Peech Boys

Alternately billed as the New York Citi Peech Boys or N.Y.C. Peech Boys, this underground funk-rock collective produced one of the earliest club successes within New York’s house and garage movement via the 1981 single “Don’t Make Me Wait.” Though the group cut material for both West End and Island throughout the early 1980s and delivered several compelling tracks, commercial breakthrough remained elusive. The lineup coalesced around vocalist Bernard Fowler alongside Robert Kasper, Michael de Benedictus, Darryl Short, and Steven Brown, taking shape under the guidance of pioneering DJ Larry Levan at Paradise Garage. Buoyed by strong club response to “Don’t Make Me Wait,” the Peech Boys entered the studio for an Island album in 1983, only to disband shortly afterward. Fowler subsequently built a career as a backing vocalist and arranger, contributing to sessions by the Rolling Stones, Herbie Hancock, Gil Scott-Heron, Sly & Robbie, Yoko Ono, and Philip Glass, among others.