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T.G.I.F Rotations: The Ladies’ Men of R&B Vol.1

Twenty-eight tracks of the most convincing romantic voice in 1990s R&B. Gerald Levert sang like a man who meant every word, because he generally did.

The Ladies' Man, and the weight behind the title

Gerald Levert was the son of Eddie Levert of The O'Jays — one of the great voices of Philadelphia soul — and grew up inside the business. He formed LeVert with his brother Sean and Marc Gordon in Cleveland, had a run of hits through the late 1980s, and then built a solo career that made him the definitive male R&B balladeer of the 1990s.

What set him apart was not range but conviction. Levert had a thick, gritty baritone with a preacher's sense of build, and he sang love songs with an intensity that could tip into something closer to pleading. He was also a serious songwriter and producer, working with Barry White, Patti LaBelle and The O'Jays among others.

He died in 2006 at 40, from an accidental prescription drug interaction. His brother Sean died in 2008. It remains one of the harder stories in modern soul music.

What to listen for

"Casanova" — the LeVert record from 1987, produced by Reggie Calloway — is where it begins and still the group's biggest.

"Baby Hold on to Me" and "Already Missing You" are duets with his father Eddie, and they are the emotional centre of this playlist. Two generations of a great soul family singing together is rare enough; hearing it now, knowing how the story ended, is something else.

"My Body" comes from LSG — the supergroup with Keith Sweat and Johnny Gill, and one of the most successful R&B collaborations of the decade.

"I'd Give Anything," "Thinkin' Bout It" and "Taking Everything" are the peak solo ballads. "Answering Service" is the storytelling one, and a good reminder that a whole R&B subgenre was built on the drama of the landline.

"In My Songs" was released posthumously and won a Grammy.

Go deeper

Private Line (1991) is the solo album to hear, and LSG's self-titled 1997 record is the fun one.

Go back to The O'Jays for the father's side — Back Stabbers and Ship Ahoy are two of the greatest albums Philadelphia International produced, and hearing Eddie Levert there explains a lot about his son.

For the lane: Keith Sweat, Johnny Gill, Jodeci and R. Kelly defined 1990s male R&B alongside him. Tank, Avant and October London are the inheritors still working the tradition.

What he writes about: not seduction or heartbreak at their peaks but the negotiation in between — the compromises inside a relationship that is already established. It is a less glamorous subject and a much harder one to sustain across thirty-eight tracks, and it is why the catalogue reads as adult rather than merely smooth.

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