Songoftheday 3/21/18 - A simple touch of your hand and everything is right, the gentle way you look at me when we kiss goodnight...
from the album Love Crazy (1991)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #3 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 19
Today's song of the day comes from the R&B group Atlantic Starr, who had landed their second big ballad hit in the summer of 1987 with the wedding reception staple "Always". The co-lead singer on that record, Barbara Weathers, left not long after, and Porscha Martin signed on for their next album We're Movin' Up, in 1988. The lead single "My First Love" became their second #1 R&B hit, but it missed the pop Hot 100 completely. Again switching labels from Warner Bros to Reprise, the band returned with their ninth album Love Crazy in 1991. The first single and title track "Love Crazy" climbed to #7 on Billboard's R&B chart, but stalled down at #75 on the pop list (though at least this time it made the chart). The second single from the set would be another love ballad that would put them on mainstream radio again. "Masterpiece", written by Kenny Nolan (who had a hit of his own back in the 70s with "I Like Dreamin'"), was yet another wedding-friendly song that became what many people ended up knowing the funk band for...
"Masterpiece" spent a week at #3 on the American pop chart in April of 1992. The single also spent a week at #3 on Billboard's R&B chart, while taking it a notch higher at #2 on their Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") radio chart. Internationally, the song went to #15 in Canada. A third single from the Love Crazy album, "Unconditional Love", climbed to #38 on the R&B chart.
Two years later, Atlantic Starr found themselves on Arista Records for their Time album. The lead single, "I'll Remember You", went to #32 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart, while being just a minor pop (#55) and R&B (#58) hit. Another track from the record, "Everybody's Got Summer", did pretty decently in the UK, peaking at #36. Although they've continued with the revolving door of female singers, the core of brothers Wayne and Jonathan Lewis continues to this day.
Up tomorrow: Soft-rock star is lacking your company.
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