René Moore

Biography

Moore and singer Angela Winbush first met in 1979 in his hometown of Los Angeles, California and began performing together as Rene & Angela later that year, recording a self-titled debut album. They would eventually begin to cultivate hit songs for others, including Stephanie Mills and Kurtis Blow. Subsequently, they became one of the most successful writer/producer duos in R&B history. René & Angela released their self-titled debut album in 1980, followed by Wall to Wall (1982), and Rise (1983), all on Capitol Records. During this period they had two moderate R&B hit singles, "I Love You More" and "My First Love". The two stopped working professionally together in 1986. They pursued successful solo careers amid legal disputes over creative rights to their work together, and others with which they collaborated as composers, songwriters, and producers. In spite of this, both Winbush and Moore continue to enjoy substantial success in their respective solo careers, with Moore going on to compose and produce hits for many major artists, most notably Michael Jackson; and together they wrote and produced four songs for Janet Jackson's first, self-titled album. Over the course of his career, Moore has been nominated for two Grammys: one for Song of the Year, Michael Jackson's New Jack Swing-hit Jam (song) and a second for Producer of the Album of the Year, Michael Jackson's HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I. Moore released a solo album, Street Songz for Rufftown Entertainment Group, Inc. in 2004.

A Street Called Desire

During Rene & Angela's early years, Moore and Winbush were asked to produce songs for Janet Jackson's 1982 self-titled debut album, Janet Jackson. One of the songs, "Young Love", became Jackson's first top ten R&B hit reaching number six on the chart. They also wrote successfully for Stephanie Mills, (their "I Have Learned to Respect the Power of Love", gave Mills her first-ever #1 R&B single, in 1985). Just prior to that, Rene & Angela decided to branch out and find a bigger fan base signing with Mercury Records in 1984. They released their breakthrough album, A Street Called Desire in early 1985. Among the hit singles included on this classic album was their first R&B #1 with the dance single, "Save Your Love (For #1)", which included guest vocals from rapper Kurtis Blow, making it besides Chaka Khan's "I Feel For You", one of the first songs to prominently feature a guest rapper as a featured performer. Other hit singles included the Top 5 hit single "I'll Be Good"; "Your Smile" was another R&B #1 hit while the subsequent "You Don't Have to Cry", hit Number Two in the beginning of 1986, followed by yet another Top 5 hit, "No How-No Way". Eventually A Street Called Desire sold over a million copies going platinum, but on the brink of their greatest success, tensions between Moore and Winbush had grown, and they dissolved the partnership. Moore went on to compose and produce hits most notably for, and with, Michael Jackson.

Influence

Since starting out with Rene & Angela, Moore and Winbush have played and continue to play an influence on various R&B and hip-hop acts. In the latter genre, their music has been sampled by acts such as Jay-Z (who sampled their "Imaginary Playmates" for his song "Imaginary Players"), The Notorious B.I.G. (who featured Jay-Z on his Rene & Angela sampled "I Love You More" for the song "I Love the Dough"), Foxy Brown (who sampled their "I'll Be Good" for her 1997 top ten hit, "I'll Be" which featured Jay-Z; as well as their song "Secret Rendezvous" for her hit, "Bonnie and Clyde, Part 2"); Hip-Hop Group Junior M.A.F.I.A. sampled Rene & Angela's "Your Smile" for their rap song "Backstabbers"; Female Rapper Sylk-E. Fyne's 1998 Platinum hit "Romeo and Juliet" sampled Rene & Angela's R&B Top 5 hit "You Don't Have to Cry"; Sylk-E. Fyne also sampled their Top 5 hit "Your Smile" for her song "Your Style"; additionally, Adina Howard re-recorded their "You Don't Have to Cry" as a duet; and Avant re-recorded the Rene & Angela ballad, "My First Love", with singer Keke Wyatt in 2000. Moore and former partner Winbush also shared the distinction for being one of the first R&B acts to prominently feature a rap act in a R&B song, sharing that distinction with Jody Watley, Chaka Khan and funk band Cameo.

Albums