Saturday, September 26, 2009

Ellery Queen, if you're so keen, won't you help me find my sweet thing?

When I reviewed LOLA BABY a couple of weeks ago I was reminded that Lola Falana had been briefly married to singer Butch Tavares in the mid '70s. I'm not a big fan of the R&B group he founded with his four brothers but I like a handful of their big hits ("Too Late," "It Only Takes a Minute," "Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel," "Don't Take Away the Music") and downright love "Whodunit," a silly but irresistible Freddie Perren production that hit #1 on the R&B charts in the spring of 1977. Chock full of corny rhymes centered around the TV cop shows of the period ("For cryin' out loud, somebody call McCloud!"), I'd be shocked if Marty McKee of Johnny Larue's Crane Shot didn't bust a Manero move to this infectious dance single at least once a season. So here's Tavares on the Dutch show Top Pop performing a shorter version of the song. Everyone step back and give Marty some room.

1 comment:

Marty McKee said...

Ha, this song kicks ass. "It Only Takes a Minute" is by far the family's highpoint though.