Songoftheday 6/1/13 - Heavenly Father watching us all, we take from each other and give nothing at all...

James Ingram with Michael McDonald - "Yah Mo B There"
from the album It's Your Night (1983)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #19 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 9

Today's Song of the Day is by lite pop singer James Ingram, whose soulful duet with Patti Austin, "Baby Come To Me", was given new life in 1983 by its inclusion in the hit soap opera General Hospital, making it to #1 in its second stint on the chart. That same year, he released his first solo album, It's Your Night, which had the "robbed hit" "How Do We Keep The Music Playing" (also with Austin), and a stalled second single "Party Animal", which did manage to reach the R&B top-40.

The third single released from the set was another collaboration, this time with former Doobie Brother Michael McDonald, who had a top-10 solo hit of his own with "I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near)". Their single "Yah Mo B There" was written by the pair along with songwriter Rod Temperton (of Heatwave and Michael Jackson's Thriller album), and producer Quincy Jones, who gave Ingram his big break as featured vocalist on Jones' The Dude album....

"Yah Mo B There" went to the top-20 in March of 1984, making it Ingram's fourth to do so, as well as McDonald's second. The song also was a big hit on R&B radio, peaking at #5, as well as on adult-contemporary (easy-listening) radio, where it went to #10. It did even better in the UK, peaking at #12 on the singles chart. It also won the Grammy for Best R&B duo or group recording in 1985 (it was also nominated for best R&B song)...

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Here's the pair in concert with the song...

...and here's a clip of them in the studio recording it...

Up tomorrow: Some evening vacancies, don't forget.