Has any male vocal group flamed out as quickly as Color Me Badd?

The Oklahoma City quartet stormed onto the scene in early 1991 with “I Wanna Sex You Up,” originally taken from the New Jack City soundtrack. Bryan Abrams, Sam Watters, Mark Calderon, and Kevin Thornton followed up the #2 peak of their debut single with back-to-back number ones, “I Adore Mi Amor” and “All 4 Love.” That trio of hits ushered in multi-platinum sales of their debut album, C.M.B., but Color Me Badd experienced only diminishing returns on the pop chart after that initial blast of success.

Their sophomore album, Time And Chance, was released in November 1993, nearly two years after “All 4 Love.” The album climbed to just #56 on the Billboard 200 and the first two singles both sputtered out at #23 on the Hot 100. The second of these, “Choose,” was co-written and produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. It was because of the Minneapolis studio duo’s involvement (Janet Jackson, Karyn White) that I picked up the CD single, the only Color Me Badd anything I’ve ever owned.

Noticing it as I was combing through my CD collection the other day, I gave “Choose” a spin. It’s basically a retread of P.M. Dawn’s “Set Adrift On Memory Bliss” (the drum loop, the vocal production, the rap) sans the Spandau Ballet sample — something I might not have noticed all those years ago. But even though my eyes are open now, I won’t try to hide my love:

Purchase Color Me Badd – “Choose” via iTunes, Amazon MP3.