Robbed hit of the week 11/18/19 - Brian McKnight's "Crazy Love"...
from the albums Jason's Lyric (Original Soundtrack) (1994) & I Remember You (1995)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #45
This week's "robbed hit" comes from pop/soul singer Brian McKnight, who after making his breakthrough on mainstream radio with his duet with Vanessa Williams, "Love Is", from the TV show Beverly Hills 90210, landed his own solo top-40 hit in the fall of 1993 with the ballad "One Last Cry" from his self-titled debut album. Brian returned in 1995 with a contribution to the movie Jason's Lyric that would also eventually serve as the lead single for his second album I Remember You. For the film McKnight covered the Van Morrison soft-rock classic "Crazy Love". Originally appearing on his iconic Moondance album in 1970, the song was the "B-Side" to the album's single "Come Running", which went to #39 on the American top-40. Nevertheless, the song's fanbase continued to grow and has become one of the Irish singer/songwriter's best-loved tracks...
McKnight, who produced his version along with playing most of the instruments save the guitar, turned the song into a downtempo adult R&B wedding-song cut, for better or for worse. It was released as the third single from the Jason's Lyric soundtrack after the Black Men United collaboration "U Will Know" and Jodeci's K-Ci's cover of "If You Think You're Lonely Now", which both reached the pop top-40...
While McKnight's take on "Crazy Love" returned him to the top ten on Billboard magazine's R&B chart at #10, his version of the record stopped a few notches from the pop top-40 in June of 1995. His next single from the I Remember You album, the mid-tempo new jack-lite of "On The Down Low", was a moderate hit at urban radio, climbing to #12 on the R&B chart, but stalled down at #73 on the pop Hot 100. That was followed by the ballad "Still In Love", which peaked at #24 on the R&B list, but missed the pop chart altogether, only "bubbling under" the Hot 100 at #103, despite being IMHO the best of the three. When Brian returned in 1997, he would sport a more contemporary sound and find himself back in the top-40.
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Many, many different artists of all genres have recorded "Crazy Love" through the years, and a couple of them have had success. In 1971, Helen Reddy climbed to #8 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening" chart) as well as #51 on the Hot 100 with her second single from her debut album I Don't Know How To Love Him...
Reggae singer Maxi Priest had released a version in 1986 that went to #67 on the British singles chart...
Ten years later, soul legend Aaron Neville put out a cover with the Band's Robbie Robertson from the movie Phenomenon that climbed to #25 on the Adult Contemporary chart in 1996...
In 2009, Michael Buble' included the song as the title track from his fourth album, which went to #1 on the albums sales chart. The single "bubbled under" the Hot 100 at #124...
Finally, back to Brian with a live performance from 2013...
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