D Train

D Train (You’re The One For Me) – D Train

Prelude Records – 1982

“D Train” was a collaborative effort between the band’s namesake James “D. Train” Williams, who was featured as the lead vocalist and songwriter, and Hubert Eaves III, a keyboardist and producer who performed the instrumentation on the recordings. Hailing from Brooklyn, New York, Williams himself was a R&B/dance producer as well. He and Eaves met during high school and began performing together, although Eaves would spend most of the 1970s as a member of the R&B band Mtume. (Notorious B.I.G. – Juicy…ring any bells?)

However, by the 1980s, he and Williams had teamed up again. The group named themselves “D. Train” after a nickname Williams had acquired as a football player in high school.

D. Train released their first single “You’re the One For Me” in late 1981. The track became an instant success, hitting #1 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart that year; it has been remixed and re-released successfully several times since, and was contemporaneously covered by Paul Hardcastle with vocalist Kevin Henry in the United Kingdom and more recently interpolated by Westcoast MPC heavyweights Exile and DJ Day.

The duo’s self-titled debut album (which prominently featured the “You’re the One For Me” title on the front cover, and the album sometimes became known by this name) followed in early 1982, and several additional singles from this effort were successful on both the R&B and Dance charts, although they were not as popular as the debut hit. Among these tracks were “Keep On,” which reached #2 on the Dance chart and a cover version of the Burt Bacharach/Hal David penned “Walk On By”, that owed more to the Isaac Hayes version than to Dionne Warwick’s original recording.

In 1983, the band released their follow-up album, Music. The title track became another dance-floor anthem and is the most gospel infused of D-Train’s floor fillers.  This track nearly equalled the success of the group’s debut single. Several other singles from the album were moderately successful.

In 1984, D. Train had their only Billboard Hot 100 entry with “Something’s On Your Mind,” which climbed to #79 and was later covered by Miles Davis on his album You’re Under Arrest. The title single also cracked the top five on the R&B chart, becoming the group’s biggest hit in that market as well. Despite this success, the group would disband that same year.

Following the dissolution of D-Train the band, Williams embarked on a moderately successful solo career. Although he was billed as a solo artist, however, he did continue to work with Eaves acting as a producer and key instrumentalist. In 1986, Williams released his debut album, Miracles of the Heart, which featured a Top Ten R&B single, “Misunderstanding.” The follow-up single, “Oh, How I Love You Girl” also performed well in the R&B market. His second album, In Your Eyes followed in 1988.

James “D Train” Williams is currently a DJ for Heart & Soul Channel 51 on the Sirius Satellite Radio service based in New York.

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Enjoy.