Songoftheday 7/21/18 - Everybody wants to know the truth In my arms is the only proof...
from the album Duophonic (1992)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #13 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 20
Today's song of the day comes from the R&B duo Charles (Pettigrew) and Eddie (Chacon), who got together in New York City in the early 1990s. The pair released their debut album Duophonic in 1992, with the retro soul nugget "Would I Lie To You?" as the lead single. Written by Mike Leeson and Peter Vale, it filled the space of the usual soul offerings imported from overseas, like Terence Trent D'Arby and such...
"Would I Lie To You" became Charles & Eddie's sole top-40 pop hit in the U.S. in November of 1992. The single climbed to #15 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") chart, while crossing over to their R&B format tally at #59. Internationally, the single was even bigger, spending two weeks at #1 on the British singles chart, and topping the charts in Germany, Austria, Belgium, and New Zealand. It also reached the top ten in France (#2), the Netherlands (#2), Switzerland (#2), Ireland (#2), Denmark (#2), Australia (#3), Canada (#3), Sweden (#3), Norway (#3), and Italy (#9).
Charles & Eddie's next single, "NYC (Can You Believe This City?)", which sampled the 60s hit "Fpr What It's Worth", continued their international success, going as high as #2 in New Zealand, and reaching the top-40 in the Netherlands (#20), Belgium (#28), Austria (#29), Germany (#32), and the UK (#33), but in America, the song didn't make the pop chart, "bubbling under" the Hot 100 at #115. A third release, "House Is Not A Home", also stiffed in the U.S., but claimed them another top-40 hit in New Zealand (#2), the UK (#29), and Belgium (#36). Finally, the track "Shine" was released in France and made it to #3 there.
In 1995, the duo released their second and final album together, Chocolate Milk. Unnoticed in the States, the set nevertheless granted them another top-40 hit with "I'm Gonna Love You" in New Zealand (#23), Switzerland (#26), and Britain (#38). A second single, the reggae excursion "Jealousy", climbed into the top-40 in Austria (#39), and was their last chart hit. They split shortly after, with Charles joining the Talking Heads side-project the Tom Tom Club for a little before passing away from cancer in 2001. Eddie is now part of the experimental act the Polyamorous Affair.
(Click below to see the rest of the post)
Here's the pair appearing live on TV (The Tonight Show?) promoting the album...
In 2016, Irish DJ John Gibbons released "Would I Lie To You" as a single, making the Top-40 in his home country (#34) and reaching #53 in the UK...
Later that year, French dance guru David Guetta hooked up with fellow French spinner Cedric Gervais and American singer Chris Willis for yet another club cover, which did much better, going to #2 in Germany and Austria, and #20 in France...
Lastly, here's Charles & Eddie again performing (really) live for Top of the Pops...
Up tomorrow: Scrumptious Scotsmen sing about sacreds.
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