Soppy and sentimental as hell, with its spoken-word sob story surrounded by celestial harmonies, Have You Seen Her is verging on schmaltz. And brilliant.
There’s something about it – its shameless hommage to a bygone era of doo-wop, those note-perfect harmonies, and the subdued twang of that guitar that tells you we’ve moved out of the 1950s and we’re in the 1970s now.
Not to mention the orange Gucci-goes-to-Guantanamo outfits and gravity-defying Afros on this spectacular Soul Train appearance.
Composed by the splendidly named lead singer Eugene Record and Barbara Acklin, the song peaked at No.3 in January 1972 for the band, whose sweet string-drenched Philly sound belied the fact they hailed not from Philadelphia, nor any other traditional haven of soul music like Memphis, but Chicago, better known for its gritty urban blues and driving RnB.
With their lush, creamy sound, smooth four-part harmonies and lavishly layered production, The Chi-Lites were anything but that.
Romantic ballads were their stock in trade, with Record’s warm, pleading tenor and falsetto to the fore. It’s no surprise to learn that they started out as a doo wop group, The Hi-Lites, and, eventually – in tribute to their home town – Chi-Lites.
I remember a couple of other hits – Homely Girl and Stoned Out Of My Mind – but The Chi-Lites remain best known for the uncharacteristically boisterous brass riff from their 1971 tune Are You My Woman (Tell Me So), which was appropriated so brilliantly by Beyonce for Crazy In Love. This soppy ballad, however, is the one I remember best.
Someone has helpfully summarised the lyric: “The song begins and ends with a narrator remarking on how he was once happy with a woman; however, she left him, so he passes the days by partaking in leisurely activities.
“Much to his dismay, the woman does not return or attempt to communicate with him as he had hoped. The narrator ends the song musing on how foolish he was for believing the woman of his dreams would always be around.”
We’ve all been there.