On this date in 1988, Uptown Records R&B favorite Al B. Sure dropped his debut album In Effect Mode under the Uptown imprint and distributed it on Warner Bros.
A little-known fact about Al B. Sure is that before the release of In Effect Mode, the Mount Vernon native wanted to be a rapper, but his cousin Kyle West made R&B music, which influenced his decision to do the same. West was then enlisted as co-producer on Sure’s first album, in which the duo wrote all of the songs together on the album.
“Nite and Day,” the first single from the album, was written and recorded without lyrics in 1987 by West. A month after its production Sure heard the song and wrote a chorus, which led to him and West recording it for the album.
In Effect Mode was quite a commercial success, having reached #20 on the Billboard 200 and #1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart (where it remained for seven weeks). Five singles were released from the album, all of which made it to the Billboard singles charts: “Nite and Day,” “Off on Your Own (Girl),” “Rescue Me,” “If I’m Not Your Lover,” produced by Teddy Riley, and “Killing Me Softly.”
Salute to AL B. Sure, Kyle West, Andre Harrell and the Uptown./Warner Bros. staff for making this a piece of Hip Hop/R&B history!
