Games People Play (The Spinners song)

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"Games People Play"
Games People Play by Spinners US single side-A.png
One of side-A labels of the US single
Single by The Spinners
from the album Pick of the Litter
B-side "I Don't Want to Lose You"
ReleasedMay 1975
Genre Philly soul
Length3:29 (7")
4:41 (album)
Label Atlantic
Songwriter(s) Joseph B. Jefferson, Bruce Hawes, Charles Simmons
Producer(s) Thom Bell
The Spinners singles chronology
"Sadie"
(1975)
"Games People Play"
(1975)
"Love or Leave"
(1975)

"Games People Play", also known as "'They Just Can't Stop It' The (Games People Play)", is a song recorded by American R&B vocal group The Spinners. Released in 1975 from their Pick of the Litter album, featuring lead vocals by Bobby Smith, it was a crossover success, spending a week at number one on the US Hot Soul Singles chart and peaking at number five on the Billboard Hot 100. [1] Recorded at Philadelphia's Sigma Sound Studios, the house band MFSB provided the backing. Female backing vocals on the song were performed by Carla L. Benson, Evette Benton, and Barbara Ingram, who together formed the legendary studio backing vocal group Sweethearts of Sigma. The female lead vocal on the track is by Evette Benton. This song was an RIAA-certified million seller for the Spinners. [2]

Contents

Credits

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1975)Peak
position
Canadian RPM Top Singles [3] 21
US Billboard Hot 100 [4] 5
US Billboard Easy Listening [5] 2
US Billboard Hot Soul Singles 1
US Cash Box Top 100 [6] 2

Year-end charts

Chart (1975)Rank
Canada [7] 89
US Cash Box Top 100 [8] 25

Related Research Articles

MFSB, officially standing for "Mother Father Sister Brother", was a pool of more than 30 studio musicians based at Philadelphia's Sigma Sound Studios. They worked closely with the production team of Gamble and Huff and producer/arranger Thom Bell, and backed up Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, the O'Jays, the Stylistics, the Spinners, Wilson Pickett, and Billy Paul.

<i>Spinners</i> (album) 1973 studio album by The Spinners

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">I'll Be Around (The Spinners song)</span> 1972 single by The Spinners

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">One of a Kind (Love Affair)</span> Song recorded by the American R&B vocal group The Spinners

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The Magic of the Blue is the second album by American soul group Blue Magic, produced by Norman Harris and Bobby Eli and released in 1974 on the Atco label.

<i>Mighty Love</i> 1974 studio album by The Spinners

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<i>New and Improved</i> (The Spinners album) 1974 studio album by The Spinners

New and Improved is the fifth album by American R&B group The Spinners, released in December 1974 on the Atlantic label. Like the Spinners' two previous Atlantic albums, New and Improved was produced by Thom Bell and recorded at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia.

<i>Pick of the Litter</i> (The Spinners album) 1975 studio album by The Spinners

Pick of the Litter is the sixth studio album by American R&B group The Spinners, released in August 1975 on the Atlantic label. The album was produced by Thom Bell and recorded at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia.

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"Sadie" is a song recorded by the American R&B vocal group The Spinners. The song was written and produced by Joseph B. Jefferson, Bruce Hawes and Charles Simmons. Recorded at Philly's Sigma Sound Studios and released as the third single from their 1974 New and Improved album on Atlantic Records, "Sadie" would chart at number #7 on the U.S. R&B Singles Chart, their 10th consecutive Top 10 Atlantic single on the chart. It also reached the number #54 position on Billboard Pop Singles chart.

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"Ghetto Child" is a 1973 song recorded by American R&B music group the Spinners for the Atlantic label. It was written by Thom Bell and Linda Creed. It was produced by Bell, and recorded at Philadelphia's Sigma Sound Studios with the house band MFSB providing the backing instrumentation. It is notable for being one of few songs that all three main leads, Bobby Smith, Philippé Wynne and Henry Fambrough sing lead. Although some think the song focuses on racial injustice broadly and the injustice of the 1967 Detroit Riot more specifically, the lyrics suggest that the song may be about intra-racial discrimination—the song is written from the perspective of a black child who is derided not (primarily) due to his skin-color but due to his class status.

<i>Track of the Cat</i> (album) 1975 studio album by Dionne Warwick

Track of the Cat is a studio album by the American singer Dionne Warwick. It was released by Warner Bros. Records in 1975 in the United States. Her second album to be released that year, it peaked at number 137 on the US Top LPs & Tape chart.

The Sweethearts of Sigma, sometimes known simply as The Sweethearts or The Sweeties, were an American female vocal trio comprising Carla Benson, Evette Benton and Barbara Ingram. Primarily backing vocalists, they sung backup on many recordings made in Philadelphia, especially in the 1970s.

References

  1. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 545.
  2. "Gold & Platinum". RIAA. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  3. "Bienvenue au site Web Bibliothèque et Archives Canada / Welcome to the Library and Archives Canada website". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 2012-03-30. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  4. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN   0-89820-089-X
  5. "Adult Contemporary Music Chart". Billboard. 1975-10-25. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  6. "Top 100 1975-10-25". Cashbox Magazine . Archived from the original on 2012-10-03. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
  7. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". collectionscanada.gc.ca.
  8. "The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1975". cashboxmagazine.com. Retrieved 17 January 2015.