Are Whites Stealing Rhythm & Blues? - conflicting opinions about the 'blue-eyed' influence in rhythm and blues music

Ebony, Nov, 1999 by Zondra Hughes

THE "blue-eyed invasion" of rhythm and blues is back with a vengeance. The term blue-eyed soul first appeared in R&B in the 1960s to describe White acts that performed passable imitations of soul music. But today's blue-eyed soul superstars are more urban, slicker and seem to have more bounce to the ounce than their predecessors. Hall and Oates, the Average White Band and the Righteous Brothers have been replaced by pretty-faced, highly choreographed groups like Five, Backstreet Boys, N'Sync and 98 Degrees. Some people say these artists are crafting an R&B/pop music union, while others charge that R&B is being looted, whitewashed, watered down and renamed pop/soul.

The irony of White musicians flourishing in R&B is unnerving, considering R&B's segregated roots. In the 1960s, the three most prevalent styles of R&B were Southern soul, a church-influenced style; the Motown sound, which blended polished songwriting with candid vocal delivery; and Chicago soul, a style also influenced by gospel. Since the majority of R&B artists were Black, and most radio station owners were White, many artists had difficulty getting their music on the air. Later, as the White population became exposed to R&B, the genre bloomed.

Today, Whites are not only "playing that funky music," but they are also dominating record sales, triggering a glut of new White acts that are giving Black artists a run for their money. This is leading old-school R&B connoisseurs to wonder who stole the soul, and why?

Case in point: Conventional wisdom states if there had been no New Edition, there would have been no New Kids On The Block; no Boyz II Men, no Backstreet Boys; no Brandy, no Britney Spears--the Black/White comparisons are numerous. But these acts all have one thing in common: ALL have Black managers, songwriters or choreographers who work overtime to make certain that these acts score with R&B fans. Eric Faison, director of urban programming for the SFX Radio Network in New York, says, "The management behind most of these acts is Black, and they have groups like Full Force behind them, who have written songs and have become a hit factory for these White groups. So it's the Black people behind the pop acts who are helping them to create a particular sound, that of pop/soul," Faison explains.

A. Scott Galloway of Urban Network magazine, a leading trade publication for the music industry, agrees that White acts are deliberately remixing their music to include heavy bass lines and rap lyrics in an effort to attract R&B fans.

"Producers and groups are using strings of soul and R&B, and they are making it work," Galloway says. "These acts have a hybrid style of music, and they use R&B to funkify the pop music, and it's exploding."

Despite the gush of pop/soul acts, Faison denies that blue-eyed soul is making a comeback, primarily because pop/soul music is a mixture of various styles and should not be considered true R&B.

"I don't believe there is a resurgence of blue-eyed soul," Faison says. "I look at the R&B charts and I just don't see it. Nobody on the Top 30 or Top 40 charts has blue eyes," Faison says.

Datu Faison (no relation to Eric Faison), director of the rhythm and blues chart at Billboard magazine, says there is a good reason why pop/soul acts don't appear on R&B charts--they don't want to be labeled R&B groups. In fact, some acts perform R&B music, but disguise themselves as pop groups in a political move to receive support from the Top 40 radio stations.

"Whenever there is a non-African-American doing this type of music, many times they are not embraced by the R&B audience, but they are embraced by White America. Groups like the Backstreet Boys don't get airplay on Black radio stations, which is why you don't see their albums listed on the R&B charts; the R&B charts use Black radio stations exclusively as an indicator [of how well an R&B song is doing]," Datu Faison says.

Additionally, being labeled as an R&B group can hurt the pop/soul group financially by eliminating its airplay on Top 40 radio stations, a move that would undoubtedly cut into its record sales.

Radio airplay is the key ingredient that can either make or break any recording artist. Every time a record is played on the radio, it selves as free advertisement for the song and thereby unites the artist with the intended audience.

The only disadvantage in the musical menage a trois between airplay, artist and audience, Datu Faison notes, is that the radio stations, in his view, have become more segregated and that record label executives often encourage their artists to create a gray style that appeals to both Blacks and Whites and guarantees airplay on R&B and Top 40 radio stations alike.

Marv Dyson, president of WGCI radio station in Chicago, which has rated higher than top White stations, says radio is no longer the segmented medium that it used to be, primarily due to crossover acts that are integrating the music formats.

"I don't think it's true that Black stations only play Black music," Dyson says. "I believe that Black radio stations play predominately Black music, but if an artist comes along and crosses over, we'll play that. It really depends on the format of the radio stations. If it's a contemporary, it will play Black and White music."