"Stop Doggin' Me Around" by Klique

Song#:  1645
Date:  10/08/1983
Debut:  84
Peak:  50
Weeks:  9
Genre:  R&B



Pop Bits:  This R&B trio came about when siblings Isaac and Deborah Suthers decided to start a group. They held auditions for the third spot and it was won by singer Howard Huntsberry. Klique signed on with MCA and in 1981 issued their debut album It's Winning Time. It netted a couple singles that were middling entries on the R&B chart and that seemed to be enough for MCA to keep investing in the group. Their second album had similar results, but it was their third disc, Try It Out, that finally got them a big hit. This first single from the album vaulted to #2 at R&B while just making the top half of the Pop chart (their only single to reach that chart). Two more minor R&B singles would follow, but they rallied for a #15 R&B hit in 1985 titled "A Woman, A Lover, A Friend." It would be their final charting single. The group disbanded after their fourth album. The Suthers' would issue a single as a duo under the Klique name in 1986 title "Waiting for Ya Genie," but it did not chart. Huntsberry would continue with MCA as a solo act and in 1988 he had a #11 R&B hit with his song "Sleepless Weekend."

ReduxReview:  This one was a bit of a surprise. Updating this old R&B chestnut wasn't a bad idea, but releasing it as a single seemed iffy at best. At a time when this older style of pop/R&B was a bit out of place on the charts, I wouldn't have placed any bets on this song to succeed. But it bucked the odds and deservedly came close to topping the R&B chart. The trio does a great job with the song. It has a solid (if a bit 80s-ish now) arrangement and Huntsberry's voice sells the crap out of it. It's a little lost gem from the decade.

ReduxRating:  7/10

Trivia:  This is a remake of a song originally done by soul legend Jackie Wilson. Titled "Doggin' Around," the single hit #1 at R&B and #15 at Pop in 1960. Huntsberry's voice was quite similar to Wilson's, so Klique came up with the idea that they should cover a Wilson song for their third LP. They selected this tune and, with a slight title change, it became the trio's biggest hit. Their 1985 hit "A Woman, A Lover, A Friend" was also a Wilson cover. That 1960 single was another R&B #1 (#15 Pop). Other folks took notice of the vocal similarities between Huntsberry and Wilson, and that led to Huntsberry snaring a part in the 1987's La Bamba, the biographical film about singer Ritchie Valens. Huntsberry played the part of Jackie Wilson and sang Wilson's 1958 #1 R&B/#7 Pop hit "Lonely Teardrops" in the movie. Two years later, Huntsberry would cover another Wilson hit for the soundtrack to the film Ghostbusters II. He remade Wilson's 1967 #1 R&B/#6 Pop smash "(You're Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher."

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