Songoftheday 10/5/17 -Get back on your feet please I'm beggin you to check out all your own needs, don't let nobody see you in a state of grievin over the brother there's another possibility...
from the album Down To Earth (1990)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #26 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 6
Today's song of the day comes from British rapper Simone Gooden, aka Monie Love, who got her start rapping with the American-based group of hip-hop artists called the Native Tongues. Made of De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, and Queen Latifah, it was the latter that featured Love prominently in her seminal single "Ladies First" in 1990. Prior to that, Love's first single, the Whispers-sampling "I Can Do This", reached the British top-40 at #37. She followed with "Grandpa's Party", which fed into the house music craze, and climbed to #16 in the UK. Later that year, she released her own debut album, Down To Earth. Those two singles were on the set, along with Monie's next hit, "Monie In The Middle", which was her first to hit big in America, reaching #28 on Billboard's R&B chart and #7 on their Dance Club Play list (it also just missed the British top-40 at #46.) But her next release would become her biggest success.
"It's A Shame (My Sister)" was a rework of a classic single from the soul vocal group the Spinners, who took their original "It's A Shame", co-written and produced by Stevie Wonder, to #14 on the pop chart in 1970...
Monie Love sampled the instrumental, and took the chorus of the record, which she had future dance diva Ultra Nate' sing, with her own rapid-fire rap delivery, counseling a female friend about a man they should leave alone. The record was produced by Andy Cox and David Steele of Fine Young Cannibals ("She Drives Me Crazy"), with vocal group True Image singing backup behind Nate' and Love...
"It's A Shame (My Sister)" became Monie's sole top-40 pop hit in May of 1991. The single also climbed to #8 on Billboard's R&B chart, while the remixes on the 12" vinyl and CD single helped it run to #2 for a week on their Dance Club Play list. Internationally, the record reached the top ten in Switzerland (#6) and the Netherlands (#9), and made top 20 in Germany (#11), the UK (#12), Austria (#12), and New Zealand (#17). The record was nominated for a Grammy Award for Rap Performance, losing out to LL Cool J's "Mama Said Knock You Out".
Monie's next single, the title track "Down To Earth", reached #31 in the UK and #75 on the American R&B chart. That was followed by "Ring My Bell" with house music queen Adeva which climbed to #20 in Britain.
Love started out 1992 with a song from the movie Class Act starring Kid N Play, "Full Term Love". The smooth new jack swing record, which hit #34 in the UK and #96 in America, served as a lead single for her second album In A Word Or 2. The second release from the set, "Born To B.R.E.E.D.". did a little better, reaching #89 in the U.S., and becoming Monie's sole #1 dance hit. The record would be her last full-length record, though she re-emerged in 2000 with the one-off single "Slice Of Da Pie", which went to #29. She went on to a career on radio, where she had become a DJ since 2004.
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Here's Monie appearing on the Arsenio Hall show with Ultra Nate to promote the single...
Next up, the "Cool As..." remix, which sampled Sister Sledge's "He's The Greatest Dancer", which went to #2 on the dance chart...
In 2014, X Factor UK fave Fleur East performed Love's version of "It's A Shame" in her second week on the show...
Finally, back to Monie tearing the house down on her Live At The Apollo appearance...
Up tomorrow: Atlanta alt-rockers are atheist.
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