Whistle

Whistle began as a rap act that sang from time to time before shifting focus to vocals almost entirely, sending twelve singles onto Billboard’s R&B listings across the close of the 1980s and the start of the following decade. Rickford Bennett, Garvin Dublin, and Brian Faust formed the outfit in Brooklyn, New York City, and introduced it with the track “(Nothing Serious) Just Buggin’.” Issued by Select Records after production from the Kangol Kid and Howie Tee, the buoyant, go-go-tinged number entered Billboard’s Hot Black Singles chart in February 1986 and climbed to position seventeen. It later surfaced on the ensemble’s debut LP, also issued that year, which contained their next single to register on the chart. The act soon concentrated on R&B, cycling through new jack swing club tracks, slow jams, and more conventional ballads. Following the second album, Transformation, Kenny Hodge joined the roster while Dublin exited and Tarek Stevens took his place. Whistle reached the R&B Top Ten with a version of Heatwave’s “Always and Forever,” taken from the album sharing that title. Reduced to a trio, the group issued its fourth and last LP, Get the Love, in 1992.