Songoftheday 2/18/13 - How long you gonna carry on this one on one charade, let's don't and then say we did that's the game you like to play...

Shalamar - "Dead Giveaway"
from the album The Look (1983)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #22 (two weeks) 
Weeks in the Top-40: 10

Today's Song of the Day is by the R&B prefab trio Shalamar, which was put together by Soul Train heads Don Cornelius and Dick Griffey, with dancers Jody Watley and Jeffrey Daniels fronted originally by lead singer Gary Mumford, and released their debut album Uptown Festival in 1977. The title track (a disco-fied oldies medley) to that retro-styled set became their first top-40 hit in both the US and Britain, but shortly after, Mumford left to be replaced by Gerald Brown for their second set, Disco Gardens, which wasn't as big but did produce one of their most loved hits, "Take That To The Bank". However, that didn't last, as Brown left the trio over money, to be replaced by Howard Hewett by the end of the decade.

Hewett's presence, though, would both ground the group's sound and provide a voice for their most popular hits, starting with his first album with Shalamar, Big Fun, which gave the trio their biggest hit to date, "The Second Time Around", which went to #8 on the pop chart and topped both the dance and R&B lists in America. They continued to have success on the R&B chart through the early 80s, including a fan fave that almost made the top-40, "A Night To Remember", which became their first top-10 in England in 1982.

For their seventh album, Shalamar released the songs "Dead Giveaway" as the first single from The Look in 1983. Co-written and produced by Leon Sylvers III of the 70s Jackson-esque family band the Sylvers ("Hot Line"), the song became their third top-40 hit...

Now, everyone, watch Jody Watley carefully. That is "shade". Sunglasses, poise, and her just needing to press one finger to a keyboard to approximate playing in the video. Shade.

"Dead Giveaway" also made the top-10 on the R&B chart, and #18 on the dance club list, and became the group's fourth top-10 single in the UK. It would also be the last appearance of both Watley and Daniels in the band, as they both left shortly thereafter.

(Click below to see the rest of the post)


Here's the group on Top Of The Pops in 1983...

and since it's the mid 80s, Kids Incorporated tackled the song on their show...

Up tomorrow: Bond, with eight felines.