Songoftheday 6/11/19 - Hey baby, turn around it's not what it seems, the way I like it by the pound must be in the genes...
from the album Blackstreet (1994)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #34 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 2
Today's song of the day comes from the R&B group Blackstreet, who were put together by leader and producer Teddy Riley, who had helmed one of the most pivotal groups of the new jack swing era, Guy. However, that act was successful on R&B radio, but pretty much left alone by mainstream audiences, with their biggest single "Let's Chill" stopping right under the pop top-40 at #41 in the spring of 1991. Bringing on fellow producer Chauncey Hannibal and two back-up singers for Bobby Brown, Levi Little and Joseph Stonestreet, the group's first recording was a contribution to the soundtrack to the Chris Rock movie CB4 in 1993. That song, "Baby Be Mine", was released as a single, and it climbed to #17 on the R&B chart in Billboard magazine, while "bubbling under" the pop Hot 100 at #113 (it managed to be a top-40 hit in the UK at #37). However, Stonestreet, who co-wrote the song and sung lead, would soon depart, leaving Riley to replace him with Dave Hollister (a relative of Jodeci's K-Ci and JoJo). Hollister would re-record the track for their self-titled debut album, which came out the following year. The second single from the set with be the slow jam request of a "Booti Call". Written by Riley with his brother Markus, rapper Erick Sermon (who put in a rap interlude), and sample credits to George Clinton and Zapp's Roger and Larry Troutman among others, the mid-tempo new jack track became their first pop breakthrough...
"Booti Call" became Blackstreet's first top-40 pop hit in August of 1994. The song also climbed to #14 on the R&B chart in Billboard. Internationally, the single peaked at #40 in New Zealand and was a minor hit in the UK at #56.
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And here's the group appearing on MTV's The Grind live to promote the single...
Up tomorrow: A couple of "ruff" siblings have their sole pop hit.
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