EVENT APPEARANCE

1. 2024: 16th Classic R&B Festival

BIOGRAPHY

During the early to mid-’70s, Bobby DeBarge, Eddie Fluellen, Phillip Ingram (brother of James Ingram), Jody Sims, and Gregory Williams were in the Ohio-based White Heat. The band backed Barry White and recorded a self-titled album — released by RCA in 1975 — produced by the maestro. Budgetary constraints forced White to cut ties with the band, which subsequently morphed into Hot-Ice, an outfit that featured DeBarge, Sims, and Williams, as well as DeBarge’s brother Tommy. That band released an album on Polydor in 1977. Jermaine Jackson helped them secure a contract with Motown offshoot Gordy. As Switch, the band proved to be popular in clubs, as well as within the quiet storm radio format. Their singles “There’ll Never Be” (1978), “I Call Your Name” (1979), and “Love Over and Over Again” (1981) reached the Top Ten of Billboard’s R&B chart.