One Hit Wondering – Gregory Abbott

One Hit Wondering is a series of columns where I listen to the album of a one hit wonder, and find three songs, other than the hit, that people should hear. 

There are certain songs that possess a deeply romantic vibe, and as soon as one of them comes on, you just know someone is about to get pregnant.

Gregory Abbott’s “Shake You Down” is one of those baby making classics.

Released in the fall of ’86, “Shake You Down” reached the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100 in January of 1987, and became one of the biggest debut singles in history.

It was literally everywhere.

It reached one million radio spins faster than any song in the history of BMI, and climbed into the Top 10 in over half a dozen countries. Eventually reaching platinum status (one million copies sold), “Shake You Down” closed out 1987 as #3 song of the entire year.

Ranked as one of Billboard’s “50 Sexiest Songs of All-Time,” between “Shake You Down” coming out in ’86, and dominating ’87, and Sade having released albums in ’84 and ’85, I’m not saying the two of them are responsible for the entire population of millennials, but it’s definitely a double digit percentage.

Abbott coined the term “groove ballad” to describe his music, and according to the book Playing Back the ‘80s: A Decade of Unstoppable Hits by Jim Beviglia, the phrase “Shake You Down” was also his own creation.

Perhaps his creativity stemmed from the fact that Abbott was no stranger to the English language – before he was inspiring romance with his music he was an English professor at the University of California at Berkeley.

Abbott’s story, however, begins on the East Coast, in Harlem, where he grew up with two musically inclined parents, and a music loving older brother.

As a child, Abbott’s mother taught him how to play piano, and encouraged him to sing, while his father brought a love of Caribbean music to the household.

Throughout high school, Gregory, and his older brother, Arnold, played in bands together, and Gregory continued his musical endeavors while doing his undergrad studies at Boston University, where he majored in psychology, and minored in music.

He then moved across the country to attend grad school at the University of California at Berkeley and San Francisco.

It was there, he says, that he learned how to play the guitar, and began writing songs.

While Gregory loved music, it was education, and academia that were front and center in his life, which is why after earning his master’s degree he accepted a faculty position at University of California at Berkeley, and for two years taught Black studies, and English.

With an itch to learn even more, Gregory left UC Berkeley, and enrolled at Stanford University to begin a doctorate in African-American literature.

Ultimately, he decided a life in academia wasn’t for him, stopping short of completing his PhD, and after a brief marriage to singer Freda Payne, from which he has one son, he headed back east, and was hired as, of all things, a municipal bonds analyst.

I know what you’re thinking – when the heck did he launch his music career???

Well, that came, in part, thanks to his new banker friends, who helped to finance Gregory’s home studio, Grabbitt Music, which has become his production and publishing company.

Gregory already had in-studio experience thanks to a longtime friendship with none other than Marvin Gaye.

In a 2008 interview with RingSideReport, Gregory said Gaye would invite him into the studio to watch him record in the early ‘80s, and then the two of them would go to Gaye’s house because Marvin wanted to learn how to play basketball.

Gregory says, “During this time, he would teach me the good, bad, and creative side of the music industry.”

One of his first opportunities in his new studio was recording an album for an independent record label. This led to him being in the company of two more legends – Whitney Houston, and her mother Cissy, as he recorded a duet with Whitney, with Cissy providing background vocals.

Unfortunately, in a reply on Instagram to a fan asking where the song can be found, Abbott said it isn’t available anywhere on the internet.

This might be because label he recorded the album for folded before the project could be released, or perhaps Whitney’s estate controls all things Whitney. Whatever the reason, it’s a loss for listeners.

At the time, Gregory wasn’t actually looking to be a singer, he was looking to be a songwriter, he just happened to be using his own voice to record the demos of the songs he was shopping. CBS executives heard the demos, and liked his voice so much they said, we’ve found the perfect artist to record these songs – YOU!

Gregory signed on the dotted line, and on February 1st, 1986, he released his debut album, Shake You Down, on Columbia (then a division of CBS).

He wrote, and produced the entire album, and while the title track would go on to reach legendary status, it wasn’t originally going to be the lead single. The label wanted “I Got the Feeling (It’s Over)” to kick things off, but wound up releasing it as the follow-up after it was clear “Shake You Down” was going to be a hit.

The album reached gold status (500k copies sold), and sparked a whirlwind of worldwide proportions.

Gregory become an international star, winning first prize at the Tokyo Music Festival, which took place at the 60,000 seat Nippon Budokan, and was broadcast to roughly two billion people on NHK TV.

He also performed in Belgium with Princess Stephanie of Monaco.

Even with the spotlight firmly on him, Gregory still enjoyed behind the scenes work, and found the time to be an executive producer, along with Ahmet Ertegun, for R&B singer EQ’s self-titled debut, which was released in 1987 on Atlantic Records.

The album was EQ’s only release, but for Gregory the music continued.

In 1988 his sophomore album, I’ll Prove It to You, was released. Unfortunately, while the timing had been perfect for Shake You Down, things had changed radically in the R&B, and urban music worlds since then. Columbia was shifting their focus to New Jack Swing, hip-hop, and pop-rock, and I’ll Prove It to You qualified as none of the above. For Gregory it spelled the end of his time with the label.

Tragedy struck the Abbott family shortly thereafter, when in 1989 Gregory’s brother, Arnold, passed away at the age of 36, having drowned while on vacation in Hawaii. Gregory gained custody of his brother’s son.

Continuing his musical journey, Gregory released three more albums, his most recent being 2011’s Drop Your Mask, but has focused on singles for the past decade, or so, including 2025’s “Brazil Is Inside Me (Como Em Casa),” and 2023’s “Whisper the Words” feat. Chieli Minucci.

Over the years much of his music has been released via his own Mojo Man Entertainment label, while he’s also produced and written for other artists, and, through Grabbitt Music, placed songs in films and television shows.

Rewinding back to when Gregory was having everyone heading to the bedroom, I gave Shake You Down a spin, and found three songs, other than the title track, that you should hear.

“I’ll Find a Way”

A beautiful ballad that could’ve easily crossed over to adult contemporary radio, “I’ll Find a Way” has Gregory looking for redemption, recognizing he did the lady in his life wrong, and expressing that he’s willing to do whatever it takes to win her back.

Did he ever win her back? Did he get to shake her down? Based on the epic sax solo, I like to think he did.  

“You’re My Angel”

An upbeat, yet smooth, groove, “You’re My Angel” leaned a bit more to the pop side of things, and easily could have been a Top 40 hit. Unfortunately, the song was only released as a remix, and solely in Europe, so it never had a chance to break stateside.

It’s still really nice to hear such a positive tune about appreciating your lady.

Also, I’m guessing it was used for a heck of a lot of mixtapes guys made for girls in the late ‘80s. I mean, it’s perfect for it.

“I Got The Feeling (It’s Over)”

Originally planned as the first single from the album, but bumped to second after “Shake You Down” proved to be a radio favorite, “I Got The Feeling (It’s Over)” couldn’t replicate the success of its predecessor, but it’s still one heck of a breakup song. Like a one man version of Boyz II Men’s “End of the Road,” Gregory holds onto a shred of hope, but deep down knows the relationship is over.

This is the song for if the girl tosses out the mixtape you made with “You’re My Angel” on it.

Until next time, here’s to discovering more great music from one hit wonders!