Songoftheday 3/9/20 - I'll light a thousand candles all around, show me to the subway I'll go down...
from the albums Don't Be A Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice In The Hood (1996) and All That I Am (1997)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #11 (two weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 15
Today's song of the day comes from neo-soul singer Joe (Thomas), who started his music career after moving to New Jersey from Alabama in the early 1990s. Signed to Jive Records, he released his debut album Everything in 1993. The lead single, "I'm In Luv", landed Joe a top ten R&B hit off the bat at #10, while crossing over to be a minor pop hit at #64. Produced by J. Dibbs, it sounded like a lot of the new-jack girl groups like Jade and Brownstone but sung by a guy. The song also scored a top-40 hit in the UK at #22. Two more songs from the set became top-40 R&B hits, with "The One For Me" making the same level on the British chart at #34.
When Joe returned in 1996, his music seemed to flow more towards the new neo-soul movement spearheaded by D'Angelo. For the comedy movie Don't Be A Menace To South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood, which starred the Wayans Brothers, he contributed a track to the soundtrack that would turn out to be his breakthrough single. "All The Things (Your Man Won't Do)", written and produced by Joe with Joshua Thompson, was a smooth promise of romantic satisfaction meant to drive the ladies wild. It was released as the third single from the soundtrack after "Don't Give Up" by the Island Inspirational All-Stars, which went to #28 on Billboard magazine's R&B chart at the start of 1996 (and "bubbled under" the pop Hot 100 at #108), and "Renee" from the Lost Boyz, which took longer to catch on but eventually would follow it into the top-40 (and a future SOTD)...
"All The Things" became Joe's first top-40 pop hit, just missing the top ten by the notch in March of 1996. The song was a huge urban success, spending four weeks at #2 on Billboard's R&B tally, while topping their Adult R&B format list. Internationally, the song was his third top-40 hit in the UK at #34, and also getting top-40 status in New Zealand at #26. Besides the top-20 hit soundtrack, "All The Things" would also show on Joe's second album.
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Here's Joe performing live on BET promoting the single...
Next up, live in concert in 2012...
and finally on Tom Joyner's retro show in 2019...
Up tomorrow: Grunge rockers are weight-weary.
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