Songoftheday 11/29/12 - I've been thinkin' 'bout you for quite a while, you're on my mind every day and every night...

Debarge -"I Like It"
from the album All This Love (1983)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #31 (two weeks)
Weeks in the top-40: 6

Today's Song of the Day is the breakout single from R&B sibling act DeBarge, who grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Their elder brothers were part of a soul group named Switch, who had a top-40 hit of their own with "There'll Never Be" in 1978. After releasing a debut album under the name The DeBarges that really didn't go anywhere, the brothers El, Marty, Randy, and sister Bunny added brother James to the lineup and put out their All This Love album in the summer of 1982.

The first single from the set, "Stop! Don't Tease Me" brought the kids their first success on the radio, missing the R&B top-40 peaking at #46. But the followup, released at the end of 1982, proved to be a slow and steady climber to the top of the R&B radio chart and their first top-40 pop hit. "I Like It", written by El, Bunny, and Randy, and the lead vocals were shared by Randy on the verses and El on the bridge...

"I Like It" made it to #2 on the R&B chart, and peaked at #31 on the pop chart as well, exposing them to a huge countrywide fanbase. And it heralded a new respite from the fun but unending assail of funk on R&B radio at the time.

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..here's the group with a snippet of them performing the song on TV...