When the group began performing as the L.D.s on Greenwich Village street corners and the Staten Island ferry, the group was comprised of brothers Stevie D. and Antoine “T.C.D.” Lundy (b. February 3, 1964, d. January 21, 1998), their uncle Jessie Lee Daniels, and friends Trisco Pearson and Charles “Mercury” Nelson (December 19, 1964–March 9, 1995) son of Charles Daniels. After they connected with DJ Dr. Rock, they also performed as Dr. Rock & the MCs and played at hip hop shows. By the time the Force MDs got a record deal, signing with Tommy Boy Records in 1984, the group had already developed into a pure quiet storm/contemporary R&B group, with its top-ten R&B hit “Tears” from the Love Letters album and signified by the group’s street attitude. It produced a collection of R&B hits throughout the 1980s, but its sole pop hit was the Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis-penned love song “Tender Love” from both their second album, Chillin’ (1985), and the 1985 feature film and soundtrack Krush Groove. The single proved to be a huge success, peaking at #10 in the Billboard Hot 100 chart, which became and instant R&B classic,and stayed on the chart for 19 weeks, [1] which was one of the tracks that helped Jam & Lewis garner a Grammy award for Producer of the Year. With the exception of their first album, the group was also the first act on Tommy Boy to have major-label distribution through its then-parent Warner Bros. Records. The Force MDs finally scored its first R&B #1 hit in 1987, “Love is a House,” from the group’s third album, Touch and Go. However, the group’s popularity began to wane the following year. A fourth album, Step to Me, was released in 1990, and its featuring production was by Full Force, Marley Marl, Monte Moir (of the Time) and others. Mercury and Trisco then left, only to be replaced by Rodney “Khalil” Lundy and Shawn Waters. The group then released the album Moments in Time in 1994. Tragedy struck the group three times with the passing of three of its members: Charles “Mercury” Nelson suffered a fatal heart attack in 1995; Antoine “T.C.D.” Lundy died of Lou Gehrig’s disease in 1998; and DJ Dr. Rock died under unknown circumstances. The Remaining MDs returned with a comeback album titled “The Reunion” in 2000.| |
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