“Strawberry Letter 23” by Brothers Johnson

The Brothers Johnson came to "Strawberry Letter 23" by the side door: George Johnson was dating one of Shuggie Otis's cousins when he ran across Otis's 1971 album Freedom Flight, where the song first appeared. The brothers cut it for Right on Time, their 1977 album with Quincy Jones producing, and their cover became widely known in its own right.

The conceit is a romance carried on in songs instead of letters, each lover answering the other's tune, which is why the chorus points back to letter 22 while the title says 23. Session guitarist Lee Ritenour recreated Otis's original solo for the cover. The single ran up to number five on the Hot 100 and topped the Soul Singles chart, Right on Time went platinum, and the 12-inch came pressed on red vinyl that smelled of strawberries.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.