Strange given their iconic status today, but The Smiths never landed a single song on the Billboard Hot 100. (William, it really was nothing.) But three years after the Manchester band called it quits, London trio Soho sampled Johnny Marr’s tremolo riff from “How Soon Is Now” for “Hippychick,” reaching #14 this week in 1990.

Timothy London, who formed Soho with twin sisters Jacqui and Pauline Cuff, recalls how “Hippychick” became a hit in the U.S.:

“After one play on the biggest radio station in Texas there was enough listener response for them to eventually play-list the track, and soon other radio stations followed and we started to have a hit. A genuinely organic response from people who had never heard of The Smiths and for whom ecstasy was normally only ever achieved in church on a Sunday.”

I find the late November timing of Soho’s chart peak surprising today, as I associate “Hippychick” with springtime, not weather that requires wearing a few layers. Maybe fall was unseasonably warm in 1990? Soho’s one-hit wonder, which also brilliantly incorporated a Soul II Soul beat, fared even better on the Modern Rock chart, reaching #11, and spent two weeks at #2 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart.

Soho remains active today, and the trio’s story, which began long before “Hippychick” became a hit, is an interesting one. Goddess, the parent album to “Hippychick,” was recently re-released by Cherry Red with four bonus tracks.

Purchase Soho – “Hippychick” via iTunes, Amazon MP3.