(March 10, 2025). Call what R&B legends Tony! Toni! Toné! achieved in 1990-91 a case of knowing when to stop or at least quitting while they were ahead. They accomplished something that year that no one else has done before or since and, because of current chart rules, will likely never be matched. It was the equivalent of stepping up to the plate four times in a baseball game and hitting home runs with each turn at-bat, then stopping there.
Let’s set the stage for how the legendary Oakland trio engraved their names in this very unique chapter of Billboard chart history.
First the Backdrop…
In 1987, Janet Jackson’s Control became the first album to generate four No. 1 singles on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart —eventually reaching five. Even Michael Jackson’s Thriller fell short of that mark, managing three No. 1 R&B hits. But both of those albums had other singles that fell short of No. 1, eliminating them from chart-topping perfection.
By 1990, multi-No. 1 hit R&B albums were common, with artists like Bobby Brown, Karyn White, Surface, Quincy Jones, and Johnny Gill all landing at least three chart-toppers from the same LPs. Michael Jackson’s Bad matched Control’s record with five No. 1s, but missed perfection with two lower-charting singles. Janet’s Rhythm Nation 1814 also had a strong start with its first three singles, but later hits failed to reach the soul chart summit. Johnny Gill came closest to a flawless four-song run in 1990-91 — all No. 1s from his self-titled album, except “Fairweather Friend,” which stalled at No. 2.
Then came The Revival — an album that did what none before or since has done.
The Revival Makes History…
Tony! Toni! Toné!’s second project followed their successful 1988 debut, Who?, which contained their out-of-the-box No. 1 smash, “Little Walter,” and three additional top ten hits, not bad for a first time at bat. But it was The Revival that not only removed any concerns about a sophomore jinx but carved a unique spot in the history books for the trio consisting of brothers Raphael Saadiq (formerly Wiggins), D’Wayne Wiggins, and their cousin Timothy Christian Riley.
”The Blues”
The album’s first single, “The Blues,” was a hard-thumping funk number that featured brothers D’Wayne and Raphael alternating vocals behind a spirited rhythm track containing a looped high-pitch screech and a growling bass drum that was as bold as anything on radio at the time. For an added touch, the trio included “doo-wop, doo-wop” backing vocals reminiscent of the Jackson 5’s contribution to Stevie Wonder’s “You Haven’t Done Nothing” nearly 16 years earlier. The song, written by D’Wayne and Timothy Riley, flew up the charts, displacing En Vogue’s “Hold On” at No. 1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs list on June 9, 1990.
”Feels Good”
The threesome quickly followed that with the next single, “Feels Good.” That was the album’s lead track and was pure new jack swing. It also managed to cross over to pop radio, earning the group its first top ten single on the Hot 100 where it peaked at No. 9. The tune was written by the trio plus regular collaborator Carl Wheeler and featured lead vocals by Raphael and a rap by Mopreme Shakur (then under the name Mocedes). The feel-good song had no trouble climbing up the R&B/Hip-Hop list and returning the trio to No. 1 (on the chart dated Sept. 1).
”It Never Rains (In Southern California)”
For their next turn, the band went to the ballads. Third single “It Never Rains (In Southern California)” was issued in October 1990 and featured a video that was directed by Cosby Show and A Different World actress Lisa Bonet. Not to be confused with the big 1970s pop hit of the same name by Albert Hammond, Tony! Toni! Toné!’s “It Never Rains” was a pure love song that invoked old-school R&B, with a call-and-response between lead singer Raphael and his backing bandmates. Despite being a ballad, the song’s rhythm track and bass groove were tight. Debuting on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart in mid-October, the song moved to No. 1 just before Christmas, occupying the top spot for the two holiday weeks. The Tonys had joined the likes of all the other artists who’d earned at least three No. 1s from the same album.
But they weren’t done.
”Whatever You Want”
For the fourth single, the trio’s label went with the ballad penned by D’Wayne and Wheeler, “Whatever You Want.” It was perhaps the unlikeliest of hits not because it wasn’t a good song, but because the band’s label waited almost two months after “It Never Rains” had peaked before issuing “Whatever” to radio and record stores, giving the impression that they were closing the chapter on The Revival. But there clearly was heavy demand for the song featuring a solo lead by D’Wayne because, just as sure as his name was D’Wayne, the single debuted on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart in early March 1991 and was No. 1 just seven weeks later in April, making it the fastest climbing of the album’s four hits.
And, just like that, Tony! Toni! Toné! had done it again…earning the band its fourth No. 1 R&B/Hip-Hop single from The Revival, and placing it among the handful of elite titles that had done that previously.
You’d think with a hand as hot as theirs, and an album that had ten more tracks to choose from, the Tonys would have rolled the dice on a fifth single after “Whatever You Want.” But by the time that song exited the charts in July 1991, it had been more than a year since “The Blues” hit No. 1 and even longer since The Revival was first released in May 1990. So, the band’s company Wing Records pulled the plug on any more commercial singles being culled from the album and, as a result, secured its place as the first album to have as many as four official singles released and have all four reach No. 1, for a perfect chart-topping batting average of 1.000.
For the record, Mariah Carey managed this same feat on the Hot 100 pop chart with the four singles from her debut self-titled album in 1990-91, but two of those songs fell short of No. 1 on the R&B/Hip-Hop list, which this article is about.
Why It May Never Happen Again…
The notion that Tony! Toni! Toné!’s The Revival’s standing as the only album with a 1.000 chart-topping batting average (and as many as four singles released from it) will likely never be matched is because, under today’s rules, “singles” aren’t required to be commercially available as separate physical product to be eligible for chart inclusion. This means that a popular album can blitz the charts with four or more chart entries simply due to streaming, with many of the songs not getting enough points to even compete for the top, thereby reducing its “batting average.” The latest and best example of this is Kendrick Lamar’s GNX, which generated three consecutive No. 1 tunes (“Squabble Up,” “TV Off,” and “Luther”) on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs list last fall, only to have many of the album’s remaining tracks also dot the list in lower positions, significantly reducing its No. 1 batting average.
This is a highly nuanced chart record indeed, but it’s one I’d like to think D’Wayne Wiggins, who co-wrote three of the four No. 1 songs on The Revival, and sang lead on two of them, died knowing he played a huge part in making chart history during his band’s heyday.
R.I.P. D’Wayne Patrice Wiggins (February 14, 1961 – March 7, 2025).
DJRob
DJRob (he/him) is a freelance music blogger from the East Coast who covers R&B, hip-hop, disco, pop, rock and country genres – plus lots of music news and current stuff! You can follow him on Bluesky at @djrobblog.bsky.social, X (formerly Twitter) at @djrobblog, on Facebook or on Meta’s Threads.
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Thank you. I miss R&B.
Me too!