Songoftheday 1/21/15 - The vision of your love's loveliness and i hope and i pray, that someday I'll be the vision of your happy happiness...

"Earth Angel" - New Edition
from the albums Under The Blue Moon and Karate Kid II (Original Soundtrack) (1986)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #21 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 6

Today's Song of the Day comes from the Boston-bred soul vocal group New Edition, who last were seen here with the only single from their All For Love album to make the pop top-40, "A Little Bit Of Love (Is All It Takes)".  Losing (or rather ejecting) member Bobby Brown, the four remaining singers trudged on, trying to buy out their contract to properly sign directly with MCA Records. Their next single was a cover of a doo-wop classic that was one of the first true hits of the "rock and roll era".

"Earth Angel" was originally released by the Penguins, who included the song's writer Curtis Williams (well, co-writer after a lawsuit proved Jesse Belvin did the heavy work), and came out in the summer of 1954. By the end of the year it reached #1 on the R&B chart in Billboard, while crossing over to reach the top-3 on the pop chart a few months later...

New Edition's version downplayed the background vocals to spotlight lead singer Ralph Tresvant over a synth instead of a piano...

"Earth Angel" became the group's fifth top-40 pop hit in October of 1986, while climbing all the way to #3 on the R&B chart in Billboard. Internationally, the single was a top-40 hit in New Zealand, while a minor hit in Canada.

By the time New Edition would be back in the top-40, they'd be up one more important member.

(Click below to see the rest of the post)


Not long after the original Penguins release, the Crew Cuts released a "white-bread" version intended for the audience into the soul bleachings of Pat Boone and Ricky Nelson, though it peaked below the Penguins' release at #8...

Philly native Gloria Mann also got on the "Earth Angel" train, with her take landing at #18 in March of 1955, probably for those thinking the Crew-Cuts were too harsh...

In 1960, teen idol and actor Johnny Tillotson released "Earth Angel", climbing to #57 on the Hot 100...

The Vogues also covered the song, and while they made it to #7 on the adult contemporary chart, they just missed the pop top-40 at #42 in 1969...

(Soul singer Richard "Dimples" Fields also had a minor R&B hit in 1981 with the song (#81), but there's not a trace of a clip for it...)

Lastly, here's the Edition appearing on Solid Gold to promote the single...

Up tomorrow: Arena rockers from the Bay talk about a woman with no control.