Songoftheday 2/4/20 - Take me down fill me up, give me ecstasy not enough...
from the album Energy & Harmony (1996)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #26 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 18
Today's song of the day comes from the dance act Planet Soul, who came together in Miami, Florida in the 1990s. With producer George Acosta and singer Nadine Renee, the duo released their debut single "Set U Free" in the fall of 1995. The first American record to truly capture the spirit of techno and rave music that was massively popular in Britain at the time, mixed with the speed of bass music and freestyle. The song caught on with the public, and as a domestic act was able to be promoted much better here, where the single became their first and biggest success, even without a music video to promote on Club MTV...
"Set U Free" became Planet Soul's first and only top-40 pop hit in January of 1996, spending a half year (26 weeks) on the official Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song also rose to #57 on their R&B chart as well. What's surprising is that the track missed the Dance Chart completely, which is a mystery to me, since I definitely heard the song in the clubs at the time (the single did rise to #3 on the dance single sales chart, for what it's worth). Planet Soul released their debut and only album, Energy & Harmony, which did reach the Billboard 200 sales chart at #165. The second release from the record, "Feel The Music", which sounded very similar but featured vocals from a different singer (Brenda Dee, who took over lead over the rest of the album), climbed to #73 on the pop chart while hitting #10 on the Dance Singles Sales list. A third single, "Look Into My Eyes" slipped onto the Dance Singles Sales chart at #47, their final hit. Nadine passed away during childbirth in 2004, and George and Brenda have appeared as the group since.
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And here's the "Fever" mix that helped get the singles into the top-3 on the dance singles sales chart...
Up tomorrow: L.A. funk-rockers sing about their compadres.
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