These posts are about the songs that fell just short of crossing the key line of chart success, entering the Billboard Top 40. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 41.

The Stylistics had a team that served them up hits with the speed and quantity of diner flapjacks. After the Philadelphia soul group signed with Avco Records at the dawn of the nineteen-seventies, label execs quickly teamed them with producer Thom Bell, who was then best known for his work with the Delfonics. Working with lyricist Linda Creed, Bell wrote and produced a string of hit singles for the Stylistics. Between 1970 and 1974, the Stylistics logged ten Top 40 singles; all but two of them had Bell and Creed credited as songwriters. Around the time the Stylistics recorded their fourth album, Let’s Put It All Together, demand for Bell was on the rise. He moved on from the Stylistics and won the inaugural Grammy for non-classical producers a few months later.

In place of Bell and Creed, the founders of Avco Records, Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore stepped in to guide the Stylistics. Under the billing Hugo & Luigi, they had plenty of experience overseeing major hits, including the Tokens’ “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” and the Isley Brothers’ “Shout.” With the Stylistics, they mostly adhered to the model Bell established, crafting ornate, orchestral backing and showcasing the falsetto vocals of singer Russell Thompkins Jr. Presumably, the strategy should have worked, but making magic in the studio is an elusive task. “Heavy Fallin’ Out,” the second single released by the Stylistics after the change behind the studio boards had its upward climb on the Billboard Hot 100 halted at #41. The group never again crossed into the Top 40.

Other entries in this series can be found by clicking on the “Top 40 Smash Near Misses” tag.