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"Color Me Badd Finding Success"
by Clytie Bunyan
The Daily Oklahoman
July 14, 1991
In 1989, four Oklahoma City teen-agers moved to the Big Apple to make their mark on the entertainment industry. Two years later, they're coloring the airwaves in gold.
After overcoming the initial culture shock, career rejections and other hardships, the guys who call themselves Color Me Badd - Sam Watters, Mark Calderon, Bryan Abrams and Kevin Thornton - are beginning to leave their insignia of hip-hop/doo-wop music on the industry.
Their single "I Wanna Sex You Up" from the "New Jack City" film soundtrack has sold more than a million copies, and rapidly is climbing weekly music charts. And because the single is doing so well, the group's debut album, scheduled for release later this summer will be in stores this month.
But success has not clouded reality for the Northwest Classen High School graduates. They believe "God is the foundation of Color Me Badd."
"We all believe that without that [religious beliefs] this wouldn't be possible," lead singer Abrams said.
"Just like He (God) gave it to us so quickly, he could take it from us."
The multi-ethnic foursome has come a long way from the days of singing harmony in high school and auditioning for big-name acts such as Bon Jovi. Then, the group could only dream of "going for it."
"We said we weren't going to give up and it seemed to take forever. I don't think anybody (in the group) has accepted it yet," Abrams said.
They got a chance to compete for recording contracts after Robert "Kool" Bell of Kool and the Gang befriended the group and helped set them up in New York.
The group lived in a one-room apartment in Manhattan, occasionally living on bagels and tomato soup during their climb to stardom. Thornton said they often saved aluminum cans for that treat.
But the struggle never was unbearable. They remained optimistic and received their first contract with Giant Records less than a year ago.
Misidentification with another band forced a name change to Color Me Badd. The group originally was named Take One, but it was being confused with another group called Take 6, because both sang a cappella, Thornton said. Watters came up with the new name, which the band members say means "good."
"All we're saying is, if you can't color us anything, just color us `badd,' which means to break down all boundaries. We're not about color," Thornton said.
Their music, influenced by sounds ranging from rythmn and blues artist Jackie Wilson to rock 'n' roll's Aerosmith, is not aimed at any particular audience.
Band members say some radio stations got the wrong impression about "I Wanna Sex You Up," probably because of the song's ties to the movie. And some Oklahoma City stations initially refused to air the single even after relatives tried to get them to play it, Thornton said. Thornton said the song and the movie allow parents a chance to discuss sex and violence with their children. He said the group does not advocate either.
Meanwhile, the quartet says success is taken "in stride." They have moved from their earlier modest abode into a house in Glen Cove, Long Island, N.Y.
They say success would change their lives - but in a positive way.
"One problem we might see in the future is that people expect us to change more than we want to change," Watters said. "We don't expect to be treated any differently by our family and friends. And we've promised each other that we'll pull each other's coats when we fall out of line. What matters is that we're always there for each other."
Color Me Badd is preparing for its first tour "maybe later this year or next year," Watters said. They're hoping Oklahoma City would be the last stop, so they can "really go out with a bang."