May 3, 2020 —– Chart #21

Hello Musical Friends,

I don’t want to become too predictable with my daily selections so today is a departure, at least in genre.  I am sticking with the same era (1965-1975) but this time we are going soul. I chose this sone because the guitar rendition is really fun and has some interesting chords. You really get to play the bass line on your acoustic guitar with this choice, so here we go.

“You Make Me Feel Brand New” is a 1974 single by the Philadelphia soul group The Stylistics. The song was written by Thom Bell and Linda Creed. Stylistics tenor Airrion Love starts out the song and then alternates with Russell Thompkins, Jr.

An R&B ballad, it was the fifth track from their 1974 album, Let’s Put It All Together and was released as a single and reached No. 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 for 2 weeks. “You Make Me Feel Brand New” was kept from the No. 1 spot by “Billy Don’t Be a Hero” by Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods. In addition, it climbed to No. 5 on the Billboard R&B chart. Billboard ranked it as the No. 14 song for 1974. “You Make Me Feel Brand New” also reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart in August 1974. The Stylistics’ recording sold over one million copies in the USA, earning the band a gold disc. The award was presented by the RIAA on May 22, 1974. It was the band’s fifth gold disc.

This song was also used in TV commercials for Woolite in the mid 1980s and in TV advertisements for Australian department store Myer in the late 1980s. In Britain a version was used to advertise BioTex stain removal powder.

The Stylistics are an American, Philadelphia soul group that achieved their greatest chart success in the 1970s. They formed in 1968, with a lineup of singers Russell Thompkins Jr., Herb Murrell, Airrion Love, James Smith, and James Dunn. All of their US hits were ballads characterized by the falsetto of Russell Thompkins Jr. and the production of Thom Bell. During the early 1970s, the group had twelve consecutive R&B top ten hits, including “Stop, Look, Listen”, “You Are Everything”, “Betcha by Golly, Wow”, “I’m Stone in Love with You”, “Break Up to Make Up”, and today’s selection “You Make Me Feel Brand New”.

From an appearance on Soul Train:   

Keep Rockin’,

Stan