"I'm Going Down" (Rose Royce)

After flying the coop at Motown Records in 1973, famed (and infamously difficult) producer Norman Whitfield set out to create his own label, Whitfield Records.  (Subtle, huh?)  
Thing was, he needed acts to record for his new label.
So after nabbing the Sly & The Family Stone-facsimile group The Undisputed Truth from Motown, Whitfield set his sights on Rose Royce, a struggling but talented instrumental funk band out of South Central LA.  Whitfield spent time grooming the band—teaching them about stage presence, picking out their clothes, etc., with the intention of turning them into the cornerstone act on his label.  He also unilaterally decided that the band needed a charismatic female lead singer (think: Chaka Khan & Rufus), and brought in vocalist Gwen Dickey from Miami and promptly renamed her "Rose Norwalt."
As you might guess, Whitfield's interjection of Dickey created tension in the long-established band.  Eventually, Dickey left the band (or was fired, depending upon what source you want to believe on the Interwebs).  But not before recording some of the sweetest R&B ballads, rawest vocal funk, and one of the best original soundtrack albums ever in any musical genre.
Speaking of, the song "I'm Going Down" from the Car Wash soundtrack (1976) is the topic at hand.  
Like most of the band's hits, "I'm Going Down" is a Whitfield composition, through and through.  It works the same kind of minimalistic groove as songs like "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone" and "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (the Marvin Gaye rendition, specifically).  At first blush, it seems kind of repetitive and simplistic: two chords and two notes, played over and over on the Fender rhodes, with some wailing guitar and occasional bass.  But the moment you realize it's a song about a young woman who is counting the minutes until her estranged lover returns, its brilliance reveals itself.  The backing track is ingeniously repetitive to give Dickey the opportunity to unravel her story of love and loss before she comes unraveled on each explosive chorus.
I'll admit, Mary J. Blige did a fantastic and true cover of the song on her 1994 album My Life.  But there's just something so singular and raw about Dickey's read of the song that I have to go with the original in this case.

"I Wanna Get Next To You" (Rose Royce)

My mom often reminisces that the first movie she and my dad went to see together was the comedy Car Wash (1976).  It sort of became a tradition in our household to watch it at least once a year when I was growing up.  I mean, it has George Carlin and Richard Pryor in it.  So even if some of the 70s references are a bit dated, its skit-like scenes and (surprisingly) tasteful dramatic moments always guarantee a good time.
The soundtrack, which was written and produced by Motown expatriate Norman Whitfield and performed by Los Angeles-based band Rose Royce, may be one of the best, most consistent original soundtracks to any film.  What makes the double album so good is that Whitfield had the band tackle a number of styles: straight up funk, smooth soul, R&B, disco, and jazz soul.  The effect is that you're listening to a mix of hit music by different performers on an urban radio station, circa 1976.  (In the film, the workers at the car wash listen to fictional station KGYS over the PA system, with selections from the soundtrack comprising the station's program set.)
"I Wanna Get Next To You" from the soundtrack sets the mood for a key scene, where comedian Franklyn Ajaye's character "T.C." tries--and fails--to get a date with "Mona," a waitress at the coffee shop next door to the car wash.  The song has a feel that pays homage to smooth Philly soul (think: The Stylistics or The Delfonics) with a dash of Whitfield's own composition "Just My Imagination" mixed in.  
Unlike most Rose Royce songs, where Rose Norwalt (a.k.a. Gwen Dickey) takes the lead vocal, trumpeter Kenny Copeland is the featured vocalist here, addressing a woman who constantly ignores him and takes him for granted in a smooth falsetto (the lyrics mirroring the on-screen relationship between T.C. and Mona.)
It's a simple song with a simple theme: no matter what, he still wants to be her man.  
But it's so indelibly sung by Copeland with such soulful backing vocals and a note-perfect performance from the rest of the band that it's hard not hit "replay" a time or two to let its tranquil vibe soak in.  This is a song made for a long drive on a sunny Sunday afternoon.
Also, I have to point out what Lequeint "Duke" Jobes is doing on bass throughout this song.   Although it would have been easy to just play whole notes, he instead keeps this steady pulse going that syncopates with the kick drum and congas.  He also doesn't just stick to the tonic of each chord, which gives the track movement and a little extra injection of soul.  It's simple but effective playing.