Stevie D speak on dat...

So, I was listening to my Force M.D.'s LP, Touch and Go. This, of course, is the follow-up to Chillin', which featured the massive hit, Tender Love.
By the way, the fella's still sound fantastic...here they be, live-in-full-effect in 2010:

Anyway, I started lookin up summa' what's happenin now with Force M.D.'s, and came across this candid, engaging interview with Stevie D.
Stevie D details humble a cappella beginnings, performing on street corners and the Staten Island Ferry, to touring with New Edition (and outshining them on stage - which he says is the main reason New Edition went out and picked up Johnny Gill).
Basically, these cats started out as emcee's, eventually gaining some hard-earned street cred, to then be told by Tommy Boy Records producer Tom Silverman to don letterman sweaters and be more like Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers. It worked, as they became the originators of so-called 'doo wop hip hop,' but in the end, they didn't have enough of a hand in publishing tracks, and likely won't bother ever making another record because touring with the old hits pays more.
Anyway, it's interesting to note these guys had a lot of underground tapes circulating early on, which influenced cats from Run DMC to Wu Tang, even if their lasting legacy is a quiet storm classic written by veritable hit-maker's Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis.
TRIVIA: did you know Affectionandos-fave Freddie Jackson passed on Tender Love before it hit big for Force M.D.'s???
EXTRA: Even though it's not quite as cemented in "slow-bone jam" history as Tender Love, here's Force M.D.'s performing their only R&B #1 smash, Love Is A House:

STRANGE n' TRAGIC TRIVIA: Did u know 3 original Force M.D.s members passed away in the mid-to-late 90's?
Anyway, read this here interview with Stevie D if ya gets a chance!