Hootie & the Blowfish “Only Wanna Be with You” charted

Only Wanna Be with You Hootie & the Blowfish

Writer(s): Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, Darius Rucker, Jim Sonefeld (see lyrics here) Released: July 17, 1995 First Charted: June 10, 1995 Peak: 6 US, 5 CB, 2 GR, 13 RR, 3 AC, 13 A40, 2 AR, 22 MR, 87 UK, 13 CN, 40 AU, 11 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 23.3 video, 144.5 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: While freshman at the University of South Carolina, singer Darius Rucker and guitarist Mark Bryan formed the Wolf Brothers. They later added bassist Dean Felber and drummer Brantley Smith (later replaced by Jim “Soni” Sonefeld) and changed the band name to Hootie and the Blowfish in 1986. They took the name from nicknames of two of their college friends. They independently released three EPs in the early nineties before signing to Atlantic Records in 1993. Their debut album, 1994’s Cracked Rear View, was a collection of “solid, rootsy folk-rock songs that have simple, powerful hooks.” AMG “At their core, Hootie & the Blowfish are a bar band, but they managed to convince millions of listeners that they were the local bar band,” AMG offering the perfect alternative to the edgier grunge rock of the day. It became the biggest selling album in the history of the record company, SF selling more than 21 million copies and landing three top-10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. The third of those singles, “Only Wanna Be with You,” was originally released on the group’s 1993 EP Kootchypop. The song topped the Canadian charts and became the second most successful song of 1995. WK The song quotes extensively from Bob Dylan’s “Idiot Wind,” which resulted in the band reaching an out-of-court settlement for $350,000. WK Cash Box’s Steve Baltin said of the song that “this catchy upbeat gem shows why Hootie & the Blowfish can do no wrong when it comes to the charts…Hootie’s sound is never more mainstream than it is here, as the rocking and danceable beat is accompanied by a perky chorus.” WK Rapper Post Malone covered the song in 2021, reaching #74 on the Billboard Hot 100. Because he was a Cowboys’ fan, he changed the reference in the song to Rucker’s favorite football team, the Miami Dolphins (“I’m such a baby, the Dolphins made me cry”). Resources: AMG All Music Guide review of Cracked Rear View by Stephen Thomas Erlewine SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 1/18/2023.

Hootie & the Blowfish hit #1 with Cracked Rear View

Cracked Rear View Hootie & the Blowfish

Released: July 5, 1994 Peak: 18 US, 4 UK, 13 CN CN, 7 AU Sales (in millions): 22.0 US, 0.1 UK, 23.9 world (includes US and UK) Genre: mainstream rock/adult alternative

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts. Hannah Jane Hold My Hand (7/30/94, 10 BB, 5 CB, 4 GR, 2 RR, 6 AC, 4 AR, 50 UK, 30 CN, 70 AU, 7 DF) Let Her Cry (12/24/94, 9 BB, 4 CB, 1 GR, 1 RR, 6 AC, 9 AR, 34 MR, 75 UK, 2 CN, 4 AU, 11 DF) Only Wanna Be with You (6/10/95, 6 BB, 2 BA, 5 CB, 2 GR, 1 RR, 3 AC, 13 A40, 2 AR, 22 MR, 87 UK, 1 CN, 40 AU, 9 DF) Running from an Angel I’m Goin’ Home Drowning (10/14/95, 21 AR, 17 DF) Time (10/27/95, 14 BB, 4 BA, 11 CB, 6 GR, 4 RR, 3 AC, 1 A40, 17 AA, 26 AR 1 CN, 13 DF) Look Away Not Even the Trees Goodbye Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child (unlisted track) Total Running Time: 46:36 The Players: Darius Rucker (vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion) Mark Bryan (guitar, etc.) Dean Felber (bass, etc.) Jim “Soni” Sonefeld (drums, percussion, etc.)

Rating: 4.070 out of 5.00 (average of 24 ratings) Quotable: “At their core, Hootie & the Blowfish are a bar band, but they managed to convince millions of listeners that they were the local bar band.” – Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Allmusic.com Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: Hootie & the Blowfish were certainly not a grunge band but they benefited from the renewed interest in guitar-based rock that the movement inspired. “At their core, Hootie & the Blowfish are a bar band, but they managed to convince millions of listeners that they were the local bar band.” AM These “college buddies from South Carolina” AZ had an indie release in 1993 with Kootchypop, but Cracked Rear View marked their major label debut. In true bar band spirit, “there may not be a lot of virtuosity behind it” AZ and there’s nothing particularly innovative here AM but there’s plenty of fun.” AZ This is “an album of solid, rootsy folk-rock songs” AM that are “bluesy” AZ and “energetic.” AZ These are songs that “packed to the rafters with harmonies and hooks.” AB This is “the kind of thoroughly likable album people sing along with on the car radio.” AZ “Hold My Hand has a singalong chorus that epitomizes the band’s good-times vibes.” AM It was the perfect choice for the lead single to introduce the world to lead singer Darius Rucker’s “gruff baritone” AM “backed by Mark Bryan’s muscular guitar.” AZ Rucker’s “delivery lends an authority to Hootie & the Blowfish material that may have been lacking with a weaker singer.” AB He “takes his vocal cues from what Gregg Allman made of blues and soul” RC and his “grit adds an extra layer of substance to a music already deeply comforting in its formal certainties.” RC Both “Hold My Hand” and Let Her Cry “bear an easy-rock hallmark similar to predecessors as diverse as the Allman Brothers and R.E.M.” AM As the second single, “Let Her Cry” showed a bit of a softer side for the band that was embraced even more at pop radio than its predecessor. The song won a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance. While the usual trend is for follow-up singles to fall short of the success of earlier singles, Hootie & the Blowfish just continued to grow. Third single Only Wanna Be with You proplelled group to its greatest heights yet. The song went all the way to #1 on the Billboard pop airplay chart. In May 1995, Cracked Rear View reached the top of the Billboard charts, ten months after its initial release.

Resources: AM AllMusic.com review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine AB Michael Spilling (editor) (2015). Best-Selling Albums: From Vinyl Records to Digital Downloads. Amber Books Ltd.: London, United Kingdom. Page 190. AZ Amazon.com review by Barrie Trinkle RC RobertChristgau.com WK Wikipedia Related DMDB Links: First posted 5/25/2012; last updated 11/27/2024.

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