"Thinking of You" by Earth, Wind & Fire

Song#:  3412

Date:  02/13/1988

Debut:  79

Peak:   67

Weeks:  8

Genre:  R&B, Dance

Pop Bits:  After a four-year absence, ETW returned with their fourteenth studio album Touch the World. While its first single, "System of Survival," would get to #1 at R&B and Dance, the song stalled early on the Pop chart at #60. Hoping for a better mainstream result, this next single was pushed out. The results were nearly the same. The song was able to reach #1 Dance and #3 R&B, but failed to gain an audience at Pop. Still, the album did well enough to top out at #3 R&B/#33 Pop and it got the band back to gold level sales, which they missed out on with their previous LP, 1983's Electric Universe. The Touch the World album would generate two more R&B Top 30 singles and the band would have an addition R&B Top 30 with a single from their 1988 compilation The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 2., which would wrap up the 80s era of the band.

ReduxReview:  Like "System of Survival," this was another pretty good jam from the band and one that  recalled their earlier sound. However, also like "System," it just wasn't the most pop-friendly tune. It was an old school tune dressed up in 80s clothes and that wasn't what was happening on pop radio at the time. Although they would get one more R&B Top 10 single in 1990, Touch the World would pretty much close out the band's heydays as hit makers. It also became their last studio LP to go gold.

ReduxRating:  5/10

Trivia:  In 1990, the band would return with their final album for Columbia, Heritage. The title track would be the first single and it would get to #5. It would be the band's final R&B Top 10 hit. The song failed to reach the Pop chart. Their last Pop chart entry would be the lead single from their next album, 1993's Millennium. "Sunday Morning" would get to #53 Pop/#20 R&B. The band would continue to record albums over the years and it seems like fans stuck with them as albums like 2013's Now, Then & Forever would get to #6 R&B/#11 Pop.

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