Robbed hit of the week 7/18/16 - The Pasadenas' "Tribute (Right On)"...

"Tribute (Right On)" - The Pasadenas
from the album To Whom It May Concern (1988)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #52

This week's 'robbed hit' comes from the British soul band the Pasadenas, whose homage to the soul acts of the 50s, 60s, and 70s, "Tribute (Right On)", was written by the vocal group along with actual 70s hit artist Pete Wingfield ("Eighteen With A Bullet"), which also harkened back to the doo-wop era. With leather jacket Grease realness, the quintet was a polished act that didn't seem kitschy (kind of like the Commodores' "Nightshift"), and they reached the top-10 in Europe before trying a go in the States...

While "Right On" went on to reach the top 10 of Billboard's American R&B chart at #8, the single stopped just short of the halfway point on the pop Hot 100 list in April of 1989. The 12" remix version also hit the Dance Club Play chart at #27. Internationally, the song went to #5 in their native Britain, and all the way to #1 in the Netherlands.

Their follow-up single, "Riding On A Train" (which pre-dated the Italo-house of Black Box), stopped at #13 in the UK, while becoming their last minor hit on the American R&B chart at #73. A third release from their debut album, "Enchanted Lady" (also co-written by Wingfield), reached #31 in Britain. In 1990, they released a second album, with lead track "Love Thing" going to #22 in the UK.
Two years later, with their Yours Sincerely set, the group achieved their highest chart placing in their homeland with the #4 hit cover of the New York City 70s track "I'm Doing Fine Now". They last appeared on that list with another version of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" in 1992 (#22), though they continued to perform for a while after that.

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Here's the Pasadenas rockin' it at the Apollo promoting the single...

...and again in concert in 2003...

...Finally, here's the group on the UK show Hit Me Baby, One More Time in 2005...