Sunday 1 July 2012

Boomerang Week: Boyz II Men - End Of The Road (1992)


Let's get the elephant in the room out of the way: End of the Road first surfaced on the Boomerang soundtrack and of course took Boyz II Men to a whole different stratosphere. It still hasn't lost its power, even now.
Recorded in May 1992, it was the winner of the Grammy for best Song that year. Written and produced by LA & Babyface and Daryl Simmons, it is Boyz II Men's most successful single and replaced Endless Love by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie as Motown's most successful single. It was also the last Motown single to reach no.1 on the UK singles chart. The song is listed at no.43 on Billboard's All Time Top 100. It topped the U.S. charts from August 15 to November 7, 1992, setting a record for most weeks at number one with 13 weeks, beating Elvis Presley's 11-week hold with the AA-side Hound Dog / Don't Be Cruel. Presley's record had stood for 36 years.
However, two weeks after End of the Road left the top spot, Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You reached number one, and remained there 14 weeks, one week longer than End of the Road; Boyz II Men's new record stood for only 17 weeks.
The group's next single I'll Make Love to You, however, would tie Houston's record, and their 1995 collaboration with Mariah Carey Boyz - One Sweet Day - would break it, logging 16 consecutive weeks.

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