Songoftheday 8/17/15 - Every man deserves a good woman and I want you to be my wife, time is so much better spended baby with a woman just like you in my life...

"Casanova" - Levert
from the album The Big Throwdown (1987)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #5 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 12

Today's SOTD comes from the R&B trio Levert, formed by two sons of Eddie Levert of the O'Jays along with their buddy Marc Gordon. They released their independently-distributed debut album in 1985, and had a minor soul hit with "I'm Still". That success got them noticed by Atlantic Records, who put out their second effort Bloodline the following year, with lead single "(Pop Pop Pop) Goes My Mind" topping the R&B chart. With their third release, The Big Throwdown, Gerald, Sean and Marc led off with the more upbeat dance-soul of "Casanova", written and produced by Midnight Star's Reggie Calloway...

"Casanova" became Levert's sole top-40 pop hit in October of 1987, while going to #1 on Billboard's R&B chart for two weeks. The remix made it to #27 as well on their Dance Club Play chart. Internationally, the song climbed into the top-10 in the UK (#9), just missed it in Canada (#11), and hit the top-40 in Ireland, New Zealand, and the Netherlands.

The trio would continue to have big success on R&B radio through the rest of the 80s, racking up three more #1 hits up to "Baby I'm Ready" in 1991. Two years later, their single "ABC-123" almost put them back in the pop top-40 (#46). The group disbanded shortly after, with both Gerald and Sean pursuing solo careers, with the former scoring top-40 pop hits on his own as as part of the "supergroup" LSG with Johnny Gill and Keith Sweat. Sadly, both Levert brothers passed away in the naughties, Gerald from an overdose and Sean from health complications in jail.

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Here's Levert performing live at the Apollo in 1987...

Ten years later, British vocal act Ultimate Kaos made the top-10 in France, Belgium, and Holland, and top-40 over the rest of Europe with a cover of the song...

and finally, back to Levert on the Arsenio show...

Up tomorrow: Miami girls want you to choose them.