Boyz II Men “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday” hit #1 on R&B chart

It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday Boyz II Men

Writer(s): Freddie Perren, Christine Yarian (see lyrics here) Released: August 20, 1991 First Charted: August 17, 1991 Peak: 2 US, 12 CB, 6 GR, 11 RR, 11 RB, 36 CN, 100 AU, 3 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 0.5 US Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 20.9 video, 16.58 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Boyz II Men formed as an R&B vocal harmony quartet in Philadelphia in 1988. They signed to Motown Records and released their debut album, CooleyHighHarmony, in 1991. It was a success right out of the gate when the lead single, “Motownphilly,” was a platinum seller that reached the top 5 on the pop and R&B charts. The follow-up single, “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday,” was an even bigger chart success, going all the way to #1 on the R&B chart and spending four weeks at #2 on the pop chart behind Michael Jackson’s “Black or White.” It was not, however, the song’s first appearance on the charts. G.C. Cameron, another Motown artist who’d previously been with the Spinners, took the song to #38 on the R&B chart in 1975. It was featured in the movie Cooley High. Boyz II Men named their debut album after the film. WK In the context of the movie, the song was framed as a reflection of “the powerful emotions many students feel when high school eneds and they must move on.” SF However, the a cappella recording by Boyz II Men brought the song a new level of seriousness that made it popular for funerals. It is the second biggest a cappella song of all-time behind Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry Be Happy,” a #1 song from 1988. SF They had to push to get the single released because Motown didn’t think radio stations would play it. SF Boyz II Men went on to have some of the biggest hits in pop history. In 1992, they released the song “End of the Road” from the movie Boomerang and it spent thirteen weeks at #1, the biggest hit since Elvis Presley’s “Don’t Be Cruel” / “Hound Dog” double-A-sided single. They outdid themselves with “I’ll Make Love to You,” the lead single from their 1994 sophomore album, II. It spent fourteen weeks on top. Then they pulled off the feat again in 1995 when “One Sweet Day,” a pairing with Mariah Carey, spent sixteen weeks at #1. Resources: SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 12/26/2022.

Bobby McFerrin “Don’t Worry Be Happy” hit #1

Don’t Worry, Be Happy Bobby McFerrin

Writer(s): Bobby McFerrin (see lyrics here) First Charted: July 30, 1988 Peak: 12 US, 11 CB, 11 RR, 7 AC, 11 RB, 2 UK, 12 CN, 17 AU, 2 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): 0.5 US, 0.4 UK, 1.56 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 481.26 video, 282.57 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” gave Bobby McFerrin one of the most distinct one-hit wonders in chart history. It is the only completely a cappella song to top the Billboard Hot 100. SG It also evoked some rather polarizing opinions. Stereogum’s Tom Breihan referred to the “living symbol of bumper-sticker philosophy and Reagan-era complacency” SG as “”nuclear-charged dogshit.” SG McFerrin comes from “a proud lineage of boundary-breaking musicians.” SG His mother, Sara, taught voice at Fullerton College in Los Angeles. His father, Robert, was an operatic baritone singer who became the first Black man to sing at New York’s Metropolitan Opera. It’s his voice, not Sidney Poitier’s, which is used in the 1959 film version of . Bobby started out in high school as a jazz keyboardist but would develop a reputation for expanding the idea of what the human voice could do – and often without any instrumentation at all. The original plan for his 1988 album Simple Pleasures was that it would be all covers. However, he recorded “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” – a song he’d toyed around with for 4-5 years – FB at the suggestion of his manager Linda Goldstein. The phrase was popularized by Indian spiritual leader Meher Baba, who maintained a 44-year vow of silence and gained attention when Pete Townshend used his name for the Who song “Baba O’Riley.” Baba often wrote the phrase in correspondence. SG McFerrin “aimed for the kind of simplicity and contentment that the phrase implied,” SG mentioning “a bunch of reasons why someone might want to worry — homelessness, litigious landlords, lack of style, lack of romantic companionship” SG but then advising “don’t worry, be happy.” It may have been meant as sature, but “when a song like that becomes a cultural phenomenon, it loses any sense of nuance that it might’ve had in the first place.” SG The song received a huge boost from its appearance on the soundtrack for Cocktail, the 1988 movie starring Tom Cruise as a bartender. Its used in the movie when Cruise is in Jamaica tending bar, apparently because it sounded sufficiently Jamaican to the producers. Apparently fans were confused as well; there are more than 150 million views for the song on YouTube credited to the most famous Jamaican musician of all time – Bob Marley. The song also benefitted from a video in which “McFerrin mugs frantically with Robin Williams” SG and “pratfalling vaudeville comedian Bill Irwin.” SG Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Bobby McFerrin FB Fred Bronson (2007). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (4th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 708. SG Stereogum (5/26/2021). “The Number Ones” by Tom Breihan WK Wikipedia First posted 10/17/2022; last updated 10/22/2022.