| Guy | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | June 14, 1988 | |||
| Studio | Chung King Studios Sound Works Studios Unique Studios (New York City, New York) Hillside Studios (Englewood, New Jersey) Quantum Studios (Jersey City, New Jersey) | |||
| Genre | New jack swing[1][2] | |||
| Length | 45:08 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Producer |
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| Guy chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Guy | ||||
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Guy is the debutstudio album by AmericanR&B bandGuy, released on June 14, 1988, byUptown Records. It was produced by group memberTeddy Riley and manager Gene Griffin. The album peaked at number 27 on theBillboard 200 chart. In July 1994, it was certifieddouble platinum by theRecording Industry Association of America, for shipments of two million copies in the United States. In 2007, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the album,Geffen Records reissued the recording complete with a remastered version of the original album and a second CD of remixes.[3]
The origins of Guy came about whenAaron Hall and Timmy Gatling worked at the same clothing store,Abraham & Straus in New York.[4] Riley was introduced to Hall by way of Gatling and the three then decided to form a group. Riley and Gatling were in a group prior to forming Guy called Kids At Work.[5] Producer and manager Gene Griffin introduced them to Uptown Records founder Andre Harrell, who immediately signed the trio.[4] After they were signed, they moved to Washington, D.C. to live with Griffin. However, things went south after Griffin and Gatling were fighting the entire time of the recording.[4] Gatling then left the group and was replaced by Aaron's younger brotherDamion Hall.[4] The eventual reasons of Gatling's departure from the group were issues with the contract and pressuring personal relationships during the time, although he was credited and earned royalties by his contribution of writing and producing.[6]
The album was recorded at several studios in New York—Chung King Studios, Sound Works Studios, and Unique Studios in New York City, Hillside Studios in Englewood, and Quantum Studios, Jersey City. The recording sessions were engineered byTony Bennett's son Dae Bennett[4] and Dave Kowalski. The album was mixed by Timmy Regisford, who would work with Riley on a number of projects over the next few years.
Guy was initially recorded at the house of Riley's mother.[4] The reason for it was because the group had no money to record like they wanted in a professional studio.[7] Although they did get around to recording in a professional setting, in the end, they used most of the vocals recorded from home because Riley felt they sounded better.[4] One of the songs on the album- "You Can Call Me Crazy"- was originally intended for singerAl B. Sure! for his debut albumIn Effect Mode.[8] Griffin took the song back as he felt the album needed to be filled. In the end, they decided to keep the song on the album with Sure!'s vocals still on the song.
Another song on the album "Piece of My Love" was the source of anurban legend for a number of years. It was assumed that Hall sang the words "dumb bitch" at the beginning of the track.[9] The rumor was so widespread, it was even referenced byCommon in his song "Reminding Me (Of Sef)", the first single from his 1997 albumOne Day It'll All Make Sense.[10] In a 2000 interview withVibe Magazine, Riley insisted that it wasn't what Hall was saying, but rather "come on, babe". To further support his claim, he played the master tapes and isolated Hall's vocals to prove otherwise.[11] The album started recording in October 1987 and was completed in March 1988.[4]
Anew jack swing album,Guy incorporateship hop,R&B, andfunk styles.[2]
Guy peaked at twenty-seven on the U.S.Billboard 200 and reached number one on theR&B Albums chart where it remained for five nonconsecutive weeks.[12] The album was certified platinum in March 1989 and double platinum by July 1994.[13] In addition,Guy was the highest charting R&B album on theBillboard Year-End chart for 1989.[citation needed]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  [2] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |  [14] |
| Pitchfork | 9.0/10[15] |
| The Village Voice | A−[16] |
Robert Christgau ofThe Village Voice gave the album an "A−" and recommended for listeners to "absorb the beats and focus in on Aaron Hall". He felt that the band "sound[s] like almost arrogantly anonymous light funksters" and found Riley and Hall underwhelming assoul singers, but stated, "whereBobby Brown andAl B. Sure! play the love man falsetto straight, Hall adds depth by straying toward the manly emotionalism of the church. And unlike most light funksters, Riley doesn't aspire to slow ones."[16]John Leland ofSpin viewedGuy as exemplary of contemporarynew jack swing albums, which he felt all sound "low-budget, without effects or orchestra, but yet they're very sophisticated".[17] Alex Henderson ofAllMusic credited the album for doing "more than any other to make [new jack swing] so incredibly popular in the R&B world" and citing it as "one of the most seminal and influential releases of the late '80s".[2]
| No. | Title | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Groove Me" | Gatling, Hall, Riley | 4:34 |
| 2. | "Teddy's Jam" | Riley | 3:35 |
| 3. | "Don't Clap... Just Dance" | Gatling, Hall, Riley | 5:03 |
| 4. | "You Can Call Me Crazy" | Gatling, Riley | 4:06 |
| 5. | "Piece of My Love" | Gatling, Hall, Riley | 5:15 |
| 6. | "I Like" | Gatling, Hall, Riley | 4:54 |
| 7. | "'Round and 'Round (Merry Go 'Round of Love)" | Hall, Riley, Griffin | 4:17 |
| 8. | "Spend the Night" | Gatling, Hall, Riley | 4:26 |
| 9. | "Goodbye Love" | Gatling, Hall, Riley | 5:04 |
| 10. | "My Business" | Gatling, Hall, Riley | 3:54 |
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
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| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA)[23] | 2× Platinum | 2,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
