Robbed hit of the week 8/20/18 - Al B. Sure's "Right Now"...

"Right Now" - Al B. Sure!
from the album Sexy Versus (1992)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #47

This week's "robbed hit" comes from smooth soul singer Al B. Sure! (aka Al Brown), who had landed a top ten pop hit in the summer of 1988 with his debut single "Nite and Day". Two years later, he returned with his sophomore album, Private Times and the Whole 9, which produced the single "Missunderstanding", which stopped just short of the pop top-40, but did top Billboard's R&B singles chart.

In 1992, Sure! was back with his third and what would be final album with Warner Brothers Records, Sexy Versus. A quiet storm booty call affair, the lead track would be the lush and sensuous "Right Now". Written by producer Kyle West, it would again be huge on urban radio....

While "Right Now" would end up spending a week at #1 on Billboard's R&B chart, the single stalled right under the pop top-40 in November of 1992. It would be his final time on the pop Hot 100. The follow-up single, "Natalie" (written for actress Halle Berry), peaked at #56 on the R&B chart. Lastly, the track "I Don't Wanna Cry" reached #83 on that list. While the Sexy Versus album went all the way to #2 on the R&B albums sales list, it stopped short at #41 on the main albums tally.

In 1994, Al contributed a song to the soundtrack of the movie Above The Rim. It was a cover of the Al Green classic "I'm Still In Love With You", and as a "double A-sided" single with H-Town's "Part Time Lover", it climbed to #57 on the pop chart, and stopped at #62 on the R&B tally. Since then, he's been working more behind the scene, included a stint as a radio DJ. In 2009, he returned with an independently distributed album, Honey I'm Home, which made the top-20 on the R&B albums chart, and #85 on the main albums list. The lead single from the set, "I Love It (Papi Aye Aye Aye)", stopped at #72 on the R&B singles chart.

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Here's Al appearing live on the Arsenio Hall show to promote the record...

And lastly, live on Soul Train...