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Return To The Classics: The Emotions' Top Twenty


It's very possible that the Emotions are my favorite female R&B group of all time. You'd be hard pressed to find another trio that so gracefully personified 70's and 80's soul while never missing a note. The Chicago-born Hutchinson sisters started singing together when they were seven and eight years old. After performing at church, Mahalia Jackson urged their father Joe to showcase the girls' talents more. Joe Hutchinson created a gospel act around his daughters' heavenly voices. At the time, they went by The Hutchinson Sunbeams and played local churches and talent shows.

In 1969, they caught their big break. After winning a talent show at the Regal Theatre, they were sent to Memphis and given a deal with Stax records. Once they started recording their debut album they were produced by none other than Black Moses himself, Isaac Hayes.

The thing that made The Emotions so special? Their tight-knit harmonies. Those harmonies come courtesy of their father's teaching.

When the Hutchinson girls were young, he'd have them study The Andrews Sisters. As a way of making sure they stood out and sounded like no other singers, he would have them interweave their parts... meaning that the same sister never stayed on the same note. So Sheila might start singing on the bottom, but mid verse, she'd start singing on top while Wanda went to the bottom.

So special were their harmonies that to this day, they still get calls from artists about how they all blended together so perfectly. Mariah Carey, B Angie B, En Vogue, MC Hammer, Tyrese, and Destiny's Child have all reached out to the Emotions for pointers (they said Beyonce was not only amazingly skilled, but very humble).

The group only went through one lineup change. It started with Wanda, Sheila, and Jeanette. When Jeanette left the group, their baby sister Pam joined. One thing that a lot of people don't realize is how young they started in the business. They were still teenagers when some of their first hits were released! The Hutchinson sisters can do NO WRONG in my book.

Sitting down to compile a top anything list from anyone's catalog is a hard task. Sitting down to compile a top twenty list from your favorite R&B group?! Damn near impossible. I tried to choose songs from various periods in their career, but quite a few of these come from their Columbia years... Flowers and Rejoice are two of their best albums, mainly because of their work with Charles Stepney & Maurice White.

Again, getting together a top twenty list wasn't easy for me. I struggled with this, y'all. If left up to me, I would list every song they ever recorded... but who has the time to upload that many songs?

20. Eternally | If I Only Knew (1985, Motown) | From the last album that the Emotions recorded. Almost 20 years after their debut and they sounded just as amazing as they did in 1969. Harmonies still intact.


19. There'll Never Be Another Moment | New Affair (1981, Columbia) | One of Maurice White's best... I think he and Charles Stepney best understood that the Emotions' power lied in their harmonies and the way they structured the bridges of their songs.


18. I Wouldn't Lie | Sunbeam (1978, Columbia) | I always imagine being on a yacht somewhere with a drink in hand, soaking in the sun, and feeling the cool breeze. Listen closely and you can hear the way that most of their harmonies are structured with their interchangeable parts.


17. As Long As I've Got You | unreleased (Stax) | This was a demo version they recorded for the Charmels. Recorded in 1967, the Emotions' version wasn't released until 2004.


Below is the Charmels' version of the song.


And if you've never heard either, surely you know this song that samples them.


16. Blind Alley | Untouched (1972, Volt) | You know this song. Everybody knows this song. This song has been sampled over 400 times. Four. Hundred.


A few of the samples...




15. Cause I Love You | Come Into Our World (1979, Columbia) | I'm never not amazed at how they have the ability to manipulate their voices to convey this innocent, almost child-like expression. I think this is one of the only songs where their harmonies take a backseat to the amazing musical production. Listen to those horns!


14. Where Is Your Love | Come Into Our World (1979, Columbia) | Their gospel influence is on full display here. No doubt in my mind that this is one of their best vocal performances.


13. Walking The Line | Sunbeam (1978, Columbia) | One of three songs in their discography that features not three, but all four Hutchinson sisters.


12. So I Can Love You | So I Can Love You (1969, Volt) | This was the very first song that Sheila wrote once they got their record deal with Stax. Isaac Hayes on production.


11. Blessed | Rejoice (1977, Columbia) | Another of their most popular songs, it features all four Hutchinson sisters on vocals. It was remade by Jade in 1992. (even though Jade used the wrong chords)



10. I Don't Wanna Lose Your Love | Flowers (1976, Columbia) | Wanda wrote this as a ballad. After singing it for Maurice White, he teased that the song seemed to go on forever. He suggested she speed it up, for an uptempo dance groove. Wanda, being a big Tina Turner fan, tried to sing it like she imagined Tina would. The inspiration for the breakdown of the song? Ain't No Mountain High Enough. "Come on and say that you will... I'll be there to fulfill... I don't wanna lose your love... Don't wanna lose your love..."



9. Rejoice | Rejoice (1977, Columbia) | I can't praise this song enough. Everything from lyrical content to vocals is perfect. Definitely one of the songs that I listen to from time to time when I need inspiration or a reminder of my purpose in life. Another song that features all four Hutchinson sisters... their brother is also here.


8. Me For You | Flowers (1976, Columbia) | I love it when they share lead vocals because each of the sisters has such a distinct instrument. Each voice so different but somehow manage to come together and create masterpieces like this one.


7. Show Me How | Untouched (1972, Stax) | VOCALS! This is a masterclass in vulnerability with ones' voice. Isaac Hayes went into the studio with an orchestra and sang the notes he wanted them to play. He did the same with a horn section. THEN he actually wrote the song... that's how he worked. He came up with the composition of the song right there on the spot. GENIUS!


6. Don't Ask My Neighbor | Rejoice (1977, Columbia) | Surprisingly, this didn't make my top 5. This is one of their most recognizable songs.




5. Love Is Right On | Sunbeam (1978, Columbia) | They are the queens of background arrangements. No one will ever out-do them, though many have come close. And can we get a round of applause for the 70s slang in the title of the song?


4. You're The One | Sincerely (1984, Red Label) | One of their latter releases, I fell in love with this song at first listen. What Sheila does with her voice from 3:04 - 3:07 gives me chills each time I listen. This song deserved to be a huge single for the Emotions.


3. Best Of My Love | Rejoice (1977, Columbia) | Perhaps their signature song. Wanda originally sang her lead vocals in a lower register but Maurice White insisted she sing it higher. She was unsure and her voice cracked the first time she tried. They re-recorded it many times, but that first take is the one that was released... with her voice cracking. I absolutely love it!



2. Key To My Heart | Rejoice (1977, Columbia) | Those heavenly harmonies!!!!!!! I think that this is the song that best captures the essence of the Emotions and showcases their tight-knit harmonies. Listen closely... you'll hear Maurice White shadowing the girls. Mary J. Blige sampled this song in 2008 on her Growing Pains album.



1. Flowers | Flowers (1976, Columbia) | I admit it... this is my favorite song because it's one of my mother's favorite songs. One of the first songs, if not THEE first song, I remember hearing by the Emotions as a child.



Ok, so I have not one, not two, but THREE bonuses and I'll tell you why: none of these songs were officially on any of the Emotions' albums (for different reasons).

Bonus #1: Peace Be Still | This live recording from the Wattstax film remains one of my favorite moments from the Emotions EVER. It was a serious return to their roots as they sang in front of a church congregation sitting on them old, wooden pews. (because we KNOW that nothing compares to the feeling of being in an old church with hardwood floors and old, wooden pews... comfort, be damned! And when they hit that double clap?! )

It HAS TO BE this 9 minute & 7 second live version of the song or nothing at all!


Bonus #2: Boogie Wonderland | Quite a story behind this song... It was originally supposed to be a solo record by the Emotions. This Allee Willis-penned song was to be their first journey into disco and was intended for the Sunbeam album. They recorded the song in LA during a studio session with Earth, Wind, & Fire's horn section backing them... Maurice White was in New York at the time. One of the label's higher-ups heard the song and decided that it was a HIT, but too good for the Emotions alone. They flew Maurice White in to record lead vocals and the rest is history. The label also managed to keep the song from being released on The Emotions' album, which many say did a great deal of damage to their career.

What many don't know is that Boogie Wonderland is a song about despair, drug use, and alcoholism.


Bonus #3: What Do The Lonely Do At Christmas | Hands down my favorite Christmas song ever. Recorded for a Stax Holiday album, it is one of the Blackest Christmas songs in the history of Christmas songdom. This song is so amazing that you'll hear me playing it in ANY month!


I always like to put this out there... this is in no way me saying THESE ARE THE ABSOLUTE BEST SONGS. This is just a list of my PERSONAL favorite songs. Hopefully I gave you just a little of their history and a bit of insight into some of their songs. Whether you are an old fan reminiscing on their one-of-a-kind sound or a new fan that I helped introduce to the Hutchinson sisters, thanks for taking this trip down memory lane with me. I really love sharing not only timeless music, but the stories behind the music.

Almost 50 years after their 1969 debut album, the Emotions are still around today. Still touring. Still blessing audiences with those beautiful harmonies.

(Oh... I mentioned Allee Willis earlier. In addition to Boogie Wonderland, below are just a few of the songs she's written... she also co-wrote The Color Purple broadway production. TBH, she probably deserves her own post.)

  • "September" – Earth, Wind & Fire

  • "Neutron Dance" – The Pointer Sisters

  • "In The Stone" – Earth Wind & Fire

  • "I Am Love" – Jennifer Holliday

  • "I'll Be There for You" – The Rembrandts (Theme from Friends)

  • "Stir It Up" – Patti LaBelle

(I didn't include A Feeling Is because I felt that I had too many songs from the Rejoice album on my list, but it is absolutely one of my favorites.)

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