Guy Recorded Their Debut Album In a Bathroom
Many years before he cut records with the likes of Bobby Brown, Lady Gaga, Micahel Jackson, and Snoop Dogg, Teddy Riley stumbled upon the world of music when he filled in for an absentee piano player at his family church in the mid-70s. Only nine years old at the time, Riley’s relationship with music continued to grow when his family relocated to the Universal Temple church a few years later — a house of worship where hip-hop legend Jazzy Jay just happened to be the drummer.
Riley credited both the church’s pastor and organ player with being a key player in helping him create the new jack swing sound that would elevate him to super-producer status. “Where did new jack swing come from? Church played a huge role,” he told Vibe magazine.
Although his initial connection with music was rather wholesome, an unfortunate event during his troubled teenage years in Harlem also helped shape his career. “I got busted when I was 16-years-old for selling drugs,” Riley told Vibe. “I got kicked out of Martin Luther King high school. This all changed my life.”
“Aaron did all his vocals in the bathroom. We put towels over the shower curtains so we didn’t have too much of an echo.”- Teddy Riley
After getting thrown out of Martin Luther King, Riley wound up in the same high school as up-and-coming rapper Doug E. Fresh. Not long after meeting each other, Riley produced the Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick classic “The Show” in 1986.
From there he produced Kool Moe Dee’s battle rap “How You Like Me Now” and the majority of Keith Sweat’s Make It Last Forever album in 1987. Produced, recorded, and engineered by Riley in a home studio with a very modest Akai 12-track, Sweat’s debut spawned the hit single “I Want Her” and helped establish the new jack swing genre.
Riley’s resume was growing more impressive by the day, but he was still far from an established industry presence when he formed the new jack swing/R & B group Guy in 1987 with Aaron Hall and Timmy Gatling. Looking back on the experience of making their first album together in a 1991 New York Times interview Riley said, “We did it for fun. I didn’t think it would ever come out.
“We did it for fun. I didn’t think it would ever come out.”- Teddy Riley
Part of the fun came from Riley employing several MacGyver-esque techniques during the first round of recording sessions due to the group’s lack of funds. Despite the success of Keith Sweat’s Riley-produced album, Guy still lacked the finances to access a professional studio. So they converted Riley’s mother’s bathroom into one instead. “Aaron did all his vocals in the bathroom. We put towels over the shower curtains so we didn’t have too much of an echo,” Riley told Vibe.
After wrapping their album, Guy was very proud of their final product. Riley continued making hits for other artists at the time of its release and it seemed like platinum status was almost guaranteed. But recognition was slow in coming at first and it took audiences time to fully understand the group’s sound. “‘Groove Me’ took a year for people to really get Guy. The first show we did — a show we performed with Johnny Kemp — we got booed,” Riley told Vibe. Once the audience recognized them as the people responsible for “Grove Me”, however, they changed their tune.
Though the slow burn to fame bothered Riley at first, he learned to accept it over time. “Looking back, that first Guy album took a year and half later to go platinum,” he told Vibe. “I was just thinking, ‘Dag, it takes this long to get famous?’ [laughs] But that’s how God works. It’s never on your time…it’s on his time.”
Connect with Teddy Riley on Facebook and on Twitter @TeddyRiley1.
If you enjoyed this piece, please consider following my Micro-Chop and Bookshelf Beats publications or donating to the Micro-Chop Patreon page. You can also read my work at HipHopDX or follow me on Twitter.
