Foster & McElroy
Denzil Foster and Thomas McElroy are an American R&B record production and songwriting duo, which has produced and written hit singles for Club Nouveau, Tony! Toni! Toné!, Alexander O'Neal, Regina Belle, Madonna, Swing Out Sister, and most notably, En Vogue. They have released their own recordings under the names Foster & McElroy (the Top Ten R&B hit "Dr. Soul" with M.C. Lyte and the Atlantic album FM2) and Fmob ("Runaway Love" with En Vogue). Their songs have been sampled in hit songs by the Luniz, Puff Daddy, Ashanti, Jay-Z, Jennifer Lopez, LL Cool J, Jessica Simpson, and others.
Biography
Denzil Foster was born in Oakland, CA and was greatly influenced by numerous of styles of music, from The Beatles to Parliament/Funkadelic. Thomas McElroy, also born in Oakland, was influenced by his father's love for jazz music. The two musicians first met in California while attending college and decided to work together as colleagues.
Signing to the independent Triangle label, they released one 12" single. Soon after, Foster & McElroy joined forces with Jay King producing Timex Social Club's hit single "Rumors" in 1986. When that group disbanded, they regrouped with King to form Club Nouveau. Eventually, the duo left Club Nouveau after their first album Life, Love & Pain to focus on production and songwriting. In 1988, they landed a production deal with Wing Records, eventually signing the band Tony! Toni! Toné!, as well as brother and sister act Channel 2.