Their next album, Round Two, was just as memorable, and included the instant classics "Break Up To Make Up," "Children of the Night" and "You'll Never Get to Heaven."  But it was their third album, Rockin Roll Baby, that would give the group it's first number 1 crossover hit, the breathtaking ballad "You Make Me Feel Brand New." 

When Bell decided to stop working with the Stylistics in 1974, and the impact on the group's fortunes was immediate and dramatic.  The group eeked out one more moderate US hit ("Heavy Fallin Out"), then virtually disappeared from the charts for the remainder of the decade, as a string of lesser producers, particularly Hugo & Luigi, unsuccessfully struggled to come up with material and production tailored to the group's talents.  Ironically, it was at this point that their work received increased attention in Europe , and a number of songs that stiffed in the US ("Na Na is the Saddest Word," "Can't Give You Anything," "Can't Help Falling In Love") moved near the top of the European charts.

In 1981 the Stylistics came back to their Philadelphia roots, joining Gamble & Huff's Philadelphia International Records and scoring their first US hit in years with the haunting "Hurry Up This Way Again."  This began a wonderful, but underappreciated, 3 album stint with PIR that included a number of fantastic cuts with Gamble & Huff, Dexter Wansel and Cynthia Biggs, and even a few cuts with Thom Bell and Linda Creed (including "I've Got This Feeling," the group's best song in a decade). Unfortunately, the albums didn't sell well, and the group departed PIR after their virtually ignored 1982.

They scored one more minor hit ("Some Things Never Change") with New Kids On the Block producer Maurice Starr (on the Streetwise label) and continued to record on smaller labels into the 90s.  In 2000, lead singer Thompkins suffered vocal problems from overuse and left the group.  He was replaced by Eban Brown, who joined original members Airrion Love and Herb Murrell and new group member Van Fields.  The new lineup meshed quickly and impressed both longtime fans and new ones. In 2002, Thompkins released his first solo LP, A Matter of Style, and in 2004 he formed and began touring with a new group, Russell Thompkins Jr and the New Stylistics. He has continued to perform successfully ever since, and in 2007 joined with Will Hart of the Delfonics and Ted Mills of Blue Magic to form 3 Tenors of Soul, and released an album on Shanachie Records.

By Chris Rizik

Additional Websites:
Stylistics Fan Club (US) 
Stylistics Brazil Website