30 years ago this week the #1 song was "Romantic by Karyn White

Why "should"? Her peak was considerably longer than most people who've ever had a music career.

I liked her. liked the album before Ritual of Love (which included Romantic) better, but I liked ROL too and the album after that.

She was married to Terry Lewis of Jam and Lewis producing fame.

She was huge in 1988 - this song was her last hit. She quit after she married Terry Lewis and had kids.

That's what happened- she left her career for the most part.

she has aged quite well

Secret Rendezvous from the first album is one of my favorites. And The Way I Feel About You from the same album as Romantic.

Love her!!! Miss R & B. Superwoman was great too.

Now stuck with WAPs. Vulgarity and shock does not satisfy.

R2, I wasn't clear if you're saying that her last hit was in 1988. You just might have meant "she was huge in 1988" and, separately, Romantic was a huge hit.

Anyway, Romantic was 1991. And The Way I Feel About You, while not a No. 1 hit like Romantic, was still No. 12 and Top 5 R&B. That was probably her last hit.

DO not satisfy, quick grammar fix, thank god.

LOVE this album cover photo

I forgot how pretty she was..still is. Thanks for the link, watched the way I feel about you and I realized how much I miss levity and sense of humor in artists and videos. Come back Ms. White!!!!

Karyn 2 years ago on stage still looks great

The video for ROMANTIC was very Fosse-esque.

I think Romantic was one of if not the last number one song before billboard starting soundscan to compute their charts.!

I used to just sit and watch videos for hours in my teens and 20s (late 80s, 1990s).

I also used to go to a great gay bar that always had videos playing - and not just "gay pop/dance" though that was part of it - multiple genres. It was fun to chill and drink and converse and intermittently talk about a video.

"I think Romantic was one of if not the last number one song before billboard starting soundscan to compute their charts.! "

I think someone on DL once linked an article about the charts and how they were computed before soundscan and it was really interesting. Unsurprisingly it was a cluster fuck. Soundscan wasn't even close to perfect, but was an improvement.

shockingly and disappointingly there are no live performances of this song from the early 90s

there's only on there at all from 7 years ago when she was 49. She sounded great! and shout to the backup singers too who did a great job

when she briefly dated Bobby Brown

I think this was just before he got with Whitney

I know this is a Karyn White thread, but Bobby Brown really was sexy way back then.

Bobby had really had no great body to speak of, and he wasn't super handsome, but he was sexy.

The Every Little Step video with him and the background dancers got me going

I take that back, early on he was handsome, hot/sexy, and cute - a triad that's tought to pull off.

with ex husband Terry Lewis

Terry Lewis always looked so mousey to me, with that thin mustache and those dimples.

gorgeous

looked so cute here

Yes, R24, she is gorgeous, and she has aged well. R20, I love the Every Little Step video. The background dancers were cute and so was Bobby. That video brings back some really good late 1980s/early1990s memories when I was in my early 20s.

Love this lady still to this day. 'The Way You Love Me' remains on the soundtrack of my childhood....along with songs from the other female R&B greats from the late 80's and early 90's.

Nothing tops Superwoman

I was surprised she didn't have a longer, more successful too. She was beautiful, could sing and dance. But most music artists, even very talented ones, have fleeting careers. Maybe a few hit albums or singles, and then they're gone.

A lot of people forget how big Bobby was in the late 80s and early 90s. He was everywhere and had hit after hit. Sadly for him, his marriage to Whitney and messy personal life overshadowed that.

She was pissed that she didn’t get invited to do Superwoman at a Babyface tribute. A little bit ridiculous when she says Face wrote the song but SHE made it a hit. He’s the most successful R&B producer of the era. The song would have been a hit irrespective.

R30 but it was strange the show didn't ask her since she's still around looking and sounding great. It would have introduced the younger generations to her. Many have probably heard the song but don't know much about the singer so it was so was long ago (in pop culture years).

*since it was so long ago

"A little bit ridiculous when she says Face wrote the song but SHE made it a hit. He’s the most successful R&B producer of the era. The song would have been a hit irrespective. "

I don't think she's saying that it couldn't have been a hit anyway. She's saying what is true - she's the one who made it a hit. That doesn't negate the fact that someone else could have. But they didn't.

Superwoman would have gone to any number of artists who were in the Babyface stable and still been a hit (Toni Braxton, SWV, Shanice, Whitney, En Vogue, Vanessa Williams), but I would have liked to see her do it. It's understandable that they didn't invite her back though, because she hasn't been a pop culture presence for about 30 years. She REALLY went out of the public eye, Tracie Spencer style.

Anyway, I really liked Karyn White and her voice/image. It was a competitive time to be a sexy R&B singer who could really deliver ballads. You had Lisa Fischer, Toni Braxton, Vanessa Williams, Phillis Hyman, Miki Howard, Whitney, Mariah, Anita Baker, En Vogue, and several others. Not to mention Janet getting a lot of the good Jam&Lewis material, and Paula Abdul and Jody Watley getting a lot of the good pop records. The more hip hop influenced soul singers were right around the corner so I don't think she would have lasted much longer at the top anyway (Mary J Blige, Lauryn Hill, Faith Evans, Erykah Badu, SWV).

In hindsight I don't think there was enough about her that stood out. Having those high charting hits on the main chart is already a great string to her bow.

R34 the late 80s/early 90s was a magical time in r&b music as there were so many singers who had crossover monster hits. I miss it given how far music has fallen off in the last 20 years

now there are rarely any real black female singers to get a hit. Overrated Beyonce and weak vocalist Rihanna bizarrely were the chosen ones with a few others here and there scoring a hit but not amounting to much else

I loved her way back then.

She had hit after hit and then suddenly nothing.

Did she have a flop album or something?

Something of an explanation of why she disappeared from the biz…

R36 she came out with another album in 1994 that didn't do well at all. It was more "grown up" and I guess the fans wanted more what they knew from her instead

she is a classy lady, beautiful and talented. Not many singers today have that at all.

"Romantic", is one of my, "happy", songs.

Good thread OP. She was (is) gorgeous and I played her first two albums quite a bit back when I was fab.

Karyn White’s Superwoman and Sheena Easton’s Follow My Rainbow are essentially the same backing track. Both L.A. Reid & Babyface written/produced. Karyn White even sings background vocals on Sheena Easton’s track!

Sheena Easton Follow My Rainbow = Karyn White Superwoman.

Karyn White’s Don’t Mess With Me is essentially Sheena Easton’s The Lover In Me.

Cherrelle, another Jimmy Jam/TL protege, didn’t make it either. She got a better voice than Karyn and Janet J.

Cherrelle had several r&b hits in the 80s, fool!

I meant mainstream, not rnb

"Cherrelle, another Jimmy Jam/TL protege, didn’t make it either. "

Didn't make it? Maybe not a monster, extended career, but she definitely made it. Well, IMO. Maybe our standards are completely different. I guess if you have to have cross over hits to "make it" then I'd agree. But she had a lot of R&B hits and and the Fragile, Affair and High Priority albums were successful.

Only Janet made it

My bad. I didn't see R47

Many of Cherrelle hits could easily fit into Janet’s Control album. What a shame!

I don’t remember this song.

When Robert Palmer did his cover of "I Didn't Mean To Turn You On', he told ROLLING STONE that it was an "obscure teenybopper song" that he turned into a hit. I thought that was an extremely arrogant thing to say. Cherelle did it first, and she did it better. Folks remember his video more because of the hot models he had in it. His voice was nothing special.

Karyn White - Superwoman

One of my favorite songs.

I picture Brenda and Kelly (90210 obviously) dancing around and trying on clothes in a montage when I hear this.

a rare ballad co-written by David Foster