The Emotions, Don’t Ask My Neighbors | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 103^rd edition of Throwback Vibez (2023), we recollect and reflect on “Don’t Ask My Neighbors” by Grammy-winning soul collective, The Emotions.

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 103^rd edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2023), we recollect and reflect on 🎵 “Don’t Ask My Neighbors”, performed by 🎙 The Emotions.

“You’re wondering if / I care about you / Is there some cause / That I should doubt you?” Uh-oh – sounds like trouble in paradise on 🎵 “Don’t Ask My Neighbors”! “Don’t Ask My Neighbors” hails from the renowned, R&B/soul collective 🎙 The Emotions.  The Emotions – most often a trio – was originally comprised of siblings 🎙 Wanda Hutchinson, 🎙  Sheila Hutchinson, and 🎙 Jeanette Hutchinson. Notably, their younger sister,  🎙 Pamela Hutchinson (1958 – 2020), joined beginning with the collective’s best known album, 💿 Rejoice (1977). Rejoice, a platinum certified LP, not only features “Don’t Ask My Neighbors,” but it also features their 🏆 Grammy-winning, platinum certified, no. 1 ace in the hole, 🎵 “Best of My Love”.  Sure, “Don’t Ask My Neighbors” played second fiddle to “Best,” but it’s another terrific song from the group’s collection.

Like many R&B groups, The Emotions thrive off love songs, particularly the plight of love. In the case of “Don’t Ask My Neighbors,” penned by 🎼 ✍ Skip Scarborough, and produced by 🎛️ Maurice White (of Earth, Wind & Fire), the female R&B group is looking for direct communication.

“Don’t ask my neighbors

Don’t ask my friends I hang around

Uh uh, don’t be afraid

To come to me (come to me)

Don’t ask my neighbors.”

WORD! Throughout “Neighbors”, there’s a picture painted that he doesn’t know how to read her very well. This prompts him to ‘ask around’ as opposed to going directly to the source – his girlfriend.  “And you run here and there / To ask my feelings,” the Hutchinsons sing, adding, “Friends only guess / They can’t say really, oh.” True. To reiterate, 🎵 “Best of My Love” is The Emotions song to beat. Still, 🎵 “Don’t Ask My Neighbors” was a moderate pop success, peaking at no. 44 on the Billboard Hot 100.  It fared better on the R&B charts, peaking at no. 7 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Regardless, this glorious record hails from one of R&B’s best eras.

Appears in 🔻:

• 13 Incredible Neighbor / Neighborhood Songs (2021)

🎙 The Emotions • 💿 Rejoice • 🏷 Columbia • 📅 1977 

The Emotions, Don’t Ask My Neighbors: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 103 (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Columbia; John Alan Sperry, PIRO via  Pixabay]