One Hit Wondering – Joe Public

One Hit Wondering is a series of columns where I listen to the album of a one hit wonder, and find three songs, other than the hit, that people should hear. 

“You’ve got to live and learn.”

It’s a statement that’s been true since the beginning of time, but not until March of 1992 did it sound so incredibly funky.

That funk was provided by a foursome from Buffalo, New York, named Joe Public, whose debut single, “Live and Learn,” became a New Jack Swing classic.

“Live and Learn” combined social consciousness with a sound that made you want to get up and dance, and ultimately reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100.

With their meteoric rise, Joe Public – which consisted of lead singer and bassist Kevin Scott, keyboardist and guitarist Jake Carter, percussionist and drummer Dwight “Mr. Dew” Wyatt, and lead guitarist Joe “J.R.” Sayles – had everyone turning up the volume on their life lesson.

Being an actual band made Joe Public unique in the R&B world, and adding to that uniqueness was that they combined being a band with quite a bit of sampling. For example, on “Live and Learn” they sampled …

* The drum break from Digital Underground’s “The Humpty Dance.”

* The trumpet from “The Grunt” by The J.B.’s (James Brown’s band).

* Vocals from James Brown’s “Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved.”

* Vocals from the Soul Children's “I Don’t Know What This World Is Coming To.”

* Replayed samples of “All Your Goodies Are Gone” by Parliament.

* Replayed samples from “Peg” by Steely Dan (who knew Yacht Rock could lead to New Jack Swing???)

* The riff from “Funk You Up” by The Sequence.

In answer to your next question – no, I have no clue what all that did to their royalties, but I do know it made for a great song.

Before they were giving out life lessons via New Jack Swing, however, the men of Joe Public were just kids looking to form a band.

According to the music blog rareandobscuremusic, Joe Public began as two bands when the members were in middle school. Jake, Kevin, and Dwight were in one band that reportedly had a whopping 15 members, while J.R. was in a different band.

The two bands wound up in competition with each other for gigs in the Buffalo area. Gigs, at that age, didn’t involve bars, but instead involved things like proms.

Jake, Kevin, and Dwight would eventually break away from their group, and when J.R.’s band broke up, the trio invited him to join them.

This new band performed under a number of different names, including The Ice Band, which seems wildly apropos for Buffalo, and New World Production.

In 1987 music executive Lionel Job saw them play at a Battle of the Bands, and soon after became their manager. It was the rare battle of the bands where a music executive was actually there!

The band changed their name to Atension, signed to Island Records in 1989, and that same year released their debut album, Def On Arrival, which featured additional players Nathan Sayles, and Isaac Scott. Atension attempted to grab listeners’ attention with two singles – “Let Me Push It To Ya,” and “Crazy ‘Bout You.”

Neither single made an impact, and in 1991 Atension changed their name again, this time to Joe Public. They also moved from their native Buffalo, to New York City.

At this point their manager started shopping their demo to major labels, ultimately receiving an offer from Columbia Records.

That same year, Joe Public wrote their first Top 20 song … but it was for someone else.

The song was “Keep It Comin’,” and it would become the title track for Keith Sweat’s third album.

Released as a single in November of 1991, “Keep It Comin’” peaked at number #17 on the Billboard Hot 100, and spent two weeks at #1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart.

Just a few short months later, in January of 1992, Joe Public released their self-titled debut album.

Five singles would be released from the album, but only “Live and Learn” became a hit.

The wave the foursome rode from “Live and Learn,” and from being an actual band in the R&B world, was pretty nice.

As the song was climbing the charts, MTV tapped them to be part of the first ever R&B edition of MTV Unplugged, where they kicked off the show, and then became the backing band for both Boyz II Men, and Shanice.

They’d later be the backing band for Kris Kross when the “Jump” duo performed on The Arsenio Hall Show, and created a wonderfully funky version of the song.

Returning to the front of the stage, however, didn’t go as planned, as Joe Public’s sophomore album, 1994’s Easy Come, Easy Go, would prove to be prophetically titled.

There were no more hits for Joe Public, and the band broke up.

The end of Joe Public wasn’t the end of their songwriting, and playing, however, as they continued to appear in the liner notes of other artists.

Carter, Scott, and Sayles wrote songs for Tyrese, including “Nobody Else,” which was the lead single off his self-titled 1998 debut album.

Scott also found his way onto a couple of hip-hop legends’ albums, playing guitar on a song for Jay-Z titled “Ride or Die,” which is on Jay’s on 1998 album Vol. 2 … Hard Knock Life, and playing bass for the Nas song “Project Windows,” which also featured Ronald Isley, and was on Nas’ 1999 album Nastradamus.

I wonder what he thought of the Jay-Z vs. Nas feud.

Currently, Scott seems to be the most active former member of Joe Public. In an interview with the ProAnywhere Chronicles Podcast in January of 2025 he said he’s released music under his own name, and still writes for others, as well. He added that he dabbled in using AI to change his voice to a woman’s voice for a demo he was pitching to a female artist.

Carter is still involved in music via his own production company, and private studio, both of which which he founded in 2013.

Also in 2013, Joe Public received the honor of being inducted into the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame. This put them alongside Ani DiFranco, Goo Goo Dolls, Brian McKnight, Natalie Merchant, and Rick James, among others.

There is no word on if the band’s Buffalo roots have ever inspired them to throw each other through tables, but Bills Mafia is there if they ever have the urge.

Rewinding back to before they were hall of famers, and back to when New Jack Swing ruled the airwaves, I gave Joe Public’s self-titled album a spin, and found three songs, other than “Live and Learn,” that you should hear.

“This One’s for You”

“This One’s for You” was the fifth, and final, single from the album, and it was an R&B song that celebrated women in a magnificently respectful way. It even ended with shout outs to numerous female artists.

We really could’ve used more R&B songs like “This One’s for You,” and it’s a shame it wasn’t bigger, because then maybe more dudes would know that when it comes to their ladies, “You gotta treat ‘em right every day.”

“I’ve Been Watchin’”

The third single from the album, I have no idea how “I've Been Watchin’” didn’t become a hit.

First off, it’s an absolute jam. Second, “You know I’m in the mood / To knock the boots and break for Chinese food,” may be one of the most honest pick up lines in the history of New Jack Swing … or in music entirely!

General Tso would’ve saluted Joe Public for this one.

“When I Look In Your Eyes”

An R&B slow jam all about romancing a lady, what might be my favorite part of “When I Look In Your Eyes” is when they say they’ll put some Keith Sweat on. Since the band wrote a song for Keith Sweat, they’re basically referencing themselves, which is pretty amazing. It’s like hey girl, put on this album … which I wrote the lead single on.

BALLER MOVE!

Until next time, here’s to discovering more great music from one hit wonders!