RUSSELL THOMPKINS JR. AND THE NEW STYLISTICS
“Every day with me is music and in the back of my mind there’s always a song going on,” explained Russell Thompkins Jr., original front man of the legendary Stylistics and creator of The New Stylistics. “This is the 20th year for the New Stylistics, and I am enthusiastic about working with the group.”
That dedication to music and performing will be showcased when the group takes the Kelly Strayhorn Theater stage on Saturday, May 6 at 7:30 p.m. as the headliner for New Horizon Theater’s annual special event.
“We will be doing our repertoire and a little more conversation during this show,” Thompkins told the New Pittsburgh Courier. “We’re going to give people the songs they want to hear, and we will throw in some of the songs we recorded in the ‘80s. It’s going to be a good time. It’s a mature crowd and it’s going to be a good time.”
“The New Stylistics were here four years ago, and we decided to bring them back because everybody thought they were wonderful,” explained New Horizon Theater Inc., Chairperson Joyce Meggerson-Moore. “This is our annual fundraising event, and they are easy to work with and they are in our budget. Everybody likes the oldies because the lyrics are good and the songs are relatable.”
For over 30 years, Thompkins was the lead singer of the Stylistics. The group gained international fame with such classic hits as “You’re a Big Girl Now,” “People Make the World Go ‘Round,” “You Make me Feel Brand New,” “Betcha By Golly Wow,” “Stone in Love With You” and many, many more. The original Stylistics earned seven gold albums; five gold singles; two double gold singles; eight platinum albums; one double platinum album and four platinum singles. The group also received a Grammy nomination in 1974 for “You Make Me Feel Brand New,” and a plaque on the walk of fame in Center City Philadelphia in 1994. In May 2004 Thompkins was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.
He departed the group in April of 2000, releasing his first solo CD, “A Matter of Style,” in 2002. Thompkins formed The New Stylistics in 2002.
“Creating the product and doing the job is the easy part. It’s the other things that come along with it once it becomes your job—the business part of it and people taking advantage of you and people not giving you the true aspect of what your accounting is and things like that,” Thompkins said. “There are a lot of other things that make you feel really bad about being in the business. Working with the people that I worked with, I became very angry at certain things and didn’t want to be there and all them affect how you feel on stage until it just came to a head after about 30-something years, and I just quit. I could not take it anymore and you start not feeling great and that affects your performance on stage.”
The New Stylistics are committed to delivering high-quality vocal performances on stage in a professional and masterful style. Thompkins’ major goal and mission is to provide his fans, friends and supporters with the same quality of music and showmanship that they’ve come to know and love.
Thompkins became enraptured with music as a kid and has always had an affinity for all things melodic. He makes music constantly. He feels that the R&B groups of his era held a unique sound all their own.
“There were a lot of groups coming out of Philadelphia that were writing the songs and producing the songs that hit the jackpot. They hit a nerve. They hit a nerve that people all over the world were falling in love with. It wasn’t just the Stylistics, it was a lot of different groups coming out of Philadelphia during that time that the world fell in love with,” Thompkins said.
The new group consists of Thompkins, Jonathan Buckson, Raymond Johnson and musical director Kenneth Thompson. The same orchestra and band that accompanied the group during its 2019 Pittsburgh performance will be returning for the show.
New Horizon Theater has been in existence for 31 years. The company performs four mainstage plays a year plus a yearly annual fundraising event, which, this year, will include an excerpt from the company’s previous play, “American Menu,” by Don Wilson Glenn.
“Patrons at the $100 dollar level, in addition to seeing the concert, get to participate in a reception where they get autographs with the artists and nice food,” Meggerson-Moore said. “People get to mingle with the artists they just saw on stage doing the great singing. The artists don’t rush off the stage. That’s not something you get to do with these bigger theater companies.”
Balcony tickets ($40 level and $50 level, respectively) will be available for the opening act and the musical performance only. Ads can also be purchased for the souvenir brochure.
Thompkins, a 72-year-old Philadelphia resident, has very deep familial ties to Pittsburgh. His father, who was also a singer but dabbled in painting and art, was born in the Hill District. He lived there until he moved to Philadelphia where he married Thompkins’ mother. Although he never saw his father perform live, Thompkins said he learned the art of singing from his father at night when his father would return home from work and nourish his son’s natural talent.
“My father had a short musical career. After that he started working at a lighting company and he worked here for over 30-something years. He never stopped singing. He was one of those guys who liked photography. But mostly he was going to work every day,” Thompkins told the Courier. “I never got the chance to see him work live with a band in a club situation. The only thing I got was him sitting me down and showing me things in the home. My grandmother told me that when she saw me on stage that I was almost exactly like him on stage.”
Following The New Stylistics Pittsburgh stop, the group has a full plate of shows for the rest of the year. Thompkins also will perform solo in separate shows. One of the shows that he’s looking forward to is on July 3, at the Rochester Jazz Festival with the Los Angeles Jazz Orchestra.
“I’ll be doing several concerts with them throughout the year,” Thompkins said. “Jazz is at the root of my music that my father sang. That’s one dream that came true for me. I’ve worked with them, and I’ll be doing that same jazz show. But otherwise, as the Stylistics, we’re still on the road. I’m constantly working. It’s a blessing.”
About Post Author
