Biography
D Train emerged in the early '80s as a forward-thinking post-disco duo pairing vocalist James "D-Train" Williams with multi-instrumentalist and producer Hubert Eaves III, who handled keyboards, bass, drums, arrangements, and overall production. Williams immediately stood out for the commanding, inspirational quality of his singing, while Eaves supplied dense, inventive backdrops that Francois Kevorkian frequently heightened for club play through his distinctive remixes.
The pair first connected in Brooklyn, New York. After the decade turned, and well after Eaves had built a reputation as a vital jazz and R&B session player often linked with James Mtume, they began cutting tracks together under the name taken from Williams' football nickname. Prelude Records signed them, issuing their debut single "You're the One for Me" before 1981 closed. It reached the top of the dance chart for a three-week stay in early 1982. Their uneven self-titled first album arrived later that year and featured the energetic standout "Keep On."
The follow-up, Music, appeared in 1983 and was promoted via several singles, among them "Keep Giving Me Love," "Are You Ready for Me," and the UK Top 40 entry "Music." Their third and last album, Something's on Your Mind, yielded the title song's Top Five R&B hit. Additional singles from the set underperformed, yet the duo closed their run on a strong note. Rather than endlessly replicate the formula of "You're the One for Me," they advanced by folding in stylistic touches drawn from varied sources, a range only partly suggested by their recorded covers of Carole King's "So Far Away," Bacharach/David's "Walk On By," and Mandel/Webster's "The Shadow of Your Smile."
Williams and Eaves ended their partnership as D Train in 1985. Eaves went on to collaborate with Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, and Luther Vandross, among others. Williams launched a solo career that produced three R&B chart entries in the late '80s and supplied background vocals on numerous projects throughout the next decade.
The pair first connected in Brooklyn, New York. After the decade turned, and well after Eaves had built a reputation as a vital jazz and R&B session player often linked with James Mtume, they began cutting tracks together under the name taken from Williams' football nickname. Prelude Records signed them, issuing their debut single "You're the One for Me" before 1981 closed. It reached the top of the dance chart for a three-week stay in early 1982. Their uneven self-titled first album arrived later that year and featured the energetic standout "Keep On."
The follow-up, Music, appeared in 1983 and was promoted via several singles, among them "Keep Giving Me Love," "Are You Ready for Me," and the UK Top 40 entry "Music." Their third and last album, Something's on Your Mind, yielded the title song's Top Five R&B hit. Additional singles from the set underperformed, yet the duo closed their run on a strong note. Rather than endlessly replicate the formula of "You're the One for Me," they advanced by folding in stylistic touches drawn from varied sources, a range only partly suggested by their recorded covers of Carole King's "So Far Away," Bacharach/David's "Walk On By," and Mandel/Webster's "The Shadow of Your Smile."
Williams and Eaves ended their partnership as D Train in 1985. Eaves went on to collaborate with Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, and Luther Vandross, among others. Williams launched a solo career that produced three R&B chart entries in the late '80s and supplied background vocals on numerous projects throughout the next decade.
Albums
Singles
