Songoftheday 11/24/17 -Never skipped a beat while cooling on South street, jet black Benz plenty of friends and all the Philly steaks you can eat...

"Motownphilly" - Boyz II Men
from the album Cooleyhighharmony (1991)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #3 (three weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 18

Today's song of the day is from the soul vocal group Boyz II Men, who started out as students at the Creative and Performing Arts high school in Philadelphia, where the five boys (Nathan Morris, Shawn Stockman, Wanya Morris, Michael McCary, and Marc Nelson) named themselves after a song on their idols New Edition's Heart Break album. After an on-the-spot audition after they snuck in a concert in town, they were mentored by New Edition member Michael Bivins, who had also signed up another younger five-piece, Another Bad Creation, who would go on to have a pair of top ten pop hits in 1991 with "Iesha" and "Playground". However, in the two years from that meeting to their debut album, Cooleyhighharmony, Nelson quit the group, leaving them a quartet for their first single, "Motownphilly". Combining old-style doo-wop harmonies as well as pass-along vocals between the foursome like NE breakoff Bell Biv Devoe, the song, written by Nathan and Shawn along with Bivins and Dallas Austin, acted like an introduction, a history, and a greeting card for their home town, without being corny, thanks to the vocal interplay between the guys. The music video, shot in Philly, had them dancing up a storm, along with hitting different sights and getting cameos from Bell Biv Devoe, Another Bad Creation, and a mysterious never-went-anywhere white-boy band Sudden Impact that became a "what the hell" meme later...

(I mean, what the hell?)

Anyway, it was a great way to intro them to MTV, and I developed quite the crush on Wanya in that striped sweater, bowtie, and shorts...

"Motownphilly" became Boyz II Men's first hit, making the top 3 on the American pop Hot 100 in September of 1991. The single climbed to #4 on Billboard's R&B chart. Internationally, the record reached the top 40 in the UK (#23), the Netherlands (#29), and Australia (#32).

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Here's Boyz II Men on Live At The Apollo singing live at least to a backing track, but the crowd is going Craaaaaaaaazy...