Songoftheday 10/13/17 - Here come the tear drops falling again, seems like the night has come to an end...
from the album Riff (1991)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #25 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 6
Today's song of the day comes from the vocal group Riff, who came together in school in Paterson, New Jersey. That school, which provided the setting for the movie Lean On Me, gave the five men (Michael Best, Steven Capers, Anthony Fuller, Dwayne Jones, and Kenny Kelly) their first break performing in the film. Signed to SBK Records, the group released their self-titled debut album in 1991, with the mid-tempo ballad "My Heart Is Failing Me" as the first single. Written by Albert Hammond and Holly Knight, the song became their first and biggest success...
"My Heart Is Failing Me" became Riff's sole pop top-40 hit in May of 1991. The record climbed to #6 on Billboard's R&B chart, and crossed over to their Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") radio list at #29. Internationally, the record went to #4 in New Zealand. Their follow-up single, the ultra-smooth "If You're Serious", was another top ten R&B hit at #7, and slipped on to the pop Hot 100 at #88. A third single, the new jack swing jam "Everytime My Heart Beats", reached #26 on the R&B tally.
A year later, the quintet recorded the title theme from the movie White Men Can't Jump, which was their last minor pop hit in America at #90, but spent three weeks at #1 in New Zealand. In 1993, the guys released their second album To Whom It May Concern, and had a pair of minor R&B hits with "Judy Had A Boyfriend" (#91) and "Baby It's Yours" (#65). They split by the end of the decade, reuniting in the 2000s for oldies shows.
(Click below to see the rest of the post)
Here's Riff performing the single live on the Rick Dees show...
Up tomorrow: Italo-house band pulls out another one and hits the top ten again.
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