Portrait

Emerging late in the new jack swing period, Portrait ranked among the more polished R&B acts to arrive on the scene. The lineup of Phillip Johnson, Eric Kirkland, Michael Saulsberry, and Irving Washington drew members from Los Angeles, Providence, and Tulsa. After signing with Capitol, the group placed its debut single "Here We Go Again!" on the Billboard R&B chart in October 1992, where it rose to number three. Although the track narrowly missed the Hot 100, it remained the quartet’s strongest showing; another cut from the self-titled album, "Honey Dip," reached number 18 and stands as one of the era’s noteworthy singles. In 1995 Kurt Jackson stepped in for Johnson, the same year Portrait issued its second and final Capitol album, All That Matters. The set proved less successful than its predecessor, yet "I Can Call You" and the group’s update of the Bee Gees’ "How Deep Is Your Love" both enjoyed modest chart traction. Two later, covers-focused projects, Picturesque (1996) and Share My Love (2005), appeared exclusively in Japan.