Robbed hit of the Week 5/26/14 - Loose Ends' "Hanging On A String (Contemplating)"...

Loose Ends - "Hanging On A String (Contemplating)"
from the album So Where Are You? (1984)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #43

This week's "robbed hit" comes from the British soul trio Loose Ends, who came together in the early 80s under musician Steve Nichol along with singers Jane Eugene and Carl McIntosh. They released their debut album A Little Spice in 1984 in England, where they had a few minor hits including one that almost made the top-40 there at #41, "Emergency (Dial 999)". However it wasn't until their second UK set So Where Are You? that they had their big break with a slinky neo-soul number called "Hanging On A String". With a sophistication like acts like Sade along with a groove that Soul II Soul would capitalize on, the single became their first top-40 hit in the UK, and when their debut album was released in the US, it included this song, and it became their first taste of success on this side of the ocean...

"Hanging On A String" became Loose Ends' first #1 R&B in America, also a first for a group from the country to do so. It also made the Hot 100, but just missed the top-40 by a hair in August of 1985. The record also climbed to #12 on Billboard's Dance Club play chart as well.

It would be their only time in the pop chart in America, but the trio continued to have success on R&B radio through the rest of the decade. In 1986, they scored a second R&B #1 hit with "Slow Down", while musically backing up the British quintet Five Star on their debut album. In 1988, though, both Nichol and Eugene left Loose Ends, and McIntosh recruited two new members and continued briefly, having a top-10 soul hit in America with "Don't Be A Fool" in 1990, which also nicked the dance chart at #50. Their last showing in the US was with 1991's "Cheap Talk", which climbed to #28 on the R&B list. Most recently the original trio has reunited for tours and new music. But their legacy of classy yet danceable soul music places them in my faves of the decade.

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In 1992, house music legend Frankie Knuckles remixed "Hanging On A String", and it made it back onto the British top-40 at #25...

Lastly, here's the trio live in DC in 2012...