Top 10 Alert!
Grammy Alert!
Song#: 3847
Date: 03/25/1989
Debut: 84
Peak: 3
Weeks: 21
Genre: R&B, New Jack Swing
Pop Bits: By this point in time, Brown's second solo album Don't Be Cruel had spent six weeks at #1, gone triple-platinum, and spawned three Pop and R&B Top 10 hits including the #1 (on both charts) "My Prerogative." With the LP still riding near the top of the Pop chart, a fourth single was in order and this next track was selected. It would become another major hit for Brown reaching #3 Pop and #1 R&B (#17 Dance). It would also become his third single to go gold. The hit would help sell more albums and by the time May rolled around it would sell another million. By August it would reach the five million mark.
ReduxReview: This was another winner for Brown and it was a terrific song. It is nearly my favorite Brown song, but "My Prerogative" and its nasty new jack just edges it out. I love the structure of this song, the chord changes, and the hooky chorus. Brown was not a great singer, but he sounded solid here. Reid and Babyface wrote an excellent tune and it was a well-deserved hit.
ReduxRating: 8/10
Trivia: L.A. Reid and Babyface wrote this song, but they didn't compose it for Brown. After finishing the tune, Reid offered it to the R&B band Midnight Star. They chose to pass on the tune. It came about as Reid was working on Brown's album and so he brought the song to Brown who jumped on it. In doing so, Brown not only ended up with a gold selling hit, but it would earn him a Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male. It would be Brown's only Grammy win. He would get one more nomination later on in '92 in the same category for his #3 Pop/#2 R&B hit "Humpin' Around."
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There's a lot of speculation on various parts of the Internet that a lot of the lead of this song was actually performed by Ralph Tresvant, due to Bobby's personal issues at the time. Might explain why you find his vocals here to be better than usual!
ReplyDeleteI did hear about that, but the claim came from an ex-manager and it came decades later, so that is a flag. I've also read that Brown has said at the time he was not on drugs then, but I have doubts about that too. So who knows. It is not like it hasn't happened before but you'd think someone would have said something after Brown won the Grammy for the song. So I have doubts about the claim, yet I also wouldn't be shocked if it were true. Still, it remains a terrific song.
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