Jesse's Gang

Based in Chicago in the '80s, Jesse's Gang was an urban contemporary/house trio that was led by producer/songwriter/vocalist Jesse Saunders. In his native Chicago, Saunders was best known for house music; he got his start as a member of the house group Z Factor, which had a local club hit in 1984 with "Fantasy" (the first song he ever wrote). It was also in 1984 that Saunders co-founded Jessay Records and had some more local club hits with "On and On" and "Funk You Up." The following year, he formed the trio Jesse's Gang, which included Saunders on lead vocals and keyboards, Duane Buford on keyboards and drum machines, and Twala Dawn on lead vocals. In 1986, Jesse's Gang had a local hit with the urban contemporary single "Real Love," which sold about 35,000 copies in and around Chicago. The group soon came to the attention of Geffen, which released its debut album Center of Attraction in 1987. Although Chicagoans associated Saunders with house music, Center of Attraction contains only one example of real house: "I'm Back Again." Most of the songs on the album are mindful of what urban contemporary stations were playing in 1987 and don't have a house beat. But as radio-friendly as it was, Center of Attraction didn't get very far commercially. Jesse's Gang was dropped by Geffen, and the threesome broke up in 1988 without ever providing a second album.