Songoftheday 11/23/18 - Far more frequently you're wearing perfume with you say no special place to go, but when I ask will you be coming back soon you don't know never know ...
from the album Uptown MTV Unplugged (1993)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #4 (two weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 22
Today's song of the day comes from the R&B group Jodeci, whose groundbreaking debut album Forever My Lady had landed them five hit soul singles, with two of them reaching the pop top 40: "Forever My Lady" and "Come And Talk To Me", the latter just missing the top ten in the summer of 1992. In the start of the following year, Jodeci joined fellow Uptown Records labels artists Mary J. Blige, Father MC, Christopher Williams, and Heavy D for a special "acoustic"- style R&B throwdown that was edited down for an album Uptown MYV Unplugged. In addition to those two top-40 hits along with the ballad "Stay", which peaked at #41, Jodeci performed a cover of a Stevie Wonder song that had never reeieved the attention it deserved. "Lately", written and produced by Wonder on his 1981 album Hotter Than July, was overshadowed at the time by uptempo tracks like the reggae "Master Blaster (Jammin')" and the funky fresh "I Ain't Gonna Stand For It", and as the third release from the record only managed to climb to #29 on Billboard magazine's R&B chart, and slipped down to #64 on their pop Hot 100. However the sweet yet bitter take on deception in love was a huge success in the UK, rising to #3 on their singles chart
Jodeci's live version doesn't stray from the original, with the music grounded by the classic piano, and the strength of K-Ci and JoJo's voice...
Jodeci's live version of "Lately" not only became the most successful version of the song, but was the group's own biggest success, becoming their sole top ten pop hit in August of 1993. The song spent four non-consecutive weeks at #1 on Billboard's R&B chart as well. Internationally, the single made it to #50 in the Netherlands.
(Click below to see the rest of the post)
There was a studio version of "Lately" recorded with a more lush production by member Devante Swing that included more verses, but the Unplugged take far outshined this...
In 1992, the group performed live with just Stevie Wonder as backup on the Arsenio Hall Show...
And finally, live in concert after a long piano intro...
Up tomorrow: The second competing version of a bass-rap classic that hit the chart.
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