Feature Photo: John Siegenthaler, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Switch emerged from a group of musicians whose ability to exchange vocal and instrumental roles became the basis for the band’s name. Founder Gregory Williams assembled the group in Mansfield, Ohio, in December 1976 after earlier work with White Heat, a funk band produced by Barry White. Williams brought together musicians from Ohio and Michigan, including Phillip Ingram, Eddie Fluellen, Jody Sims, and brothers Bobby and Tommy DeBarge.
The newly formed band recorded a demo in Columbus, Ohio. Gregory Williams and Jody Sims carried the tape to Los Angeles, where it reached Jermaine Jackson and Hazel Gordy Jackson. Their support led to a contract with Gordy Records, a Motown subsidiary, and Jermaine Jackson became an important producer, arranger, and collaborator during the group’s early years.
Switch released its self-titled debut album in 1978. Bobby DeBarge’s soaring lead vocal helped “There’ll Never Be” reach the Top 10 of the R&B chart and number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100. The band followed that breakthrough with “I Wanna Be Closer,” “Best Beat in Town,” “I Call Your Name,” “Love Over and Over Again,” and other recordings that blended funk, romantic soul, vocal harmony, and polished Motown production.
The original lineup changed during the early 1980s. Bobby and Tommy DeBarge left as their younger siblings developed the group DeBarge, while Phillip Ingram moved into session singing and other projects. Switch completed its Motown period with Switch V in 1981 and later recorded Am I Still Your Boyfriend? for Total Experience Records in 1984.
Gregory Williams revived Switch with another lineup during the mid-1980s and later reunited with musicians from the band’s classic era. The modern version has featured Williams, Phillip Ingram, guitarist Michael McGloiry, lead vocalist Akili Nickson, and bassist Tefere Hazy. Original keyboardist and trombonist Eddie Fluellen remained associated with the reunion until his death in April 2025.
Gregory Williams
Gregory Williams founded Switch in December 1976 and became the band’s leader, songwriter, producer, keyboardist, trumpeter, and one of its lead vocalists. He had previously worked with Bobby DeBarge and Jody Sims in White Heat, whose 1975 album was produced by Barry White.
Williams selected the musicians for Switch, organized the group’s demo sessions, and helped secure its Motown contract. His writing and arranging contributed to the band’s ability to move between funk workouts, quiet-storm ballads, ensemble vocals, and songs built around Bobby DeBarge’s high tenor.
He appeared throughout Switch’s recording career, including all six studio albums. After the original group dissolved, Williams led the mid-1980s revival and remained the central figure in later reunions. His continued involvement has made him the only member connected to every major stage of the band’s history.
Eddie Fluellen
Eddie Fluellen joined Switch during its formation period and performed keyboards, trombone, and vocals. His versatility was essential to a group whose name reflected its members’ ability to change instruments and vocal responsibilities within the same performance.
Fluellen appeared on Switch’s Motown albums and continued through Am I Still Your Boyfriend?. His instrumental work added brass accents, keyboard textures, and harmony vocals to recordings that often featured complex arrangements despite their smooth surface.
He later served as musical director for Rick James’s Stone City Band and returned for Switch reunion performances. Fluellen died in April 2025, ending an association with the group that had stretched from its earliest sessions into its modern era.
Phillip Ingram
Phillip Ingram was an original member of Switch and contributed lead vocals, keyboards, percussion, and harmonies. The younger brother of singer James Ingram, he brought a flexible vocal range that complemented Bobby DeBarge and strengthened the ensemble sound behind the band’s rotating lead singers.
Ingram appeared on the five Gordy Records albums released between 1978 and 1981. He left during the early-1980s lineup changes and developed an extensive career as a session singer, voice actor, and studio musician, contributing to recordings, films, television programs, and commercials.
He later returned to Switch and became one of the principal singers in the reunited lineup. His presence restored a direct vocal link to the group’s original Motown recordings.
Bobby DeBarge
Bobby DeBarge joined Switch as a lead vocalist, songwriter, keyboardist, pianist, and drummer. His remarkable high tenor became the band’s most immediately recognizable voice and placed him at the center of recordings including “There’ll Never Be,” “I Call Your Name,” and “Love Over and Over Again.”
DeBarge also helped write, arrange, and produce the group’s material. His work combined gospel-influenced phrasing, romantic vulnerability, and technical control, giving Switch a vocal identity that remained distinctive even among the many accomplished harmony groups associated with Motown.
He appeared on the first four Switch albums and contributed to portions of Switch V before leaving the band. Bobby and Tommy DeBarge then helped guide their younger siblings as the family group DeBarge rose to prominence during the 1980s. Bobby DeBarge died on August 16, 1995, at age 39.
Tommy DeBarge
Tommy DeBarge was an original Switch member who played bass and contributed vocals. His bass lines provided the foundation beneath the group’s layered keyboards, horns, percussion, guitar, and harmony arrangements.
He appeared throughout Switch’s classic Motown period and helped establish the rhythmic balance heard on “There’ll Never Be,” “Best Beat in Town,” “I Call Your Name,” and the band’s album tracks. Tommy left Switch during the early 1980s and became involved with the developing career of his younger siblings in DeBarge.
Tommy DeBarge remained closely identified with the musical legacy of both groups. He died on October 21, 2021, at age 64.
Jody Sims
Jody Sims was an original drummer, vocalist, songwriter, and producer in Switch. He had previously worked with Gregory Williams and Bobby DeBarge in White Heat and helped Williams carry the new group’s demo to Los Angeles.
Sims’s drumming supported the band’s movement between tightly arranged funk and slow romantic material. He also contributed to songwriting and production, making him one of the principal architects of Switch’s sound rather than only its timekeeper.
He remained through the Gordy Records period and the making of Am I Still Your Boyfriend?. His tenure covered the complete original recording run from the group’s 1978 debut through its 1984 album for Total Experience Records.
Michael McGloiry
Michael McGloiry became Switch’s principal session and stage guitarist during the debut-album period. His playing can be heard throughout much of the classic catalog, including the guitar work that supports “There’ll Never Be.”
McGloiry’s rhythm parts, melodic fills, and lead accents helped connect the band’s funk foundation with its smoother vocal arrangements. Although the original six musicians formed the central public lineup, his recurring studio and concert work made him an important part of the Switch sound.
He later returned for reunion performances and remains associated with the modern lineup alongside Gregory Williams, Phillip Ingram, Akili Nickson, and Tefere Hazy.
Attala Zane Giles
Attala Zane Giles joined Switch during the personnel changes surrounding Switch V. A guitarist, bassist, keyboardist, songwriter, and producer, he helped the band rebuild its instrumental lineup after the departure of the DeBarge brothers.
Giles continued into the Total Experience period and contributed to the later version of Switch that recorded Am I Still Your Boyfriend?. He went on to work as a songwriter and producer with other R&B and pop artists.
Terrance Gaines
Terrance Gaines joined Switch during the Switch V era as the group adjusted to the loss of several original vocalists and instrumentalists. His arrival, along with Attala Zane Giles, marked the beginning of a transitional lineup that attempted to preserve the Switch identity while moving beyond the sound centered on Bobby DeBarge.
Gaines’s tenure was brief, but he belongs to the lineup associated with the band’s final Gordy Records album.
Renard Gallo
Renard Gallo joined Switch during the Total Experience Records period as a vocalist and percussionist. He became part of the restructured group heard on Am I Still Your Boyfriend?.
Gallo contributed to a lineup that placed greater emphasis on contemporary early-1980s R&B production while retaining the ensemble vocals and romantic songwriting associated with the Switch name.
Gonzales Ozen
Gonzales Ozen joined Switch as a vocalist, percussionist, and songwriter during the sessions for Am I Still Your Boyfriend?. He received writing credits on several songs from the album, including “Keeping Secrets.”
Ozen’s contributions helped define the final studio recording made before Switch’s initial breakup. “Keeping Secrets” became the album’s strongest charting and most enduring track.
Phil Upchurch Jr.
Phil Upchurch Jr. was associated with the later Switch lineup as a bassist during the group’s transition from Motown to Total Experience Records. His involvement helped fill the instrumental space left by Tommy DeBarge’s departure.
He should not be confused with the veteran Chicago guitarist Phil Upchurch. References to Switch identify the younger musician specifically as Phil Upchurch Jr.
Joe Robinson
Joe Robinson was among the musicians connected to Switch during its early-1980s reorganization. He joined as the band introduced new singers and instrumentalists ahead of its move to Total Experience Records.
Robinson’s period with the group belongs to the transition between Switch V and Am I Still Your Boyfriend?, when Gregory Williams, Eddie Fluellen, and Jody Sims were working to establish a viable lineup after the departure of several original members.
Christopher Hawkins
Christopher Hawkins became the lead vocalist in the version of Switch assembled by Gregory Williams in 1985. This lineup did not record a new studio album, but it continued the band’s name in live performances after the original group’s breakup.
Hawkins performed alongside guitarist Anthony Watters, drummer Howie Carbaugh, bassist Charles Meyers, and Williams. The configuration remained active through the latter half of the 1980s.
Anthony Watters
Anthony Watters joined the 1985 Switch revival on guitar and vocals. He helped provide a new instrumental and vocal identity for a lineup built around Gregory Williams rather than the members heard on the Motown recordings.
Watters remained with this version of Switch through approximately 1987.
Howie Carbaugh
Howie Carbaugh played drums in the mid-1980s Switch revival. His role placed him in the rhythm section with bassist Charles Meyers while Gregory Williams led the reconfigured band.
Carbaugh performed with Switch during a period focused more on keeping the group active in concert than on producing a new album.
Charles Meyers
Charles Meyers played bass and contributed backing vocals in the Switch lineup formed in 1985. He worked with Gregory Williams, Christopher Hawkins, Anthony Watters, and Howie Carbaugh.
Meyers helped provide the funk foundation needed for performances of the classic catalog during the group’s first post-breakup revival.
Akili Nickson
Akili Nickson joined the reunited Switch as a lead vocalist and percussionist. His voice allows the modern band to perform material originally associated with Bobby DeBarge while bringing an individual presence to the songs.
Nickson has shared lead-vocal responsibilities with Phillip Ingram and Gregory Williams. His work has been central to the reunion lineup’s ability to present Switch’s harmony arrangements and romantic ballads in concert.
Tefere Hazy
Tefere Hazy joined the modern Switch lineup as bassist and vocalist. His playing supports the group’s reunion performances and carries forward the bass role established by Tommy DeBarge during the classic period.
Hazy is also a music educator and has served as director of the Indiana University Soul Revue. His experience as a performer, arranger, and teacher complements the veteran musicians in the current Switch organization.
Switch Studio Albums
Switch (1978)
Switch II (1979)
This Is My Dream (1980)
Reaching for Tomorrow (1980)
Switch V (1981)
Am I Still Your Boyfriend? (1984)
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Updated August 1, 2026.
Complete List Of Switch Band Members article published on ClassicRockHistory.com © 2026
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