Album of the Day

“If You Leave Me Now” stands as one of Chicago's most iconic recordings, but the Peter Cetera ballad wasn't initially seen as a sure-fire hit. “When Peter wrote this song, we gave it our all, even though we thought it wasn't anything special. Shows how little we knew," recalled the band's Robert Lamm. Written around the same time as CHICAGO VII's haunting “Wishing You Were Here,” the gentle love song was a bit of a departure for the group, which may have contributed to its success - it really stood out on radio playlists then jammed with disco, and topped the U.S. chart on this day in 1976. The platinum-certified “If You Leave Me Now” also became Chicago's first Grammy winner (for Best Pop Vocal Performance), and it's our Song of the Day.