Songoftheday 8/9/18 - The very first time that I saw your brown eyes, your lips said hello and I said hi, I knew right then you were the one...
from the album ...If I Ever Fall In Love (1992)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #2 (eight weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 24
Today's song of the day comes from Shai, a four-member vocal soul group that came together in Washington DC in the early 1990s. Their debut single, which would become the title track of their first studio album, was the ballad "If I Ever Fall In Love". Originally recorded as an acappella track, instruments were added to the production for the single release, though radio surprisingly played the hell out of the stripped-down version. Written by member Carl Martin, who produced the track, it would be their first and by far biggest success...
"If I Ever Fall In Love" spent two months at #2 on the pop chart in America in November of 1992 through January of 1993. The song was in the runner-up spot on Billboard's R&B chart for nine weeks as well. Internationally, the single hit the top ten in Australia (#4) and New Zealand (#5), and reached the top-40 in the Netherlands (#11), Belgium (#21), and the UK (#36).
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Here's the original acappella version of the song, which I heard on pop radio constantly...
And the band performing live on TV promoting the single at the time, as well as follow-up "Comforter"...
and for MTV...
In 1996, British "boy-band" East 17 joined up with soul singer Gabrielle for a cover, with the title shortened to "If I Ever". The result went to #2 in the UK, and hit the top ten in Ireland, Sweden, and Denmark...
Twenty years later, a-cappella giants Pentatonix and Jason Derulo for a stellar remake of the track, which went to #38 on Billboard's Adult Top-40 radio chart...
Finally, here's Shai in concert in DC...
Up tomorrow: A music legend feels the need to name himself.
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