Stevie B
Steven Bernard Hill (born April 19, 1958 in Fort Lauderdale , Florida ), stage name Stevie B , is an American singer, songwriter and record producer of Cuban origin. Alongside Johnny O, he was a major influence on Latin Freestyle and Miami Dance Music in the late 1980s . This is how he got his nickname "The King of Freestyle".
Career
Stevie B made a living doing simple jobs like fast food salesman and car wash supervisor before his first local hit in 1987 with the self-penned song Party Your Body , which then became a national club hit and entered the US dance charts in 1987. In the spring of 1988 he released his debut album of the same name, which sold half a million times and contained his first two single charts with Spring Love and Dreamin 'of Love . His second gold album In My Eyes was released the following year with two songs, the theme song and I Wanna Be the One , which made it into the top 40 of the US charts.
Stevie B had his greatest success in 1990 with the third album Love & Emotion . With the title song he came in 15th place in the USA and was able to place himself internationally for the first time (Germany 31st place). His biggest hit, however, was the third release, Because I Love You (The Postman Song) , towards the end of the same year , which was a number 1 hit in the USA and was in the top ten in many countries around the world. This single and the album earned him two more gold records in his homeland. Unlike all of his previous chart successes, these two hits were written by Warren Allen Brooks rather than himself.
The song Because I Love You has the additional title The Postman Song and refers to the first line of text "I got your letter from the postman just the other day". For writer Warren Allen Brooks, however, it was not a love song, but a spiritual song about his relationship with God. The song has been covered several times and entered the charts three times in Germany and partly in Austria and Switzerland in other versions: in 1999 by Ray Horton ( The Real Milli Vanilli ), in 2002 by Mark 'Oh with the Digital Rockers and in 2007 by Groove Coverage .
With I'll Be by Your Side , another single from the album was able to benefit from the success and reached number 12, but then the success abruptly waned, also due to the changes in the music landscape. The next album, Healing , met with so little interest in 1992 that it no longer made it to the charts. Only the song Pump That Body was a smaller dance hit. He took another two years for his fifth album, Funky Melody . With the double single Dream About You / Funky Melody , he had his last chart placement in the USA in early 1995.
Stevie B wrote and produced most of his songs himself, especially on the first three albums. In 1989 he discovered the Filipino singer Jaya , for whom he wrote and produced her only hit, If You Leave Me Now (USA 1989 # 44).
Until 2009 he continued to publish albums regularly, except for two placements in Germany at the end of the 1990s, but without great success. Almost 25 years after Spring Love was one of his first hits, a new version with producer and rapper Pitbull was released in early 2013 , which only hit the charts in Germany.
He made negative headlines in 2011 when he was arrested for outstanding maintenance payments of several hundred thousand dollars following a concert.
Discography
Studio albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
 US
|
|||
| 1988 | Party your body | - | - | - | - |
US78  (21 weeks)US |
First published: February 17, 1988
|
| In My Eyes | - | - | - | - |
US75 (46 weeks)US |
First published: 1988
|
|
| 1990 | Love & emotion | - | - | - | - |
US54 (43 weeks)US |
First published: June 14, 1990
|
| 1999 | Freestyle - Then and Now! |
DE83 (2 weeks) DE |
- | - | - | - |
First published: May 5, 1999
|
| 2000 | It's so good |
DE99 (1 week) DE |
- | - | - | - |
First published: April 29, 2000
|
more publishments
- 1992: Healing
- 1994: Funky Melody
- 1996: Waiting for Your Love
- 1998: Right Here, Right Now!
- 1998: Summer Nights
- 2006: This Time ...
- 2009: The Terminator
- 2014: The King of Hearts
- 2017: Never Gonna Let You Go
Compilations
- 1991: Best of Stevie B
- 1992: Best of Stevie B (other tracklist)
- 1993: The Best of Stevie B (Brazil Edition)
- 1996: The Best of Stevie B Vol. 2 (Brazil Edition)
- 1996: Finally
- 1997: Hit Collection
- 1998: Best of Stevie B (re-release)
- 2001: The Greatest Hits
- 2004: The Greatest Hits Volume 2
- 2005: The World of Stevie B
- 2008: Greatest Freestyle Ballads
- 2008: Karaokee Richi Night (Chili Album)
- 2009: B-Sides and Outtakes
Singles
Chart success as a lead musician
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 1988 | Dreamin 'of Love Party Your Body |
- | - | - | - |
US80 (10 weeks) US |
First published: April 1988
|
| Spring Love (Come Back to Me) Party Your Body |
- | - | - | - |
US43 (18 weeks) US |
First published: June 1988
|
|
| 1989 | I wanna be the one in my eyes |
- | - | - | - |
US32 (20 weeks) US |
First published: February 1989
|
| In My Eyes In My Eyes |
- | - | - | - |
US37 (17 weeks) US |
First published: May 1989
|
|
| Girl I Am Searching for You In My Eyes |
- | - | - | - |
US56 (15 weeks) US |
First published: October 1989
|
|
| 1990 | Love Me for Life Love & Emotion |
- | - | - | - |
US29 (14 weeks) US |
First published: January 1990
|
| Love & Emotion Love & Emotion |
DE31 (9 weeks) DE |
- | - | - |
US15 (15 weeks) US |
First published: June 1990
|
|
| Because I Love You (The Postman Song) Love & Emotion |
DE9 (25 weeks) DE |
- |
CH22 (7 weeks) CH |
UK6 (9 weeks) UK |
US1 (23 weeks)US |
First published: September 1990
|
|
| 1991 | I'll Be By Your Side Love & Emotion |
- | - | - | - |
US12 (15 weeks) US |
First published: January 1991
|
| Forever More Love & Emotion |
- | - | - | - |
US96 (4 weeks) US |
First published: October 1991
|
|
| 1995 | Dream About You / Funky Melody Funky Melody |
- | - | - | - |
US29 (23 weeks) US |
First published: January 1995
|
Further chart successes
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 1990 | The Stevie B. Megamix |
DE17 (24 weeks) DE |
- | - | - | - |
First published: February 1990
|
| 2013 | Spring Love 2013 |
DE87 (1 week) DE |
- | - | - | - |
First release: February 2013
feat. Pit bull |
swell
- ↑ Stevie B at lastfm.de , accessed on January 16, 2010.
- ↑ a b c Gold / Platinum awards: RIAA database (USA)
- ↑ Top 50 'Love' Songs of All Time , Fred Bronson, Billboard, February 12, 2014
- ^ Cover versions of Because I Love You , Coverinfo.de, database accessed on May 24, 2014
- ↑ US singles: Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-2006. Billboard Books, New York 2007, ISBN 0-89820-172-1 / US albums: The Billboard Albums by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .
- ↑ Stevie B Arrested , Kim Grundy, She Knows Entertainment, October 3, 2011.
- ↑ a b c Chart sources: DE CH UK US
Web links
- Stevie B Website / Booking / Contact
- Stevie B on Facebook
- Stevie B at Allmusic (English)
- Stevie B at Discogs (English)
- Singles Discography on 45cat.com
- Discography on rateyourmusic.com
- Charts and data
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | B, Stevie |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Hill, Steven Bernard (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American singer, songwriter and record producer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 19, 1958 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Fort Lauderdale , Florida , USA |