Whodunit (song)

"Whodunit", written by Keni St. Lewis and Freddie Perren, was a hit song for American R&B/disco group Tavares in 1977. Released from their album Love Storm.

"Whodunit"
Side A of the US single
Single by Tavares
from the album Love Storm
B-side	"Fool of the Year"
Released	March 1977
Recorded	1977
Genre	Pop, Soul
Label	Capitol
Songwriter(s)	Freddie Perren Keni St. Lewis
Producer(s)	Freddie Perren
Tavares singles chronology
"Don't Take Away the Music" (1976) "Whodunit" (1977) "More Than a Woman" (1978)

Background

The lyrical hook to the song was the repeated query "Whodunit? / Who stole my baby?" The singer then appealed to a series of famous fictional detectives to help "solve" the case, including Sherlock Holmes, Charlie Chan, Ellery Queen, McCloud, Kojak, Baretta and Dirty Harry. The gimmick was reminiscent of "Searchin'", a 1957 single by The Coasters which also invoked a series of lawmen to track down a missing love interest.

Chart performance

The song spent one week at number one on the R&B singles chart in May 1977 and peaked at number twenty-two on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart^[1] and in the UK peaked at number 5 the week ending 7 May 1977, where it stayed for 2 weeks.^[2]

Weekly singles charts Chart (1977) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report)[3] 32 Canadian RPM Top 100[4] 15 Netherlands [5] 7 New Zealand[6] 3 US Billboard Hot 100 22 US Billboard R&B 1 US Billboard Adult Contemporary[7] 31 US Cash Box Top 100 16 UK Singles Chart 5

Year-end charts Chart (1977) Position Canada [4] 136 Netherlands [5] 78 UK [8] 64 US Billboard Hot 100[9] 141