“Poison” by Bell Biv Devoe

"Poison" was the song that launched Bell Biv DeVoe: the American vocal group's first single, and the lead-off from the debut album that took its name. Elliot Straite, who works as Dr. Freeze, wrote and produced it, and he'd meant it for a record of his own until the group heard his demo and went wild for it. It started out not as a song at all but as a private love letter to an ex-girlfriend, and when he first turned it into a song, his friends told him it was weird.

It's new jack swing, R&B, hip hop and swing slammed together, and Straite named Kraftwerk, Tito Puente and Mongo Santamaria as the sources for its sound. It stayed the group's biggest success. Straite ended up with two songs on that album, this one and "She's Dope!".

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.