Let’s get smooth.
Last dance at the prom smooth.
Champaign, in the great tradition of artists such as Chicago, Kansas, and Boston, named themselves after their hometown — in this case Champaign, Illinois. The name had a nice double meaning since it also conjured an image of flutes of sparkling bubbly.
Classy.
The group formed in 1980 from the ashes of The Waters Brothers Band (in the great tradition of artists such as The Walker Brothers and The Ramones who weren’t actually brothers). In 1975, the band released a little heard single which contained an even less heard B-side called “How ‘Bout Us,” written by their keyboard player, Dana Walden. After the group broke up, their producer, Michael Day, himself a musician who had attempted a solo career with Columbia, decided to gather up former bandmates and studio musicians he’d worked with over the previous decade in the Champaign-Urbana area to form a new group.
It’s not known who put forward the idea of resurrecting “How ‘Bout Us” since almost everyone in the band would have been familiar with it, but the catchy chorus stayed stuck in somebody’s head and Champaign rerecorded the song for their debut album. In its original incarnation, “How ‘Bout Us” was a power ballad with prominent guitars, and although most of Champaign’s members came from a rock & roll background, they now dealt in funk-pop and R&B. This new version would reflect that change.
Released as a single in 1981, “How ‘Bout Us” hit #5 in the UK and just missed the US Top 10. Champaign scored a couple of big R&B hits in the next few years before going their separate ways (except for the two members who got married). But they left behind a great song for slow dancing with your sweetheart, living in the moment, thinking only of swaying to the music so you don’t have to think about graduation and your impending separation this fall when you head to the West Coast to study pet psychology and they travel east to pursue a degree in medieval Germanic bookbinding. Just close your eyes and sway.
The original version? Sure, why not:
1 2 3 o' clock 4 o' clock Rock 
Oh the memories … we were living in Mill Valley; took the bus across the bridge every day to work in San Francisco.
Oh, you know this song! Even though it was a hit when it came out the song doesn’t show up very often so I wasn’t certain if anyone would recognize it. I’m glad to have brought up a memory!