"Because of You" by The Cover Girls

Song#:  3344
Date:  11/28/1987
Debut:  94
Peak:  27
Weeks:  20
Genre:  Dance-Pop, Freestyle



Pop Bits:  By this point in time, this NYC vocal trio had released two singles from their debut album Show Me. Neither were able to crack the Pop Top 40 with only their title-track first single doing anything of note getting to #4 Dance. Hoping that the third time would be the charm, this third single was issued out. This time around, they got a bit more traction at Pop and the song was able to get inside the Top 30. It also got to #16 Dance while reaching #47 R&B. While it wasn't a major hit, it did raise the trio's profile and helped their album get to #64 Pop/#74 R&B.

ReduxReview:  This track is better than their previous two and I think that has to do with the songwriter/producers. It was written by David Cole and produced by Cole along with Robert Clivillés, who would both go on to have hits under the C+C Music Factory name. The pair were perfecting their craft and did well with this song. It was a catchy tune with good freestyle production. However, the problem I have is with the lead singer's voice. I'm just not a fan. It sounds so whiny, thin, and occasionally not fully in tune (or at least sounds...off). It kind of grates on me. Overall, it was a good effort from Cole and Clivillés, but it still didn't quite have that extra oomph needed to secure a bigger mainstream hit.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  After the trio's second single, "Spring Love" (#80 Pop), was released, original member Sunshine Wright decided to leave the group. It seems that move ended her music career, but her name would hit the papers in 1991 due to events that put her then-husband in prison. Isaac Wright, Jr. was arrested in New Jersey for being a drug kingpin and sentenced to life in prison. Unfortunately, the charges were false. Wright had somehow been framed for the crime with illegally planted evidence. Unable to prove his innocence, Wright ended up in prison. While serving time, he studied law and worked as a paralegal. With his help, several of his fellow inmates got their convictions overturned. Wright also worked on his own case and was eventually able to reveal the corruption that led to his arrest. Wright was freed from prison in 1998. He studied law and passed the bar in 2008. If any of this sounds familiar, it may be because ABC took Wright's story and turned it into the TV drama For Life, which starred Nicholas Pinnock as Wright (for the show the character's name became Aaron Wallace). The first season aired early in 2020 and it did well enough for a second season to be ordered, which began late in 2020.

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