Marvin Sease

Marvin Sease built a self-sustaining enterprise around his suave, explicitly adult stage image and the related merchandise that circulates through the Deep South, even though mainstream blues publications and standard promotional channels largely overlooked him. His sound sits between blues and soul steeped in gospel traditions, echoing the approach of fellow Southern vocalists Johnnie Taylor and Tyrone Davis, yet the frequently suggestive content of his songs, the charged nature of his live shows, and access to major-label channels created a loyal audience, above all among women drawn to his signature number and breakout jukebox success, the suggestive and metaphor-heavy “Candy Licker.”

Born in Blackville, South Carolina, Sease began performing as a member of the Five Gospel Singers, a Charleston-based group, before relocating to New York at twenty and singing with another gospel ensemble, the Gospel Crowns. Drawn instead to R&B, he assembled a band that included his three brothers and performed under the name Sease. After that project ended, he took to performing over backing tracks at neighborhood dances and clubs, issued several 45s on his own, and secured steady work at the Casablanca, a Brooklyn venue. Seeking wider exposure, he cut a self-titled album in 1986 on his Early imprint that contained one of his best-known pieces, “Ghetto Man,” and began working the chitlin circuit of urban bars, rural juke joints, and blues festivals across the South. While placing the record in stores, he met a contact who arranged a Polygram contract; the label reissued the album on London/Mercury in 1987, adding the newly recorded ten-minute track “Candy Licker.” The song spread rapidly through Southern jukeboxes despite being deemed too explicit for broadcast, prompting large turnouts—especially from female listeners—at Sease’s concerts.

During the following decade he released a series of albums that moved consistently for London/Mercury—Breakfast (1987), The Real Deal (1989), Show Me What You Got (1991)—and then for the New York-based Jive label—The Housekeeper (1993), Do You Need a Licker? (1994), Please Take Me (1996)—none of which, however, equaled the chart showing of the original Marvin Sease LP, which reached number 14 on Billboard’s R&B chart and number 114 on the pop chart. Additional titles appeared before the decade ended: Bitch Git It All (1997) and Hoochie Momma (1999). Women Would Rather Be Licked arrived in early 2001, followed in 2005 by both the live CD and the DVD Live with the Candy Licker.