Joe Public (band)
Joe Public is an American new jack swing group from Buffalo, New York. The group consists of lead singer and bass guitarist Kevin Scott, keyboardist and guitarist Jake Carter, percussionist and drummer Dwight "Mr. Dew" Wyatt and lead guitarist Joe "J.R." Sayles. They are best known for their hit single "Live and Learn," which reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1992.
Joe Public | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Buffalo, New York, United States |
| Genres | New jack swing, R&B, pop |
| Years active | 1989–present |
| Labels | Columbia Records (1991 - 1995) |
| Members | Kevin Scott Jake Carter Dwight "Mr. Dew" Wyatt Joe "J.R." Sayles |
Musical work
Joe Public evolved from the group Atension, signed to Island Records in 1989. Their debut album on Columbia Records, Joe Public, contained their hit single "Live and Learn" which became their only top-40 hit peaking at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Their follow-up single, "I Miss You" reached #55 on the same chart. Joe Public was the first-ever R&B group to perform on MTV's Unplugged series where they were also the back up band for Boyz II Men and Shanice. Joe Public was also the back up band for Kris Kross on The Arsenio Hall Show, which featured Jermaine Dupri's first national TV appearance.
They hosted the "NBA Jams Music Video," a VHS promotional release for the video game NBA Jam: Tournament Edition that contained music videos intercut with professional basketball highlight footage. The video for "Live and Learn" is contained on it, as well as improvised live footage between video segments.
They later released their second studio album Easy Come, Easy Go in 1994, also under Columbia Records.
They continued to act as songwriters, writing the song "Keep It Comin'" for fellow New Jack Swing artist Keith Sweat in 1991 as well as songs for Tyrese.
Discography
Albums
- 1992: Joe Public #111 U.S., #23 U.S. R&B
- 1994: Easy Come, Easy Go
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak positions | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [1] |
US R&B [2] |
US Dance [3] |
AUS [4] |
NZ | NED | BEL (FL) |
GER | SWE | UK [5] | |||
| 1992 | "Live and Learn" | 4 | 3 | 36 | 45 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 16 | 22 | 43 | Joe Public |
| "I Miss You" | 55 | 8 | — | — | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "I've Been Watchin'" | — | 54 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 75 | ||
| "Do You Everynite" | 98 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "This One's For You" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1994 | "Easy Come, Easy Go" | — | 81 | — | — | 13 | — | — | — | — | — | Easy Come, Easy Go |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | ||||||||||||
References
- "Joe Public - US Hot 100". billboard.com. Retrieved 2014-05-10.
- "Joe Public - US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs". billboard.com. Retrieved 2014-05-10.
- "Joe Public - US Dance Club Songs". billboard.com. Retrieved 2014-05-10.
- Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 146.
- "Official Charts Company: Joe Public". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2014-05-10.