“When I’m with youuuuuuuuuu…”
Just belting out those words in the perfect tenor voice that only hit R&B singer Tony Terry could, brings back good memories for many. It was a staple slow jam and was in frequent rotation of weddings during the time. Now, 30 years later, Terry is still basking in the glow of his biggest hit.
Terry’s self-titled second album, released in 1990, included the single “With You” which reached the Top 20 of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, as well as the Top 10 on the R&B chart. “Everlasting Love”, was a number-six R&B hit. After leaving Epic, Terry moved over to Virgin Records. His debut album for that label was 1994’s Heart Of A Man. The single, “When A Man Cries”, reached Billboards R&B Top 40. The following year, Terry contributed background vocals on the single “Gotta Have Love”, from Yolanda Adams’s album More Than a Melody. He also appeared in the video. Terry has performed on the soundtracks to Gladiator starring Cuba Gooding, Jr., Tap starring Gregory Hines and King’s Ransom starring Anthony Anderson. In 1991, Terry earned two Soul Train Music Award nominations: Single of the Year and Artist of the Year for “With You”.
The video for “With You” was executive produced by Anita Baker and directed by Blair Underwood, who made a cameo appearance.
“I knew there was something special about the song,” admits Terry in an interview with Urban Cutz magazine. “I have an interesting story about how “With You” ended up being on my record. I was actually called into a meeting by the President of the label at the time, to convince me to not use it on the album, let alone use it as a single. Of course, I felt passionate about it, the song is really simple. The thing that really connected to me was the story. So I felt being that if I was affected by the song, others would be affected by it as well. So I went to bat for it and I won the argument because it was not acceptable.”
“So they ended up releasing the record but with no support, but the single wouldn’t go away. It wasn’t until Anita Baker became involved as the executive producer of the video. It was divine intervention because she called me one day and I had not met her. She was telling me about the song that had awakened her the night before and I thought it was a joke, I didn’t really believe it. So she was asking me about the video and I explained to her that the label didn’t think the song would be a hit. So there wasn’t going to be a video. Anita was like man those people wouldn’t know a hit if it hit them in the forehead. So she said Terry I’m going to send you a check, I want you to shoot a video for ‘With You.’ She hooked me up with Blair Underwood for the video, sent me a check for $50,000 and I went to LA and shot the video. The rest is history, relative to the song becoming the fabric of a lot of people’s lives. The video that resulted in that conversation is the video that we all know.”
“I think that music is constantly evolving. I might not like a lot of the stuff that I’m hearing, but you know what? My parents
didn’t like a lot of stuff we were listening to (laughs). They didn’t understand what we were listening to and I’m sure their parents before them felt the same way. I have a son and some of the music he listens to I just don’t get so it’s constantly evolving and if you want to stay relevant you have to jump on without selling out and there’s a fine line of giving people what they want without selling out.”
“I love LOVE and I’m trying to get that relationship thang worked out (laughs). I like to sing songs I like and they just happen to be love songs.”
“I think the key is remaining passionate. Even though I’ve been off of the scene as it relates to having records out, I’ve been working the whole time. In this music business, it’s like out of sight, out of mind. I’ve been fortunate to have the ability to travel all around the world, even when I wasn’t making records.”
“I’ve been able to take care of my family since High School with music. I think that’s pretty successful. I get to do what I love and make a living at it. That’s success to me.”
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