Melvin Riley

Melvin Riley Jr. delivered the lead vocals for Ready for the World on signature tracks including “Oh Sheila” and “Love You Down,” while also issuing solo material and penning plus producing the Top Ten R&B single “Come Over” for 4 By Four, which reached number ten during summer 1987. Formed in Flint, Michigan, in 1982, the group’s lineup beyond Riley—who handled bandleading, vocals, guitar, and most songwriting—consisted of his former schoolmates: drummer Gerald Valentine, keyboardist Gregory Potts, bassist John Eaton, percussionist Willie Triplett, and lead guitarist Gordon Strozier.

Working out of Bernard Terry’s Silver Sun studio, the musicians mailed demos to major labels only to collect rejection letters. Their debut release, the slow-burning ballad “Tonight,” appeared locally on their own Blue Lake Records imprint after co-production with Terry. Once placed with WJLB’s DJ The Electrifying Mojo, the track caught on first in Flint, then across Detroit and Chicago. MCA, having earlier passed, acquired the single and watched it climb to number six R&B by late 1984. Its follow-up, the comparably restrained “Deep Inside Your Love,” also hit number six R&B in spring 1985.

A third single brought sudden national prominence. Self-produced and strongly shaped by the Minneapolis sound of Prince, “Oh Sheila” topped the R&B chart for two weeks and reached number one on the Billboard pop listing in summer 1985. The windfall let Riley, then studying education as a planned backup career, purchase a home for his parents and a Porsche for himself. Suddenly seated among industry notables such as Smokey Robinson, Lionel Richie, and Huey Lewis at the American Music Awards, the band experienced an abrupt elevation in profile.

Their June 1985 debut album, Ready for the World, earned platinum certification and peaked at number three R&B that summer. Louis Silas Jr.’s mixing highlighted an appealing blend of funk, rock, inventive arrangements, and studio effects. The project marked one of the final major triumphs for traditional R&B/funk ensembles, a style already waning amid cuts to school arts programs, the spread of MIDI technology, and the ascent of rap. By the twenty-first century, Mint Condition remained the sole R&B/funk band still signed to a major label. Additional singles from the album included the polished number-four hit “Digital Display” along with the charting cuts “Slide Over” and the rock-tinged “Ceramic Girl.”

Co-produced by the band and Gary Spaniola, the second chart-topper “Love You Down” held the number-one R&B spot for two weeks and reached number nine pop in fall 1986. Ruff ’N’ Ready supplied the number-six R&B success “My Girly” and the track “Gently.”

The title song from the 1991 album Straight Down to Business advanced to number 15 R&B in spring 1991, while the ballad “Can He Do It (Like This, Can He Do It Like That)” climbed to number nine R&B that fall. Riley later recorded as an MCA solo act, placing “Whose Is It” on the charts in summer 1994 and “What Makes a Man (Wanna Cheat on His Woman)” later that year from his Ghetto Love collection. Bedroom Stories appeared on Bogard April 4, 2000.