Have You Seen Her - The Chi-Lites

 [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVYxKRXDT2I]

The first time I ever heard this song was on one of Sinbad's HBO Comedy Specials. The performance Sinbad and his back up singers offer is a very exaggerated version of a Temptations or Four Tops style number. Exaggerated or not, it's still partly true. It seems like during the Motown ear of music, every lyric of a song had some hand motion or dance move to accompany it. Sinbad really shows that off in the chorus of the song. He's a great comedian, and honestly, I think he's the first standup that I became interested in watching. Of course, my love of Sinbad's comedy started with his roles in movies like Necessary Roughness, First Kid, and Jingle All the Way. It wasn't until later that I discovered his standup act.

"Have You Seen Her" was conceived and recorded in 1971, however, it's sounds are inspired by doo-wop of the fifties. Earlier in 1971, The Temptations had released a similar sounding song, and other soul groups were trying to take advantage of the resurgence of that sound. It worked for The Chi-Lites. They took the song to #3 on the Hot 100. Nineteen years later, MC Hammer, who is mentioned in Sinbad's bit (see below), took a cover of the song to #4.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJYcRmwRkR0]