Full Force 

Full Force rose to prominence in the mid-'80s, writing and producing popular R&B hits
for Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam before embarking on a moderately successful solo career
that ultimately led them back to production work in the late '90s. The six-man collective -
featuring Paul Anthony, Bowlegged Lou, B-Fine, Baby Gerry, Shy Shy, and Curt-t-t -
originated in Brooklyn, NY, where they originally met up with Steve Salem in the late
'70s, a business-savvy individual who functioned as their manager. With a manager in
place and plenty of talent between the various group members, Full Force struggled
throughout the early '80s to find a label willing to sign them. Eventually they got a
break when they wrote and produced fellow Brooklyn group UTFO's "Roxanne Roxanne,"
a rap song that would attain a certain level of fame thanks to a series of answer records.
In early 1985, the single peaked at number ten on Billboard's R&B charts, proving a
substantial hit for both the rap group and the production team. From there, Full Force
moved onto their next major success with Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam, a pop group led by
a 16-year-old singer named Lisa Velez. Originally Velez had auditioned for the production
team, who then went ahead and recorded "I Wonder if I Take You Home" with her,
releasing the single under the moniker Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam With Full Force on an
indie New York label, Personal. The song scored success initially overseas before
eventually being released by Columbia in the U.S. after getting immense play in New
York clubs as an import single. Almost overnight, the song topped Billboard's dance
chart and went on to peak at number six on the R&B chart by summer 1985. Thanks to
the momentum surrounding the hit single, Full Force signed a deal with Columbia to
release solo material. Though they scored some minor R&B hits on their own ("Temporary
Love Thing," "Unfaithful So Much," "All in My Mind"), their biggest success continued
to be as a production team for Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam ("All Cried Out," "Head To Toe,"
"Lost In Emotion"). In 1988, Full Force produced James Brown's I'm Real, scoring a
substantial hit for the struggling legend with the album's title track, and worked with a
number of late-'80s pop stars: Jasmine Guy, Cheryl Pepsii Riley, and Samantha Fox,
among others. Throughout the early and mid-'90s, the production team remained relatively
quiet before again churning out a number of late-'90s R&B-flavored pop hits with Selena,
Backstreet Boys, and LFO, among others.