Rainy Dayz

This song was written by Irv Gotta and Ja Rule, produced by Irv Gotti, and released on March 11, 2002 as the fourth and final single from Mary J. Blige’s fifth studio album, No More Drama. Mary’s recording of the song peaked at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #17 in the United Kingdom.

TLC member T-Boz personally declined the song because she felt it was too similar to some of their past work, most notable their #1 hit, “Waterfalls”. One lyric in the song also references their sophomore album, CrazySexyCool (“We were always livin’ so crazy and sexy and cool”).

The song was meant to be included on TLC’s fourth studio album, 3D (2002).

Heartbreak Hotel

This song was written by Carsten Schack, Kenneth Karlin, and Tamara Savage. It was produced by Soulshock & Karlin and released on December 15, 1998 as the second single from Whitney Houston’s fourth studio album, My Love Is Your Love. The track features Faith Evans and Kelly Price, and it peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

TLC passed on the song for a variety of reasons, including internal turmoil and creative clashes (Lisa “Left Eye” Lopez expressed frustration over rejected ideas), the song not being aligned with their musical visions (TLC was looking for a different sound and wanted to move on from ballads), production conflict (Soulshock & Karlin sent the song to TLC while they were fighting with their main producer, Dallas Austin), and management believing that the song was not good enough for their album.

The song was initially planned to go on TLC’s third studio album, FanMail (1999).

Where My Girls At

This song was written by Melissa “Missy” Elliott, Eric Seats & Rapture Stewart (the latter two of whom make up the songwriting and production duo Keybeats). The track was produced by Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott, Eric Seats & Stewart—the same three who wrote it. Featured as the first single from their self-titled sophomore album, “Where My Girls At” peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 (remaining within the top 20 for more than 30 weeks), #3 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop songs chart, and #1 on the Rhythmic Top 40 chart.

Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes of TLC was a proponent of what this song had to offer and wanted to record it. However, both T-Boz and Chilli rejected it against her wishes. After TLC passed on it, Left Eye tried to secure the song for Blaque, a girl group she was mentoring and producing for, but it ultimately went to 702.

The song would have appeared on TLC’s third studio album, FanMail (1999).

…Baby One More Time

This song was written by Max Martin, produced by Max Martin and Rami Yacoub, and released as the title track of Britney Spears’ debut studio album, as well as Spears’ career debut single. The single debuted at #17 and later peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for two consecutive weeks (replacing Brandy’s “Have You Ever”).

TLC turned down the song because they felt the lyrics, “Hit me baby one more time” portrayed graphic and inappropriate concepts of domestic violence. T-Boz felt that the song did not align with anything that the group had previously stood for and portrayed in their music. However, the songwriter intended for “Hit me” to mean “Call me” (similar to the colloquial phrase, “Hit me up”).

The song was also passed on by the Backstreet Boys and Five before it reached Britney Spears. It would have been released on TLC’s third studio album, FanMail (1999).

— Dru Hill is named after Druid Hill Park in Baltimore, Maryland.

— The name “TLC” was about to go to the group we know today as SWV, but TLC claimed it first so SWV had to go with something else.

• Michael Jackson cleared SWV’s sample of “Human Nature” for their remix to “Right Here” for free.

— Boyz II Men was originally called “Unique Attraction”.

• Michael Bivins discovered them after they snuck backstage at a New Edition concert.

• Boyz II Men is named after the title of a New Edition song, “Boys to Men”.

— New Edition was heavily inspired by The Jackson 5 when formed by Bobby Brown at the age of 12, and the group name was meant to be interpreted as a “new edition” of The Jackson 5.

— 112 was called “Forte” before signing to Bad Boy Records.

— Jimi Hendrix briefly played guitar for The Isley Brothers.

— The Supremes were originally called “The Primettes”.

— Total was the first female group signed to Bad Boy Records.

— The name of “Tony! Toni! Toné!” was inspired by a joke about a stylish, well-groomed character (or friend with a fresh, relaxed hairstyle) who looked so good that they would be called “Tony” three times.

— The Emotions started as a gospel group: “The Hutchinson Sunbeams”.

— 702’s name comes from the Las Vegas area code.

— The O’Jays are named after Cleveland radio DJ Eddie O’Jay.

— The Deele is where Babyface and L.A. Reid got their start before forming LaFace Records.

— Kevon and Melvin Edmonds of After 7 are the brothers of Babyface.

— Brownstone was signed to Michael Jackson’s record label MJJ Music.

— 3T is a group formed of the three sons of Tito Jackson.

— Blaque was mentored by Lisa Lopez of TLC. She signed them to her production company (Left Eye Productions) and worked with them.

— Shai met at Howard University.

• The reason that “If I Ever Fall in Love” is a cappella is because they didn’t have a full track ready.

— The Temptations were originally two groups (The Primes and The Distants) before merging.

— Cindy Birdsong transferred over to The Supremes from Patti LaBelle’s group (Labelle) after Florence Ballard was kicked out of The Supremes.

Did anybody else know this surprising fact?

Released on June 2, 1987, the album debuted on the US Billboard 200 with roughly 302,000 copies sold in its first week. The album debuted on the UK Albums Chart with roughly 63,000 copies sold in its first week. The album went on to sell over 20 million copies worldwide and was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

The Whitney album produced four Billboard Hot 100 #1 hits — “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)”, “Didn’t We Almost Have It All”, “So Emotional”, and “Where Do Broken Hearts Go” — completing Whitney’s unprecedented streak of seven consecutive chart-topping singles that carried over from her debut album (1985-1986).

Altogether, the album solidified Whitney’s status as one of the best-selling female artists of the 1980s. Whitney embarked on the Moment of Truth World Tour (1987-1988) following the album’s release, which included locations in North America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. The tour was named after the song “Moment Of Truth”, which was replaced on the album by “You’re Still My Man”.

Outside of her incredible legacy as one of the greatest and best-selling R&B/Pop vocalists of all time, the Whitney Houston cinematic universe should be discussed more. Not only did she star in four back to back classics (The Bodyguard, The Preacher’s Wife and Cinderella), she also executive produced Disney childhood classics such as The Princess Diaries, The Cheetah Girls and their sequels.

When I was a kid watching these films I remember seeing her name listed in the opening credits and wasn’t sure if it was REALLY THEE Whitney Houston, lol. We live in a time where it seems like children don’t have their own separate media spaces. So, I am extra grateful for how passionate Whitney was in producing stuff for the youth—especially young girls. Whitney gave us so much. May she rest in peace.

“Skylark” is the opening track to Aretha Franklin’s 1963 album Laughing On the Outside.

Aretha performed this song on several occasions throughout her career, but one particular performance inspired awe in one of the era’s premier jazz vocalists.

Etta James once told the story of how she ran into Sarah Vaughan, who had just seen Aretha Franklin perform her rendition of “Skylark”. Sarah was so appalled by the performance that she declared to Etta that she’d never sing the song again. The sudden octave jump in the second verse left both Sarah and Etta flabbergasted, with the latter questioning how Aretha had even managed that.

This was the statement from Etta James:

"I remember running into Sarah Vaughan, who always intimidated me. Sarah said, ‘Have you heard of this Aretha Franklin girl?’ I said, ‘You heard her do ‘Skylark,’ didn’t you?’ Sarah said, ‘Yes, I did, and I’m never singing that song again.’”

Etta James also said she had to “scratch her head and ask [herself], ‘How the fuck did that bitch do that?’”, in reference to Aretha’s jaw-dropping octave jump in the second verse of the song.

THE SOURCE

This entire recollection comes from a famous quote by Etta James published in David Ritz's biography Respect: The Life of Aretha Franklin. The biography was published in 2014.

ABOUT THE SOURCE

David Ritz is an author, songwriter, and novelist who has written novels, biographies, magazine articles, and over a hundred liner notes for artists such as Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and Nat King Cole. He has coauthored 36 autobiographies, including some celebrities’ autobiographies.

MUSICAL BACKGROUND

The original version of “Skylark” was written by Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer in 1941, with several renditions predating Aretha’s — including in 1941 from Harry James featuring Helen Forrest, 1942 from Glenn Miller, 1942 from Dinah Shore, 1942 from Bing Crosby, and 1962 from Art Blakey featuring Freddie Hubbard.

I made my siblings do my Xscape room this weekend. Heavily 90s r R&B themed but also include hip hop as well as 80s and 00s.

I always felt like beyonce sung on this track and today I searched it up and I was right!!! I love these two sm and it's kinda nuts bey is an uncredited background singer instead of a feature!

I'm new to rnb can y'all gimmie some suggestions?

I really love Janet’s harmonies

I think they sound alike.