Songoftheday 2/20/15 - Girl I've been watchin' you from so far across the floor now baby that's nothing new....

"Shake You Down" - Gregory Abbott
from the album Shake You Down (1986)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 16

Today's Song of the Day comes from R&B singer Gregory Abbott, who had previously been a college student and professor as well as former husband of Freda Payne, who had a top-3 pop hit in the early 70s with "Band Of Gold". Abbott got his own moment in the sun when he released his debut solo album, Shake You Down, in 1986. Written and produced by the artist (like the rest of the album), the title track became a cross-format smash on pop, easy listening, and soul radio...

"Shake You Down" went all the way to #1 on the American pop chart in January of 1987. It spent four months in the top-40, tying Robbie Nevil's "C'est La Vie" for longest stint in that year. The single also topped the R&B chart in Billboard magazine for two weeks, and peaked at #2 on the adult contemporary (or "easy listening") radio list. Internationally, the record also made it to #6 on the British chart, remarkable for a straight-ahead soul track.

The record would be Abbott's sole time in the pop top-40; his next single, "I Got The Feelin' (It's Over)", stopped at #56, though it still made the top-5 on the R&B list. In 1988, he would release a second album, I'll Prove It To You, and the title track would also climb to #5 on the R&B chart. A final single, "Let Me Be Your Hero", was Abbott's most recent soul hit at #34.

Up tomorrow: The Fab Five become a Fab Three for an "infamous" hit.