Songoftheday 1/3/20 - I've been doing my own thing Love has always had a way of having bad timing. but to my great surprise ever since I looked in your eyes...
from the album Groove Theory (1995)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #5 (three weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 25
Today's song of the day comes from the soul duo Groove Theory, who came together in New York City in the early 1990s. Rapper/musician Bryce Wilson had previously been a member of the dance act Mantronix for two of their albums, with This Should Move Ya in 1990 spinning off two top ten hits in the UK with "Got To Have Your Love" (a top ten dance hit in the US) and "Take Your Time".
After Mantronix broke up in 1993, Wilson recruited singer Amel Larrieux to form Groove Theory. Their debut single, which would be the lead track on their self-titled first (and only) album, was "Tell Me", a fusion of quiet storm smoothness and Soul II Soul-esque dance beats that was a refreshing break on the radio from all of the harder stuff...
"Tell Me" became Groove Theory's first and only top-40 pop hit in America in November of 1995. The song spent three weeks at #3 on Billboard magazine's R&B chart as well. Internationally, the single reached the top-40 in Australia (#6), New Zealand (#14), and the UK (#31).
The pair found it harder to follow-up such a long-lasting big hit. Their second single, "Keep Tryin'", managed to rise to #24 on the R&B chart, stalling at #64 on the pop Hot 100. The same thing happened to the third release, "Baby Luv", which peaked at #23 R&B and #65 on the pop Hot 100. Amel left the duo for a solo career in 1999, and has released five solo album since; her biggest success came with "Get Up" from her first solo set Infinite Possibilities, which nicked the pop chart at #97 and made the R&B top 40 at #37. Wilson tried to continue the Groove Theory name, hiring on Makeda Davis as lead singer. But the sole hit they had was the track "4Shure" which spent a solitary week at #97 on the R&B chart in Billboard in 2000. Wilson has had bigger success writing, co-writing Toni Braxton's #1 pop hit "You're Making Me High". Wilson and Larrieux reunited in the early 2010's promising a new album, but so far nothing has emerged yet.
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Here's the group appearing on TV promoting the single...
There also was a remix featuring Lil Babe....
And finally, here's Amel in concert doing her hit "Get Up" before Groove Theory's "Tell Me"...
I'll be back tomorrow with a pop-soul act the wants to be the unitary.
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