a die hard fan — I also liked their contemporaries, SWV, TLC, Xscape, to name a few… but En Vogue had their own thing.  The group was conveniently classified into R&B, but then their sound and image were not exactly like those of most groups.  They started out looking like the usual 90s act — wore Color Me Badd-ish multicolored shorts with matching suit jackets on Oprah —  but eventually En Vogue projected kind of more like elegant, earthy glam, and many a fanboy rhapsodized about their classiness.  Brownstone and The Braxtons would come close, but not quite.  And yet whenever I caught them on TV (light skits, guesting in sitcoms; interviews), they came across as funny (nerdy nerds in A Different World) , accessible and down-to-earth, which was a refreshing change to the usual bitchy diva or keepin’ it real gangsta image many female R&B artists insisted on then. 

The package was pretty and well-balanced, designed for easy marketing.  Tall and svelte, Cindy Herron, a former beauty pageant contestant, I imagined, was drafted mainly to hook in mainstream pop consumers and people outside the general African-American audience.  In a funny bit they performed on In Living Color, she was heckled by Wanda (a hilarious cross-dressing, strategically-padded, perpetually puckered Jamie Foxx) as “light-skinned!”  The pretty, doe-eyed Terry Ellis had a girl-next-door charm; she had an engaging sense of humor and played off hosts the best during live interviews.  Maxine Jones is petite with a beauty that’s truly sista; her eyes are warm and beautiful with an interesting shade (not contacts).  I think many fans didn’t pay much attention to her as she was kind of serious and quiet when she talks, but I found her appealing and she displayed this enlightened quality.  I also thought her gap-toothed smile, more prominent in the earlier years, added much to that appeal.  She demonstrated the best acting abilities of the four members (seen when EV guested on Roc).  And we come to Dawn Robinson; I thought she had a very interesting combination of facial features.  Her eyes were sultry, like narrowed cat’s eyes, and she had full pouty lips.  She’s the youngest member, described as “feisty” by her older colleagues, and was acknowledged the real sexy one — out of their costumes, Cindy, Max and Terry rarely wore clothing that showed shoulders, legs, the midriff and a bit of cleavage like Dawn did.  They were attractive, but somehow their attractiveness never intimidated.  Sudden flashback on the number of hours spent trying to copy their sashaying walk in the video for “My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It)”.  And no, I didn’t get it (surprise), but it was fun — and funny — trying!

Of course, there’s the undeniable talent.  An En Vogue trademark was flawless three-part harmony in addition to all four members being capable of singing pyrotechnic leads, despite different vocal styles.  Cindy’s was the pop sounding lead voice — lighter than the rest and smooth, but with good strength; Maxine’s style of singing lead, I think, had the most sass and personality; Terry’s soulful, emotional solos are put to use in good parts of earnest love songs, and Dawn’s leads fairly crackled with spontaneity and passion.  I found it pleasant to see each member take turns being leads, unlike most groups that usually delegated lead vocals to one or two members (Mr. and Mrs. Knowles?  You couldn’t have been more subtle).

The earlier years saw En Vogue having more of a pop kind of R&B sound, very similar to the freestyle groups popular at the end of the 80s, and during this period Cindy usually led the fast songs (“Lies”, “Hold On”, “You Don’t Have To Worry”) with Terry taking over for ballads and syncopated solos (“Don’t Go”, the intro for “Hold On”).  Funky Divas showed more self-assured performances from the members, with Dawn and Maxine being featured on many singles (“Giving Him Something He Can Feel”, “My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It)”, “Give It Up, Turn It Lose”, “Free Your Mind”).  Eventually exposure balanced out for all four.  My particular favorite EV song/video was “Runaway Love”, because Cindy and Terry each had a verse, Dawn broke it down in the bridge, and Maxine did the Barry White bit (spoken parts and bass) all throughout.  

At the peak of their popularity Dawn Robinson decided to leave the group to find herself and do different things.  Noted she didn’t become more popular than when she was with En Vogue, likewise EV3, while good, was not quite right, seemed like something was missing.  En Vogue almost faded to obscurity; not being songwriters, I guess the four depended on producers for the direction of their materials, which, after 1997, never surpassed what they were able to achieve in their heydey.  

Early replacement member Amanda Cole (right), when Maxine took time off for family and business.

Of course, there were also the years when Maxine Jones and Cindy Herron alternately took time off for family matters, thus introducing the replacement members Amanda Cole, then Rhona Bennett (a former Mouseketeer!). Performances were adequate but the magic wasn’t the same. 

Now all four ladies are back again, and for forty-year-olds they look great.  They were celebrity contestants for charity on Don’t Forget The Lyrics and they still sound great (Wayne Brady was, like, whoa, dream come true!).  There are talks of a 20th anniversary album. I have their Greatest Hits compilation in addition to Funky Divas and EV3… what are the chances to have the next album with new songs?  

Dawn, you’ll probably have your personal growth projects and valid issues with management and producers again, but please for the love of fans stay with the group, at least long enough for you and the girls churn out a couple of good albums again.  I’m asking this after years of having to sit though airplays of  Destiny’s Child (okay, Destiny’s Child occasionally worked on me, but the herky-jerky moves and wobbling repetitive lyrics in chorus can only take me so far… and how can I invest fan interest in DC for team dynamics when it’s really just Beyonce with conveniently shuffled back-ups?), Girlicious (seriously, aargh), and the Pussycat Dolls (a bunch of prancing Vegas showgirls installed with Nicole Shershrzzzthesinger).  Show ‘em how it’s done!  Don’t change your mind soon and happy touring.