<P> The group's second album The Revival was released in 1990 and reached platinum status . The album spawned several #1 R&B hits with "It Never Rains (In Southern California)", "Feels Good", "The Blues", and "Whatever You Want" all topping the R&B charts . "Feels Good" was the group's first single to breach the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 and went gold . </P> <P> Inspired by live instrumentation, turntablism, and classic soul music, Tony! Toni! Toné! recorded and produced their second album, The Revival, mostly themselves and released it in 1990 to commercial success . Released on May 8, 1990, by Wing Records, The Revival charted for 64 weeks on the Billboard Top Pop Albums, peaking at number 34 on the chart . The album's second single "Feels Good" was released on June 19 and certified gold on November 13 after it had shipped 500,000 copies . The single topped the R&B chart for two weeks and reached number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 in the fall of 1990, going on to sell over one million copies . In late 1990, the album's fourth single "It Never Rains (In Southern California)" became a number - one R&B hit and also peaked at number 34 on the Hot 100 . </P> <P> The Revival broadened the group's exposure to fans beyond their initial R&B audience . However, they became ambivalent about their newfound mainstream success and their music being labeled "retro" by critics . In an interview for People magazine, lead singer and bassist Raphael Wiggins expressed his dissatisfaction with the music industry, saying that "every record company wants to get a group and put' em in a Benz with a car phone and a beeper, show them dressing in three different outfits, put them in a video shot on a beach with lots of swinging bikinis . You won't ever see us on a beach . We're just down - to - earth, funky, like - to - play guys ." Before considering a follow - up album, the band recorded several songs for film soundtracks, including "Me and You" for Boyz n the Hood (1991), "House Party (I Don't Know What You Come to Do)" for House Party 2 (1991), and "Waiting on You" for Poetic Justice (1993). </P> <P> Having fulfilled their creative intentions with The Revival, Tony! Toni! Toné! wanted to pay homage to their musical influences with Sons of Soul . In a 1993 interview for The New York Times, Wiggins elaborated on their direction for the album, stating "We're paying homage to a lot of older artists who paved the way for us artists like the Temptations, Sly and the Family Stone, Earth, Wind and Fire . They're the people who inspired us when we were growing up, people like Aretha Franklin, James Brown . We feel we're the sons of everything and all those people who came before us ." He also explained the album's title as a declaration of them being descendants of those artists, "not in a grandiose sense, but from the standpoint that we really are the musical offspring of all that's come before us...paying homage to our past, but creating in a contemporary environment ." </P>

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