Songoftheday 8/6/21 - When I first saw you I already knew, there was something inside of you...

 

 

"Angel Of Mine" - Monica

from the album The Boy Is Mine (1998)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 (four weeks)

Weeks in the Top-40: 26

 

Today's song comes from R&B singer Monica, who's sophomore effort The Boy Is Mine had already scored a pair of #1 pop hits with her Grammy-winning duet with Brandy, "The Boy Is Mine", and her solo follow-up "The First Night", the latter reaching the top in the autumn of 1998. The third single from the album would be the ballad "Angel Of Mine", written by Rhett Lawrence and Travon Potts. It's actually an import - it was a top ten hit in the UK in 1997 for the vocal group Eternal, who had a single top-40 pop hit in America in the spring of 1994 with "Stay". Then it was a new edition to their Greatest Hits album, and the single went to #4, their final top ten in that country...

Lawrence produced Eternal's version, but when Monica recorded it for the States, she used up and coming producer Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, who would also work with Destiny's Child, Whitney Houston, and, why, yes, Brandy. However the finished product doesn't stray too far for the British version save for some synth flourishes and a skittish backbeat that gave it an almost-boyband feel. Lawrence rewrote some of the lyrics, and Monica's delivery makes it a more personal and emotional record that Eternal's. The West Side Story inspired music video features model and hitmaker in his own right Tyrese Gibson as her "angel"...

"Angel Of Mine" became Monica's third consecutive #1 pop hit (and so far her last) in February of 1999. The song actually missed the top spot on Billboard magazine's R&B chart, hanging in at #2 for six weeks. It landed her second Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") radio hit after "For You I Will", reaching #6 and staying on there for 33 weeks. Internationally, the single climbed to #5 in Canada, and made the top-40 in Australia (#12) and New Zealand (#36), and was a minor hit in the UK (where they preferred the Eternal version), peaking at #55.

A fourth song from the Boy Is Mine album promoted to radio, "Street Symphony", was given a special remix with rappers Big Gipp from Goodie Mob and JT Money, the latter of whom will be on this series himself. The track didn't get as good of a reception, stalling at #50 on Billboard's R&B chart and only "bubbling under" the pop Hot 100 at #120. (It deserved better.) Monica will return to this series.

(6/10)

(Click below to see the rest of the post)

Here's Monica performing the song on the Rosie O'Donnell show to promote the single...

She combined "Angel Of Mine" and another top ten, "So Gone" for her AOL Sessions gig...

Monica brought back "Angel Of Mine" for the Jimmy Kimmel Show in 2019...

and lastly, she medleyed "Angel Of Mine" and "Trenches" for a get-out-the-vote special from Stacey Abrams for the Georgia senate run-off earlier this year...

Up tomorrow: Digging the mines of this murdered rapper brings up transitions.