For nearly as long as television has been in existence, it has played a large role in helping to launch the careers of many musicians.
The earliest prominent example is that of Ricky Nelson, who was first on the television show “Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” before launching a music career that saw fifty three songs make their way onto the Billboard Hot 100 between 1957 and 1973.
Most recently, stars such as Miley Cyrus on “Hannah Montana” and Miranda Cosgrove on “iCarly” have used television to propel themselves onto the Billboard charts.
In the 1990’s, perhaps the biggest way to know “you were on your way” was to be featured on Beverly Hills 90210.
Artists such as Color Me Badd, The Cardigans, Babyface, Jamie Walters and Wild Orchid (Fergie’s first group) made appearances on the show, and while very few of the above had long lasting success, they certainly achieved an enormous amount of notoriety from sharing the screen with David Silver and Steve Sanders.
Interestingly enough, R&B quartet Nu Flavor was also once featured on 90210, although not until two years AFTER they had hit their peak in late 1997.
Compromised of Jacob Ceniceros, Anthony Dacosta, Rico Luna and Frank Pangelinan, Nu Flavor first caught the attention of music fans in Los Angeles when a local radio disc jockey played a version of the four men covering “Open Arms” by Journey.
Shortly after, by early 1997, Nu Flavor had secured a record deal with Arista and the self titled album “Nu Flavor” was out. Two singles got radio spins throughout the United States – “Sweet Sexy Thing” and “Heaven,” which was the groups most successful single and spent fifteen weeks on the charts in late ’97 en route to peaking at #27.
Two years later, the group would release a second album (It’s On!), though the effort didn’t receive the successful radio results the first had. Not even the appearance on 90210, which was itself fading away by that time, seemed to help.
I recently had an off the record conversation with one of the members of Nu Flavor, who called the later days of the group “very personal.” He didn’t want to divulge too much about the past, but did tell me that the group was still having jam sessions and singing for friends and family and occasionally, parties. The group never has broken up; rather, it has just evolved. It sounds as if Nu Flavor is still doing music for the right reasons – for the love of it.
In the end, Nu Flavor is NOT one of the groups that was helped much by an appearance on television.
Still, its cool to know that one day, maybe five or ten years from now, I’ll be sitting on a couch and watching a random re-run of 90210, and I’ll have a chance to hear the sweet melodic sound of Nu Flavor once more.
Until Next Time – Dave O
