Robbed hit of the Week 6/29/15 - Nona Hendryx's "Why Should I Cry?"...

"Why Should I Cry?" - Nona Hendryx
from the album Female Trouble (1987)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #58

This week's "robbed hit" comes from R&B/dance singer Nona Hendryx, a Trenton, New Jersey native who got her start in the 60's "girl-group" the Bluebelles with Sarah Dash, future Supreme Cindy Birdsong, and an aspiring star from Philadelphia, Patti LaBelle. After Birdsong left, the trio started the 70s under the moniker LaBelle, and evolved into the most progressive female soul act of the decade. Hitting #1 with the Bayou-funk of "Lady Marmalade" in 1975, their Nightbirds album reached the top-10, sold over a million copies, and remains on Rolling Stone's list of the top 500 albums in rock and roll. Nona wrote most of their non-cover music ("Marmalade" was an import), and her music and lyrics were way forward reflecting their space-age diva image. However, with Patti wanting a more traditional soul career, the trio finally came to a head and split up in 1976. A year later, Hendryx released her first solo album, and although the track "Winning" would be later a big hit for Santana (although she didn't write it), it didn't get much notice. In 1983 she re-emerged with her sophomore effort Nona, and catchy single "Keep It Confidential" made the top-30 on the R&B and dance charts and nicked the Hot 100 at #91. She had a few more R&B and minor club hits, but it wasn't until 1987 when she was back on pop radio. This time with the star-packed Female Trouble album, the first single, "Why Should I Cry?", written by Hendryx with remixing king Jellybean Johnson and singer Lisa Keith ("Diamonds"), was her most accessible solo track yet, sounding plucked from the Control sessions at Flyte Tyme...

While "Why Should I Cry?" climbed all the way to #5 on Billboard's R&B chart, and #6 on their Dance list, the single stalled at #58 on the pop chart in America. It also was a minor hit in the UK at #60. She hasn't been on the charts since, although she did reunite briefly with Labelle and Dash for a Labelle album in 2008.

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Here's a clip of Nona performing at the Apollo promoting the single...

...and a great live take in Ibiza...

...and finally the remix that hit the top-10 ...