Once upon a time, in the summer of 1994, an R&B group that was some kind of mutant gene splicing of Boyz II Men and Color Me Badd dropped a single that became the number one song in the country. California based All-4-One released a cover version of John Michael Montgomery’s hit 1993 country single “I Swear”. All-4-One’s rendition of the song became a surprise smash and stayed at the top of Billboard’s Hot 100 chart for 11 weeks (one of those weeks was this week 30 years ago). That was not a typo. “I Swear" was the biggest song in the county for 11 whole weeks.
It’s easy to say that this group rode the momentum that the waaaay better harmony-based groups Boyz II Men and Color Me Badd created. In the early 1990’s pretty much any group who could sing acapella would go Gold. But the wild success of “I Swear”? That’s a hard one to explain. The song was tender and heartfelt, but was it anything near Boyz II Men’s “I'll Make Love To You”? Or “On Bended Knee”? The group themselves was/is an enigma (they’re currently touring the United States). Even on their own bio on their own official website, they tell us nothing about their origin. No high school or college formations. No Avengers Assemble moments at a talent show. All-4-One just…appeared one day, like bird flu.
Is All-4-One a social experiment? Are they double agents for a foreign government? Are they the luckiest humans who ever lived? The mind boggles, but “I Swear” continues to melt hearts 30 years after it dropped. The group may not have die hard fans, but their classic song does.
I give “I Swear” a C.
