Today’s classic song of the day is a near-perfect piece of Philly Soul, the Stylistics’ recording of “You Make Me Feel Brand New.” This single, released in May of 1974, rose to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, #1 on the Cash Box Top 100, #6 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart, and #5 on the Hot Soul Singles chart.
“You Make Me Feel Brand New,” like almost all of the Stylistics’ big hits, was written by Philly Soul legends Thom Bell and Linda Creed, and produced by Mr. Bell. The song starts with a few lines from the group’s baritone, Airrion Love, with the main vocal duties provided by lead singer Russell Thompkins Jr. and his amazing falsetto voice.
Here’s what Airrion Love remembers about working with Thom and Linda:
“Thom could be a little arrogant. ‘Just do like I say,’”’ he’d tell us. But we were just 17 and 18, so we respected him because of what he’d written for the Delfonics. Thom and the lyricist Linda Creed wrote such great material: there were five Top 10 songs on our first album. We never turned any of their songs down. Whenever you heard one for the first time, you got the chills.“
And here’s what fellow Stylistic Herb Murrell said about the song:
“The strange thing with ‘You Make Me Feel Brand New’ is that, although it got amazing responses from audiences whenever we performed it, our label thought it was too long to be a single. We kept knocking at their door and eventually someone must have said: ‘These guys are right.’ So they shortened it for radio. When we sing it now, 50 years later, fans respond to it like it was just yesterday.”
As noted, Thom Bell and Linda Creed supplied the Stylistics with a raft of Top 40 hits. The biggest of these hits included “You Are Everything,” “Betcha by Golly Wow,” “I’m Stone in Love with You,” “Break Up to Make Up,” and “Rockin’ Roll Baby.” Of all the Bell/Creed collaborations with the Stylistics, “You Make Me Feel Brand New” was the biggest.
Interestingly, “You Make Me Feel Brand New” was blocked out of the #1 position on Billboard chart by another of this week’s classic songs of the day, “Billy Don’t Be a Hero,” as recorded by Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods. No offense to Mr. Donaldson or any of the Heywoods, but the Stylistics’ tune has proven to be much more durable and memorable over time.
Which leads us to today’s daily bonus video of the day, the Stylistics lip synching their way through “You Make Me Feel Brand New” on Soul Train. Those cats had style!
