Robbed hit of the week 12/28/15 - Merry Clayton's "Yes"...

"Yes" - Merry Clayton
from the album Dirty Dancing (Original Soundtrack) (1987)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #45

This week's "robbed hit" comes from the soundtrack of the hit movie Dirty Dancing, which had already placed three songs into the pop top five in the U.S., with "Hungry Eyes" from Eric Carmen, "She's Like The Wind" by the movie's star Patrick Swayze, and the #1 duet "(I've Had) The Time Of My Life" from Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes. It was looking like the set was going to be like Footloose from 1984, spinning off six top-40 hits. The fourth release from Dirty Dancing was from veteran soul singer Merry Clayton, who was most known for providing backup vocals for the Rolling Stones' classic album cut "Gimme Shelter" in 1969. Merry also released her own version of the song, which was a minor hit in 1970 at #73. Three years later, her single "Oh No, Not My Baby" climbed to #30 on the R&B chart (and #72 pop). In 1975, Clayton put out "Keep Your Eye On The Sparrow", the theme to the show Baretta, which peaked at #45 on the Hot 100 pop list in America.  Merry's contribution to the soundtrack was "Yes", a bouncy Pointer Sisters-type dance-R&B number...

"Yes" said "no" to the top-40 in April of 1988, while stalling at #79 on the R&B chart. Over in the UK, the single stopped at #70. It would be her so-far latest appearance on the charts. However, she never left the biz, appearing in the phenomenal documentary 20 Feet From Stardom. Merry also sings backup on two tracks on Coldplay's latest album, including the single "Adventure Of A Lifetime".

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Here's Merry performing live on the Late Show to promote the single...

and finally, Clayton on the Dirty Dancing tour...