Time Will Reveal

No one had ever heard anything like it in R&B music. It was an amazing phenomenon and something you didn't believe even when you heard it with your own ears. The closest thing we've ever got to something like this was Smokey Robinson or Marvin Gaye and while those two men were unlike any other, they didn't have what El DeBarge had. They didn't have his glass shattering falsetto which is in its full glory on Time Will Reveal off of DeBarge's 1983 album In A Special Way.

Time was DeBarge's biggest hit ever until Rhythm of the Night which hit the ground running in 1985. DeBarge was comprised of siblings Bunny, Mark, El, James, and Randy and they pretty much singlehandedly saved Mowtwon Records back in the 80's. many believed they were brought in to replace The Jacksons who had departed Mowtown by then. DeBarge never had the success of the Jacksons but they definitely carved out their own niche with their own sound, powered by El's voice.

The first time I heard it I imagined two things. A, guys trying to hit that note and winding up in the hospital and B, all those wannabe singers who gave up those dreams after hearing El do his thing. DeBarge had other hits but for me Time is it. It would have been a great song in any else's hands, in El's...it became a classic. Enjoy!