Songoftheday 10/28/19 - A lonely mother gazing out of her window, staring at a son that she just can't touch...

"Waterfalls" - TLC
from the album CrazySexyCool (1994)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 (seven weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 28

Today's song of the day comes from the R&B/Hip-Hop trio TLC, whose Grammy-winning sophomore album CrazySexyCool had already spun off a big #1 pop hit with "Creep" as well as a worthy follow-up that stopped at #2 in "Red Light Special". Also, the album track "Switch" got enough airplay at urban format stations to spent time on Billboard magazine's R&B Airplay chart, peaking at #56. The third release from the album, though, would surpass both of them and become the group's biggest hit and signature song. "Waterfalls", written by the production team of Organized Noize (Ray Murray, Patrick Brown, and Rico Wade), Marqueeze Etheridge, and TLC member Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopes, was a mid-tempo R&B track with lessons about sexuality and drug use and a landmark use of AIDS in its lyrics. Along with its iconic special-effects driven music video, and the song was one of the high points of the entire year...

"Waterfalls" spent seven weeks on top of the American pop charts starting in July of 1995. The song climbed to #4 on Billboard's R&B chart as well, and crossed over to the Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening" format) chart, spending a half of a year on the list (26 weeks) and peaking at #24. Internationally, the single topped the charts in Switzerland and New Zealand, and reached the top ten in Norway (#2), Austria (#3), Denmark (#3), the UK (#4),Australia (#4), Ireland (#4), the Netherlands (#5), Germany (#5), Sweden (#7), Iceland (#7), and Canada (#9). At the Grammy Awards in 1996, "Waterfalls" received two nominations - for Record of the Year (losing to Seal's "Kiss From A Rose") and Best Duo/Group Pop Vocal Performance (which went to Hootie & The Blowfish's "Let Her Cry"). The video, though won Best of the Year at the MTV Videos Awards, as well as the Soul Train Awards and the NAACP Image Awards.

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Here's the trio along with 2Pac at the Grammys in 1996...