In the spring of 1991, a group of young, musical mavericks got the country hip to the sound of a new generation. Armed with sample-heavy beats, jazz riffs, and mellifluously soulful vocals coupled with funky rap rhythms, this new style took the pop music world by storm, influencing everything from clothing and hairstyles to language and cinema, spawning supergroups whose legacy continues to this day.

The music was known as “New Jack Swing.”

Groups such as Bel Biv Devo, Tony! Toni! Toné!, Boyz II Men and Wreckx-N-Effects crossed over from the R&B charts becoming household names on their way to countless millions. The soundtracks to classic films such as House Party and House Party 2 were filled with chart-topping New Jack Swing tunes.

Money was being made. Life was good. It seemed the party would never end.

But as it so often happens, within the heights of fame and fortune, cautionary tales emerge, examples of those that never quite made it, those whose candle never even got the chance to fade away. Sometimes, the candle was never lit to begin with.

Such is the saga of the saddest and most puzzling story to emerge from the New Jack Swing Era. It is a tale of unrealized potential and unfulfilled expectations.

It is the story of Sudden Impact.

Sudden Impact, the quickest, most random blip on the radar in the history of pop music.

Michael Bivens an original member of supergroup New Edition and one of the “Bs” in Bel Biv Devo, had started his own label, Biv10 Records, with the goal of producing young, up and coming acts. Quickly hitting paydirt with groups Boyz II Men and Another Bad Creation (ABC), Bivens decided to pool these powers together and form a collective known as “The East Coast Family.” To be invited into The East Coast Family promised a life of fame and fortune. You were now part of a crew.

Bivens decided to introduce the world to The East Coast Family during Boyz II Men’s debut music video, “Motownphilly,” a song and video that eventually became a huge smash. The popular refrain from the song, “Boyz II Men, ABC, BBD…The East Coast Family” became an anthem. Throughout the video, members of the “family” were shown posed for “The East Coast Family Album,” their band name emblazoned above them in tasteful neon.

And here is where the poor boys from Sudden Impact come in. Midway through “Motownphilly,” having not previously been mentioned anywhere in the song, a group of white guys with terrible bowl haircuts, multicolored ties, and shit-eating expressions splash onto the screen. What the fuck? Who the fuck are these guys? Why is Michael Bivens sitting there with them?

The Sudden Impact boys point at the camera, one last moment of cool cockiness, and then they are gone. Forever. They are not seen again in the video, they are not mentioned once in the song. They never release an album, they never have a single. They are not listed on any future Biv10 or East Coast Family compilation albums.

What happened? Obviously, this was a group that the powers that be in New Jack Swing felt would someday amount to something. Michael Bivens had enough faith in them to appear with them in video that was introducing his crew to the whole world. What went wrong?

All research attempts into Sudden Impact have proven futile. These men/boyz, at one point probably so self-assured that they had received their big break, are now nothing more than a pale, white question mark floating above the glory that is New Jack Swing.

Any and all help that can be provided in regards to the history, downfall and present day location of Sudden Impact would be highly, highly appreciated.

God bless.