Songoftheday 1/22/18 - I don't know where this road is gonna lead to, all I know is where we've been and what we've been through...

"It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday" - Boyz II Men
from the album Cooleyhighharmony (1991)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #2 (four weeks)
Weeks on the Top-40: 19

Today's song of the day comes from the vocal soul group from Philadelphia, Boyz II Men, whose debut single and "purpose statement", "Motownphilly", climbed to the top three on the American pop chart in fall of 1991. Their follow-up single would be a remake of a forgotten soul nugget from the 70s; "It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday", written by Freddie Perren and Christine Yarian, first appeared in the movie Cooley High in 1975. The film, about two friends in an inner-city high school, starred Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs of Welcome Back, Kotter and Glynn Turman from Broadway's Raisin In The Sun (and Mr. Aretha Franklin for some years). This version of "It's So Hard..." was performed by G.C. Cameron, who was a member of the Spinners and sung lead on their first big hit "It's A Shame". Cameron's version climbed to #38 on Billboard's R&B chart.

With the version that appeared on Boyz II Men's album, they went to basics, recording it acappella which spotlighted their voices and didn't leave anything wanting...

"It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday" spent a month at the runner-up spot on the American pop chart in December of 1991. The song was their first to top Billboard's R&B chart, spending a week at #1 in October. Internationally, the single reached #3 in New Zealand, and #21 in the Netherlands. In 1992, the Cooleyhighharmony album, named for the movie this song originally came from, earned the quartet a Grammy Award for Best R&B Duo/Group Vocal Performance.

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A different mix of the song, which added instruments to gain radio airplay at stations unwilling to play an acappella song, was released as well, but in the end the simple version was all I ever heard on the radio...