Robbed hit of the week 7/30/18 - After 7's "Kickin' It"...
from the album Takin' My Time (1992)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #45
This week's "robbed hit" comes from the R&B vocal group After 7, who had used their connection to uber-producers L.A. Reid and Babyface (with members Kevon and Melvin Edmonds the brothers of the latter) to nab a recording contract, which resulted in two top ten pop hits on their debut album with "Ready Or Not" and "Can't Stop". In the summer of 1991 they scored their fourth top ten R&B/top-40 pop hit with the retro "Nights Like This" from the movie The Five Heartbeats. The following year the trio (including Keith Mitchell) released their sophomore effort Takin' My Time, with their brother taking a backseat, letting associates Dallas Austin and Kayo produce the first single from the set, "Kickin' It". Written by Austin with Randy Ran and Langston Richey, the midtempo soul number was clearly meant to recreate the vibe from "Can't Stop"...
While "Kickin' It" returned After 7 to the R&B top ten at #6, the song peaked right under the pop top-40 in October of 1992. Internationally the single did reach the top-40 in New Zealand at #29. Their follow-up single was a medley of two older hit singles, "Baby I'm For Real" from the vocal group the Originals and "Natural High" from soul rock group Bloodstone. It also made the R&B top ten at #5 while stalling under the pop top-40 at #55. Then came "Can He Love U Like This", which climbed to #22 on the R&B chart, and almost getting into the pop Hot 100, "bubbling under" at #103. Finally, fourth single "Truly Something Special" went to #49 on the R&B format chart in Billboard. But by the next album, Babyface would be back, bringing them back into the pop top-40.
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Here's the trio performing live in concert in 1993...
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