Songoftheday 1/9/24 - It's been five months since you went away, left without a word and nothing to say...

 

 

"Angel" - Amanda Perez

from the album Angel (2003)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #20 (one week)

Weeks in the Top-40: 15

 

Today's song comes from Amanda Perez, a singer/songwriter who grew up in Indiana, where she was discovered by producer and indie record exec Mike Quinn, who initially signed her to his Powerhouse/Silverstone label, distributed by Universal. There she released her debut album What You At?, as well as her first single "Never", which nicked both the Hot 100 (#79) and R&B Singles chart (#96) in Billboard magazine, and even got to #10 on the dance/R&B-oriented Rhythmic radio format.. However lack of returns let her shop her album out, which Virgin Records picked up and revamped into the record Angel, which came out in February of 2003. The new title track served as the next single. Written by Perez and again produced by Quinn, the song (which honestly I don't even remember when it came out) has Amanda depressed about the loss of a lover, and even when in the second verse she admit he's trying to get her back she knows she has to just say no. She reiterates that he lied to her and she can't trust him, and is asking for divine intervention to heal her heart. The production is really trying to make her into a low-rent version of Alicia Keys, but despite her nice enough voice the instrumentation is a bit cheap and dated. Even the music video tried to be a school production of "Fallin'", but with Keys on break at the time, it was the right moment for fans to grab on to this...

"Angel" became Amanda's first and only single to make the top forty on Billboard's Hot 100 in May of 2003, while climbing to #57 on the R&B Singles chart. On the radio, the song did much better, going all the way to #3 on the Mainstream Top-40 airplay chart and #13 on the dance/R&B-oriented Rhythmic format. Internationally, the song went to #12 on the Canadian sales chart, and was a surprise hit Down Under, topping the chart in New Zealand for two weeks and getting to the runner-up spot in Australia. The Angel album, released in February of 2003, peaked at #73 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, and #36 on the R&B Albums list. 

The second single from the revamped Angel, "I Like It", didn't get any notice. 

Perez returned in 2004 with her second album with Virgin and Quinn, I Pray, which came in at #90 on the Billboard 200 and #43 on the R&B Albums chart. The lead single "I Pray" almost made the Hot 100, "bubbling under" at #101, even though it made the Mainstream Top-40 Airplay top-40 at #39, and the Rhythmic list at #13. That was followed by "Dedicate", which peaked at #31 on the Rhythmic chart. 

Unable to break the ties with Virgin and Quinn (who she wanted to leave him at that point), Perez ended up going indie, releasing The Hand Of Fate on the Upstairs label in 2007, which was able to place at #38 on the R&B Albums chart. Two songs from the set made the Rhythmic radio chart, with "Candy Kisses" rising to #16 and "Come Home" hitting #39.  

Since then, Amanda released one more album, Unexpected, digitally in 2013, along with a string of singles. Last month, she put out the single "Wastin' Time". She also came out as a lesbian in a relationship which is awesome.

(4/10)

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Here's Perez performing live at a club...

Up tomorrow: Female rapper takes a leap.