SWITCH

On December 12, 1976 I arrived in Grand Rapids, Michigan via airplane from Hamburg/Germany. Two days later Gregory Williams and me flew into Mansfield, Ohio, rented a house, bought a van, instruments, airmattresses, beanbacks, for inside the house and inside the van. I moved every member of the band myself by picking them up from their home, or flying them in and picking them up from the airport. It was Bobby and Tommy DeBarge, Gregory Williams all from Grand Rapids, Michigan, Jody Sims from Steubenville, Ohio and the two guys from Akron, Ohio, Eddie Fluellen and James Ingram´s brother, Phillip Ingram, plus the rest of the musicians, especially M.C."Dr.Q" Clark from Grand Rapids, Michigan and Arnie Hayes, homie from Mansfield, Ohio, coming and playing.

We were kicking ass and playing "Pall Mall Groove" (latin. translated ´First Class Groove´) right into 1977. When I took the tapes to Los Angeles, California to mix them down at Paramount Recording Studio, Gregory Williams and Jody Sims were following me to LA with the tape I produced with them. They met Jermaine Jackson of the famous Jackson family at the Motown building and gave him the tape. He called back the next day. The deal was on. The next is history. Switch was released in 1978, sold over a million copies and "There´ll Never Be" was No. 1 in the R&B Charts. Switch influenced musically DeBarge and New Edition.

Albums Released:

• MOTOWN: SWITCH 1978, SWITCH II 1979, REACHING FOR TOMORROW 1980, THIS IS MY DREAM 1980, SWITCH V 1981
• CD: THE BEST OF SWITCH 1991, THE 20TH CENTURY MASTERS - THE MILLENNIUM COLLECTION 2000, TOTAL EXPERIENCE RECORDS: AM I STILL YOUR BOYFRIEND? 1984