Robbed hit of the week 8/10/20 - Donell Jones' "Knocks Me Off My Feet"...

 
from the album My Heart (1996)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #49
 
This week's "robbed hit" comes from neo-soul singer Donell Jones, who grew up in Chicago before being signed to Babyface and L.A. Reid's label LaFace as a songwriter, producer, and artist. In the spring of 1996, Jones put out his debut single "In The Hood". Previewing his first album My Heart, the song climbed to #21 on Billboard magazine's R&B chart, while popping on to the pop Hot 100 at #79.  But it was a change of direction on the second release that would give Jones a bigger audience. A cover of Stevie Wonder's "Knocks Me Off My Feet", the original was never a hit in its own right but a beloved track on Wonder's most revered album, Songs In The Key Of Life in 1976...


 With the sweet lyrics and ear-catching melody, Jones brought "Knocks Me Off My Feet" to a whole new generation, and got people noticing him...

Donell's take on "Knocks Me Off My Feet" spent a half year (26 weeks) on Billboard magazine's R&B chart, peaking at #14, but missed the pop top-40, cresting just over halfway up the Hot 100 list in January of 1997. Internationally, the song would make the top-40 in New Zealand at #28 and was a minor hit in the UK at #58. But in a couple of year, Jones would rectify that with the biggest hit of his career. 

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The B-side of the CD/Cassette single, "You Should Know", got enough airplay to be listed on the chart run for 13 weeks...


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