Brenda & the Tabulations
Brenda & the Tabulations were an American R&B group formed in 1966 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, originally composed of Brenda Payton, Eddie L. Jackson, Maurice Coates and Jerry Jones.
History
The group had a distinctive, almost doo wop sound, especially at the start, featuring Payton's sweet occasionally rough-edged vocals with background male harmonies. The line-up changed around 1971 with the original three men departing. Two female backing singers (Pat Mercer and Deborah Martin) were brought in to support Payton.
The group had a series of hit singles in the late 1960s and early 1970s, mainly in the US soul charts and on small independent labels, Dionn and Top & Bottom, operated by the group's manager, Gilda Woods. However, two were big US pop hits: their first release, "Dry Your Eyes" (Pop #20, R&B #2) on Dionn in 1967 and "Right On The Tip Of My Tongue" (Pop #23, R&B #5) in 1971.[1] The first was written by Payton with group member Maurice Coates and produced by Bob Finiz and the latter written and produced by Van McCoy.
The group signed with Epic/Columbia in 1972 but, despite continuing to work with producer Van McCoy, the four singles released were relatively unsuccessful, with only "One Girl Too Late" managing to chart.
The group released three albums, Dry Your Eyes on Dionn (1967), Brenda and the Tabulations on Top & Bottom (1970), and I Keep Coming Back For More on Chocolate City/Casablanca (1977), although by the time of the last album, Brenda was a solo act while keeping the group name.
Brenda & the Tabulations are one of many recording artists referenced in the song "Life Is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me)" by the studio group Reunion.
Brenda Payton, who was born on October 24, 1945, died on June 14, 1992, aged 46. Eddie L. Jackson died on May 3, 2010, from a brain aneurysm at the age of 63.[2]
The group's music saw a revival in awareness in 2011, when "The Wash" from the Dry Your Eyes album was licensed by Unilever for use in an Axe body wash commercial.
Discography
Studio albums
| Year | Album | Chart positions[3] | Record label | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B | |||||
| 1967 | Dry Your Eyes | 191 | 19 | Dionn | ||
| 1971 | Brenda & the Tabulations | — | — | Top & Bottom | ||
| 1977 | I Keep Coming Back for More | — | — | Chocolate City | ||
| "—" denotes the album failed to chart | ||||||
Compilation albums
| Year | Album | Chart positions | Record label | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B | |||||
| 2000 | Right on the Tip of My Tongue | — | — | Jamie/Guyden | ||
| 2008 | The Dionn Singles Collection 1966-1969 | — | — | |||
| The Top and Bottom Singles Collection 1969-1971 | — | — | ||||
| "—" denotes the album failed to chart | ||||||
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart positions[4] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B | |||||
| 1967 | "Dry Your Eyes" | 20 | 2 | |||
| "Stay Together Young Lovers" (A-side) | 66 | 44 | ||||
| "Who's Lovin' You" (B-side) | 66 | 19 | ||||
| "Just Once in a Lifetime" | 97 | 41 | ||||
| "When You're Gone" | 58 | 27 | ||||
| 1968 | "Baby You're So Right for Me" (A-side) | 86 | — | |||
| "To the One I Love" (B-side) | — | 45 | ||||
| "That's in the Past" | — | — | ||||
| 1969 | "Hey Boy" | — | — | |||
| "That's the Price You Have to Pay" | — | 43 | ||||
| "The Touch of You" | 50 | 12 | ||||
| 1970 | "And My Heart Sang (Tra La La)" | 64 | 12 | |||
| "Don't Make Me Over" | 77 | 15 | ||||
| 1971 | "A Child No One Wanted" | 120 | 42 | |||
| "Right on the Tip of My Tongue" | 23 | 10 | ||||
| "A Part of You" | 94 | 14 | ||||
| "Why Didn't I Think of That" | 107 | 34 | ||||
| 1972 | "Little Bit of Love" | — | — | |||
| 1973 | "One Girl Too Late" | — | 48 | |||
| "Key to My Heart" | — | — | ||||
| "Walk On In" | — | — | ||||
| 1976 | "Home to Myself" | — | 61 | |||
| 1977 | "(I'm a) Superstar" | — | 31 | |||
| "I Keep Coming Back for More" | — | — | ||||
| "—" denotes the single failed to chart | ||||||
References
- ↑ Joel Whitburn, The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits. 7th edn, 2000
- ↑ Thedeadrockstarsclub.com - accessed May 2010
- ↑ "Brenda & the Tabulations US albums chart history". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2010-11-26.
- ↑ "Brenda & the Tabulations US singles chart history". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2010-11-26.
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