Robbed Hit of the Week 2/10/14 - Jermaine Stewart's "The Word Is Out"...

Jermaine Stewart - "The Word Is Out"
from the album The Word Is Out (1984)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #41

This week's "robbed hit" is by dancer and singer Jermaine Stewart, who like Jody Watley started his career on the show Soul Train, where exposure from dancing led to an audition for the group Shalamar. Though he didn't get the gig, he toured as a backup dancer, and noticed by Culture Club drummer Mikey Craig, sang background vocals on the group's top-5 single "Miss Me Blind". With help from the Club, Jermaine released his debut album in 1984. The title track, "The Word Is Out", was written by Stewart and Craig and produced by Peter Collins, better known for turning the knobs for Rush and Queensryche...

While "The Word Is Out" climbed to #17 on the R&B chart in Billboard, the single stopped at the frustrating mark of #41 in March of 1985. He would make up for it the following year by scoring the big one with a little anti-undressing song.

As is with a lot of Jermaine's work, a strong undertone of sexual ambiguity is here, with a video about a romantic "secret" actually a female lover (albeit an interracial one). He deftly walked the line to not let his own identity interfere with the music, but let his earnest performance style carry it off.