Macklemore & Ryan Lewis hit #1 again with “Can’t Hold Us”

Can’t Hold Us Macklemore & Ryan Lewis with Ray Dalton

Writer(s): Ben Haggerty, Ryan Lewis, Ray Dalton (see lyrics here) Released: August 16, 2011 First Charted: October 27, 2012 Peak: 15 US, 13 RR, 15 DG, 25 A40, 17 RB, 3 UK, 2 CN, 11 AU, 7 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 10.0 US, 2.4 UK, 14.81 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 0.14 radio, 1331.34 video, 2286.41 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Rapper Macklemore and producer Ryan Lewis teamed up in 2008 to become one of rap’s great success stories. The duo achieved every musician’s dream when they found superstardom with their independently self-produced, recorded, and released debut album, The Heist. It reached #2 on the Billboard album chart and sold five million copies. The album generated four top-20 hits on the Billboard Hot 100; two of those went all the way to #1. As is usually the case with these kinds of stories, though, it didn’t happen overnight. The Heist was recorded from 2009 to 2012, finally released in October 2012. It was the single “Thrift Shop,” released a little more than month before the album, which propelled the duo into the big time. However, the pair had already released three singles, dating back to January 2011, which would appear on the album. The first single, “Wings,” hit #40 on the R&B charts and eventually went platinum. “Can’t Hold Us” was released in August 2011, but didn’t take off until it was re-released in January 2013 as the follow-up to “Thrift Shop.” Then the song topped the charts – making them the first duo to hit #1 with their first two Billboard Hot 100 entries – WK and sold more than ten million copies in the U.S. It was named Spotify’s most-streamed song of 2013. WK The chorus of the song – sung by Ray Dalton – was the last component added to the song. He said, “It had no hook. There was just space; there weren’t even words…So when Ryan was testing my levels, I started humming them a melody, and that melody is what is now today the ‘Can’t Hold Us’ song.” SF The song was embraced by sports teams in the duo’s hometown of Seattle. It became the official touchdown song for the Seahawks during the 2012 season and the Mariners adopted it as the musical accompaniment anytime they hit a home run ath their stadium. WK Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Macklemore & Ryan Lewis SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia First posted 6/22/2023; last updated 4/1/2024.

 

50 years ago: The Isley Brothers “Shout” charted

Shout The Isley Brothers

Writer(s): O'Kelly Isley Jr., Ronald Isley, Rudolph Isley (see lyrics here) Released: August 1959 First Charted: September 7, 1959 Peak: 47 US, 28 CB, 19 GR, 38 HR, 2 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 13.50 video, 103.51 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Ronald Isley and his brothers formed a gospel group in the early ‘50s transitioned to singing doo-wop. They started touring before they’d even made a record and released their first single, “Angels Cried,” in 1957 after going to New York. They eventually became an R&B vocal group and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee.. In 1959, they were touring the Northeast appearing in R&B revues. Producers started putting them last on the bill “to ensure that audiences left the theater on a high note.” MM They used to close with a cover of Jackie Wilson’s “Lonely Teardrops.” During a performance at either the Uptown Theater in Philadelphia MM or in Washington D.C. SS (depends on the source), Ronald Isley sensed that the audiences were too worked up to sit down and improvised an extension of the song by calling out “shout.” MM He said, “the band picked right up on it with that galloping beat…That song just took over.” MM While it lacked “any real lyrical content, [it sported] pure, unbridled passion, taking the frenzied call-and-response of black gospel into the secular realm..” SS Producers and cousins Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore read about the performance in the newspaper and, once the revue’s run was over, encouraged the brothers to record the song. They brought friends into the studio to simulate a live audience during the recording. MM It had “deep roots in black tradition as a physical manifestation of being possessed by the spirit, losing oneself in religious ecstasy.” SS While the single only peaked at #47, it was their first chart hit and “proved…important in shaping the future of R&B” TB and “helped definte the very meaning of soul.” SS It “starts where [Ray Charles’] ‘What’d I Say’ leaves off; goes nowhere and has a great time doing it.” DM A cover by Joey Dee & the Starliters reached #6 in 1962. It was also a party anthem in the 1978 movie National Lampoon’s Animal House. It was also used as a commercial jingle for the laundry detergent of the same name. DJ Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for The Isley Brothers AH Andrew Hickey (2021). A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs: Volume 2. Pages 337-44. DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 173. DM Dave Marsh (1989). The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. New American Library: New York, NY. Page 356. MM Marc Myers (2016). Anatomy of a Song. Grove Press: New York, NY. Pages 23-7. SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Pages 621-2. TB Thunder Bay Press (2006). Singles: Six Decades of Hot Hits & Classic Cuts. Outline Press Ltd.: San Diego, CA. Page 36. First posted 8/8/2023.

 

Chumbawamba “Tubthumping” released

Tubthumping Chumbawamba

Writer(s): Chumbawamba (see lyrics here) Released: August 11, 1997 First Charted: August 23, 1997 Peak: 6 US, 18 GR, 16 RR, 15 A40, 13 AA, 17 MR, 2 UK, 19 CN, 13 AU, 2 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.88 UK, 1.02 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 72.2 video, 191.63 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: One-hit wonders are often viewed as acts that spring up out of nowhere and then disappear just as quickly. The real story is typically more detailed. In the case of Chumbawamba, “Tubthumping” was their only Billboard Hot 100 hit in the United States, but they have a long history. The English rock band released seventeen albums from 1986 to 2010. They first dented the UK singles charts in 1993 and had four minor hits before “Tubthumping” reached #2 in 1997. The follow-up song, “Amnesia,” went to #10 and the group’s next single, 1998’s “Top of the World” got to #21. The term “tubthumper” means “politician” in England. The equivalent in the United States would be “stumping,” i.e. campaigning. SF The group took their name from a story by one of its members in which the men were Chumbas and the women were Wumbs. SF The group is “a collective dedicated to the destruction of the government of the United Kingdom.” SF Guitarist Boff Whalley said the dance-rock song was written about “the resiliency of ordinary people,” inspired by a Leeds pub called the Fforde Grene. WK Dunstan Bruce, a singer and founding member with the band, said before writing the song that the group “were in a mess; we had become directionless and disparate.” WK He said that while “Tubthumping” was “not our most political or best song, but it brought us back together. The song is about us – as a class and as a band.” WK The Brit Award nominee for Best British Single is “a highly catchy shoutalong that temporarily mesmorized everyone.” TB Billboard’s Larry Flick said, “some records just demand attention: ‘Tubthumping’ is one of the rare few…You won’t soon forget this jam after first listen. And you’ll likely be hearing it on pop and modern rock stations for months to come.” WK Daily Record called it an “irritating catchy drinking anthem” WK and Variety’s Troy J. Augusto said it was “the quirk hit of the season.” WK Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Chumbawamba SF Songfacts TB Thunder Bay Press (2006). Singles: Six Decades of Hot Hits & Classic Cuts. Outline Press Ltd.: San Diego, CA. Page 276. WK Wikipedia First posted 3/16/2023; last updated 3/26/2023.