Songoftheday 11/9/20 - I'm wanting you too much, don't take advantage of my tender heart and everything about me...

 

 

"Whatever" - En Vogue

from the album EV3 (1997)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #16 (one week)

Weeks in the Top-40: 6

 

Today's song of the day comes from the female R&B vocal group En Vogue, who had scored their third #2 single at the start of 1997 with the epic "Don't Let Go (Love)" from the movie Set It Off. However, not too long after that, member Dawn Robinson left the group as they were preparing their third studio album. Left as a trio of Terry Ellis, Maxine Jones, and Cindy Herron, they redid the set as EV3 and released the single "Whatever" as the next single from the project. Written by producers Babyface and Guiliano Franco along with Keith Andes, the slinky mid-tempo jam was really atypical for a Babyface record, and found all three in fine vocal form. It was accompanied by a high-budget Frankenstein-ish video to boot...

"Whatever" became En Vogue's ten top-40 pop hit in America in July of 1997. The single also climbed to #8 on Billboard magazine's R&B chart, while the remixes of the track helped it go to #5 on their Dance Club Play tally. Internationally, the single peaked at #8 in Canada, while making the top-40 in Finland (#12), the UK (#14), Belgium (#17F), and New Zealand (#24).

(Click below to see the rest of the post)

Here's the "Mucho Soul" remix that helped the song reach the top-5 on the dance chart...

...and appearing on the Rosie O'Donnell Show to promote the single...

Next up, on the The Tonight Show with Jay Leno...

and finally, the group including a reunited Robinson live in concert...

Up tomorrow: Another R&B trio isn't too particular, either.