Strawberry Letter 23

Guitar prodigy Shuggie Otis (real name: Johnny Otis Jr.) wrote this song at the age of 17. Otis wrote it for his girlfriend describing the feelings evoked by "Strawberry Letter 22," the title indicating the hopes of another letter. It is commonly believed that she wrote to him on strawberry-scented paper but Otis told Spinner in a 2013 interview that the song has nothing to do with the smell of strawberries. "What I pictured when I was writing that song, was a girl handing a guy a pink envelope," he explained. "A love letter. The guy and the girl had written each other 22 letters so far. And the 23rd one he writes is a song. But no scents." He added: "The Brothers Johnson put out a single [of the song] and it was colored red and smelled like strawberries. Did you know that? It had a scent to it. I think that's how the whole thing got started."

Shuggie Otis originally recorded this on his 1971 album Freedom Flight. He was friends with the Brothers Johnson (older brother/guitarist George and younger brother/bass player Louis), so they were familiar with the song. When Brothers Johnson went to work on their second album, Right On Time, they played the song for their producer, Quincy Jones, who loved it. It was the only cover song on the album, but the one with the most crossover potential, so they released it as the first single from the set in 1977. It was a big hit, going to #1 on the R&B chart and #5 on the Hot 100.

"Strawberry Letter 23" kept the momentum going for The Brothers Johnson, who first teamed up with Quincy Jones to perform on Jones' 1975 album Mellow Madness. Jones produced their debut album, Look Out For #1, which went Platinum and contained the hit "I'll Be Good To You." The album earned them a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist, but they lost to Starland Vocal Band, the group that gave us "Afternoon Delight." The Right On Time album also went Platinum, as did their next two. The group broke up in 1982, but Quincy Jones kept using them on sessions for other artists; Louis played bass on the Thriller tracks "Billie Jean" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'."