Funky Divas
| Funky Divas | ||||
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| Studio album by En Vogue | ||||
| Released | March 24, 1992 | |||
| Recorded | May 1991 - January 1992 | |||
| Genre | R&B, soul, New jack swing, funk | |||
| Length | 52:18 | |||
| Label | eastwest | |||
| Producer | Thomas McElroy, Denzil Foster | |||
| En Vogue chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Funky Divas | ||||
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Funky Divas is the second album by American female vocal group En Vogue. Released in 1992, it became their highest selling album to date and one of the top selling albums of the year, selling over five million copies worldwide.
Contents
Background
The lead single, "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)," became an instant hit, peaking at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #4 in the UK Singles Chart. The accompanying video for "My Lovin'" won two MTV Video Music Awards. The song samples the funk guitar line of James Brown's 1973 song "The Payback" from the album of the same name.
The second single, "Giving Him Something He Can Feel" (a cover of the Aretha Franklin hit from the film Sparkle), also became a top ten hit on the US Hot 100 (and also their fifth #1 single in the US R&B chart). Another Franklin song from Sparkle, "Hooked on Your Love," is also on the album, as is a rendition of The Beatles' hit "Yesterday."
The third single, the rock-infused "Free Your Mind," became another top ten hit. In the UK, the single made the top 20 and was backed with "Giving Him Something He Can Feel," which had failed to make the UK top 40 by itself earlier that year. The video for "Free Your Mind" won three MTV Video Music Awards in 1993.
By the time the fourth single, "Give It Up, Turn It Loose," was released in late 1992, the Funky Divas album was already certified triple platinum in the US by the RIAA. The single gave the group another UK Top 40 hit (#22).
The fifth and final single released from Funky Divas was "Love Don't Love You," which was remixed for its release. The video for the single consists of clips from previous En Vogue videos "Giving Him Something He Can Feel," "Free Your Mind," as well as two of their 1990 videos "Lies" and "You Don't Have To Worry."
A second edition of the album containing the later hits "Runaway Love" and "Whatta Man" (with Salt-N-Pepa) was released in the UK in 1994. This edition of Funky Divas also includes remixed versions of "Hip Hop Lover," "It Ain't Over Till the Fat Lady Sings," and "Love Don't Love You" (a different remix from the US single release in 1993), along with slightly altered artwork inside the CD booklet.
As with En Vogue's first album, Born to Sing, Funky Divas includes lead vocals by each member of the group on different songs.
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |  link |
| Robert Christgau |  link |
| Entertainment Weekly | (B-) link |
| Los Angeles Times |  link |
| New York Times | (favorable) link |
| Q | link |
| Rhapsody | (favorable) link |
| Rolling Stone | 1992 |
| Rolling Stone | 2004 |
| Yahoo! Music | (favorable) link[dead link] |
Track listing
| # | Title | Length | Lead vocals | Writer(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "This Is Your Life" | 5:05 | Terry Ellis (spoken intro by En Vogue) | Denzil Foster, Thomas McElroy |
| 2. | "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)" | 4:42 | Maxine Jones/Dawn Robinson | Foster, McElroy |
| 3. | "Hip Hop Lover" | 5:13 | Jones/Ellis (background leads by Robinson) | Foster, McElroy |
| 4. | "Free Your Mind" | 4:52 | Cindy Herron/Robinson/Ellis/Jones (spoken intro by Ellis) | Foster, McElroy |
| 5. | "Desire" | 4:01 | Ellis/Herron | Foster, McElroy |
| 6. | "Giving Him Something He Can Feel" | 3:56 | Robinson | Curtis Mayfield |
| 7. | "It Ain't over Till the Fat Lady Sings" | 4:13 | Robinson (background leads by Jones) | Foster, McElroy |
| 8. | "Give It Up, Turn It Loose" | 5:13 | Jones (spoken intro by En Vogue) | Foster, McElroy |
| 9. | "Yesterday" | 2:30 | Herron | John Lennon, Paul McCartney |
| 10. | "Hooked on Your Love" | 3:35 | Ellis | Mayfield |
| 11. | "Love Don't Love You" | 3:56 | Ellis/Herron (spoken words by Jones) | Foster, McElroy |
| 12. | "What Is Love" | 4:19 | Jones/Herron (spoken words by Ellis) | Foster, McElroy |
| 13. | "Thanks (Prayer)" | 0:43 | Herron (backgrounds by Jones, Ellis and Robinson) | Foster, McElroy |
Personnel
En Vogue
- Adapted from Allmusic[1]
- Terry Ellis, Cindy Herron, Maxine Jones and Dawn Robinson: lead, backing and harmony vocals
Additional musicians
- Denzil Foster, Thomas McElroy: keyboardss, drum programming, talking, spoken word
- Jinx Jones: electric, acoustic and bass guitars
- Michael Fellows: drums
- Jon Bendich, Juan Escovedo, Peter Michael: percussion
- Chuckii Booker: talking, spoken word
- Wayne Jackson: rap
- Tony George: trumpet
- Les Harris: saxophone
- Chris Mondt: trombone
Charts
Album
| Chart | Position | Certification |
|---|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 | 8 | 3x Platinum |
| UK Albums Chart | 4 | Gold |
