Divine

The ultimate one-hit wonder. This song is synonmous with my freshman year of high school and it was everywhere. I remember hearing this thinking, is this really R&B? It has a real country vibe to it, which is why I'm guessing it was a huge crossover hit. This song hit #1 on Billboard and despite a second single, Divine fell into obscurity soon after. I read on Wikipedia that one of the members tried out for "American Idol." No word on the other two.

I remember BET debuting a video of their second single, a cover of George Michael's "One More Try." Back then I dismissed it, but in retrospect, this was a gutsy move for a three-member group to revitalize a huge pop hit. Kudos to them for trying, but it didn't save them from their slide into obscurity.

OK, how many girl groups came out after En Vogue and the "hiatus" of Destiny's Child? There seemed to be a new peak around the late 90s/early 2000s with Divine, 3LW, Blaque, Allure, Destiny's Child, Elusion, So Plush, Cleopatra, Changing Faces, Dream, the last days of SWV, etc. Even gospel got into the act since Trin-I-Tee 5:7 and Mary Mary came onto the scene around this time. Only DC was able to rise to the top, and I truly believe they got lucky just because they picked the right producers for their second album.

How to make a comeback:

Girl groups have been pretty much absent from Billboard for awhile, but it's due time for a comeback of the genre. However, if Divine were to try to stage a return, they can't do it singing stuff like this. Once again, I'll have to suggest making some dance hits, or even go for a retro, Amy Winehouse-type vibe. Otherwise, they'll have to switch to gospel.

I decided to post Divine right after Samantha Mumba because guess who did their own version of "Lately"?



I had no idea this song existed until I picked up Samantha's album out the bargain bin a few years ago. WOW. Once again, I need to reiterate how far ahead of her time Samantha Mumba was. This video came out in 2000 -- who was wearing bangs in 2000? In fact, look who's wearing hair like hers now in 2008.