"Everybody Everybody"
The cover is vertically split in two disproportionate sides; the left side is turquoise-coloured with the artist name in capitalised white font; the white side contains a woman standing with her hands on her hips while wearing a black leather jacket. The song title is placed underneath the woman's hips
German maxi single cover
Single by Black Box featuring Martha Wash
from the album Dreamland
B-side"Dreamland"
Released1990
Recorded1989
Genre
Length5:20
LabelRCA
Songwriter(s)
  • Daniele Davoli
  • Mirko Limoni
  • Valerio Semplici
Producer(s)Groove Groove Melody
Black Box featuring Martha Wash singles chronology
"I Don't Know Anybody Else"
(1989)		 "Everybody Everybody"
(1990)		 "Fantasy"
(1990)
Music video
"Everybody Everybody" on YouTube

"Everybody Everybody" is a song by the Italian house group Black Box, with uncredited vocals by American singer Martha Wash, from their debut studio album, Dreamland (1990). Wash was replaced by French model Katrin Quinol as the credited vocalist who made several appearances with Black Box, which led Wash to file a lawsuit against the group. The song was written by Daniele Davoli, Mirko Limoni, and Valerio Semplici, while produced by Groove Groove Melody. It was released by RCA Records as the third single from the album. The house, pop, and Eurodisco song consists of an organ, drums, horns, and strings. "Everybody Everybody" contains a sample of Larry Blackmon's vocals and a drum loop from Bobby Byrd's 1987 remix of James Brown's song "Hot Pants" (1971).

"Everybody Everybody" received generally positive reviews from music critics, who praised the production and vocals. The song peaked at number eight on the US Billboard Hot 100, number 10 on the New Zealand Singles Chart, and at number 16 on the UK Singles Chart. An accompanying music video was released in 1990, which depicts Frenchwoman Katrin Quinol lip synching the song in a unitard.

Background and controversy

In 1989, Martha Wash was approached by Black Box, then known as Groove Groove Melody, to record demos for other musicians in exchange for a flat fee payment.[1] Wash recorded vocals for the songs in a five-day period, which were kept in six of nine songs from the group's debut studio album Dreamland (1990). However, she was not credited on the album's liner notes as French fashion model Katrin Quinol was brought in to phonetically learn the songs on Dreamland for seven months despite not knowing the English language, and made several appearances as part of the group. Black Box's record label RCA Records continuously stated that Quinol was the lead vocalist of each song,[2][3] in response to publications such as Billboard and The New York Times insisting that another singer appeared on the album.[4]

On 21 November 1990, several consumer class action lawsuits were issued in the Los Angeles Federal District Court relating to Milli Vanilli and Black Box. RCA Records initially believed that the vocals in Black Box's music belonged to Quinol, who was seen in the group's promotional material.[5] Wash sued the Black Box members in September 1990 for false advertising[3][4][6] and uncredited vocals,[7] but was settled out-of-court in December 1990.[8] She eventually signed an eight-year contract with the record label to record eight individual albums,[9] in addition to a financed national tour.[8] RCA Records additionally recognised Wash as the "principal voice" on Dreamland and insisted that Black Box's producers were the cause of her "discrimination".[10]

Composition and critical reception

"Everybody Everybody" is a house,[11] pop,[4] and Eurodisco[12] song, which contains a "house-inspired rhythmic base",[13] a syncopated drum loop from Bobby Byrd's 1987 remix of James Brown's song "Hot Pants" (1971),[14] and a roller rink-styled organ.[2][3] It uses horns and strings to create a "disco-era influence", which Billboard staff compared to the atmosphere of Studio 54.[15] According to the song's sheet music that was published on Musicnotes.com, it is set in the time signature of 4
4 common time, with a tempo of 118 beats per minute, while composed in the key of F minor. Wash's voice on the track ranges from the low note of A♭3 to the high note of F5, while the song is constructed in verse–chorus form.[16] A sample of Cameo lead singer Larry Blackmon's vocals is periodically used throughout the song,[17] where an "ow" is heard in the lyrics.[2][17] Wash performs a gospel-influenced belt,[18] as Marisa Fox of Entertainment Weekly described her vocals as "grand-diva"-styled over the song's "roaring sound".[19]

Billboard writer Bill Coleman described "Everybody Everybody" as "thoroughly contagious" and stated that the vocals and lyrics are "uplifting".[13] John Leland of Newsday stated that the song is the "dance-party anthem of the season".[3] Writing for The Network Forty, Yvette Ziraldo opined that the production is "infectious",[20] while Chris Heath of Smash Hits declared it as "almost brilliant".[21] Ernest Hardy of Cashbox complimented the song's "raw vocal" alongside the production's "relentless groove", but noted the similar sound with Black Box's previous singles "Ride on Time" and "I Don't Know Anybody Else".[22] NME writer Roger Morton praised the song as a successor to "Ride on Time" with its "burnished gold vocal[s]", but recognized that they were lip-synched.[23]

In 2009, Blender staff placed "Everybody Everybody" at number 335 on their 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born list and described it as "criminally buoyant" for "drunk wedding guests" to dance to.[12] Pitchfork writer David Raposa ranked the song on their list of Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s at number 171 in 2010, stating that the Cameo sample distinguished it from other "pop-house bandwagoners".[17] BuzzFeed staff listed it at number 14 on their 101 Greatest Dance Songs Of the '90s in 2017 list.[24] Billboard placed "Everybody Everybody" at number 457 in their ranking of their Top Songs of the '90s.[25] In 2022, Rolling Stone staff ranked the song at number 194 on their 200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time list.[26]

Commercial performance and music video

In June 1990, "Everybody Everybody" appeared in dance clubs, with its popularity resulting in airplay on urban contemporary and contemporary hit radio stations.[2] In the United States, the song peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated 20 October 1990, where it remained for 19 weeks.[27] It also topped the Dance Club Songs chart issued 21 July 1990, and charted for 10 weeks.[28] On the 3 June 1990, issue of the UK Singles Chart, "Everybody Everybody" peaked at number 16 and charted for six weeks.[29] The song bowed at number 35 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart,[30] and reached number 11 on the New Zealand Singles Chart.[31]

An accompanying music video for "Everybody Everybody" was released, which depicts Quinol squatting while wearing a unitard and lip synching the song's vocals. In late 1990, Wash saw the music video and called her manager after realising that she was uncredited on the song.[1] She described Quinol's appearance as being "[six]-feet tall, very skinny [with] cobalt-blue eyes" and suggested that such models were utilised in various music videos as "props".[2] Writing for the St. Petersburg Times, Jean Carey considered the video to be "lame" and wrote that it "encourage[d] the rumors" about "the group's mystery vocalist".[32]

Dominican-American group Proyecto Uno covered the song under the title "Todo El Mundo", with Remezcla writer Cheky acknowledging that it connected with "Black-American culture" and made the merenhouse genre prevalent.[33]

A cutaway segment on the episode of American animated series Family Guy titled "Play It Again, Brian" included "Everybody Everybody", which was performed by the character Cleveland Brown. The segment was included on top-10 listicles by IGN and Screen Rant staff for highlights involving Brown.[34][35] The song was played on the final episode of the FX series The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story, where The Seattle Times writer Tricia Romano compared the lyrics of Wash's vocals, "Sad and free", to O. J. Simpson's acquittal in the O. J. Simpson murder case.[36] "Everybody Everybody" was included on the third season of American comedy drama series Master of None, as the characters Alicia and Denise danced to the song while doing laundry.[37][38]

Track listing

Charts

References

  1. 1 2 Newman, Jason (2 September 2014). "Martha Wash: The Most Famous Unknown Singer of the '90s Speaks Out". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Stamberg, Susan (20 November 1990). "Did Martha Washington Sing Black Box's Hit?". Morning Edition. NPR – via ProQuest.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Leland, John (21 September 1990). "Black Box: Living Dubiously". Newsday. p. 177 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. 1 2 3 Johnson, Kevin C. (26 October 1990). "Popular music group Black Box stirs controversy as well as charts". Springfield News-Leader. p. 21 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ Pareles, Jon (6 December 1990). "Lawsuits Seek Truth In Music Labeling". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  6. ↑ "RCA Act Black Box Sued for False Advertising" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 102, no. 42. 20 October 1990. p. 94. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  7. ↑ Patrin, Nate (11 November 2020). "Everybody Everybody (But One) Dance Now: The Diva Erasure Of Martha Wash Revisited". Stereogum. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  8. 1 2 Philips, Chuck (21 February 1991). "Read Her Lips : R&B; Singer Says Hot Dance Hit Is Lip-Synced". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  9. ↑ Bernstein, Sharon (14 December 1990). "Martha Wash Gets Her Form Back : Pop Music: The singer's voice but not face appeared on the Black Box videos. But she'll perform tonight at Details". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  10. ↑ Johnson, Kevin C. (5 April 1991). "Coming out for Martha Wash". The News-Press. p. 88 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ Farley, Keith. "Best of House Music: Disco Nights, Vol. 5 - Various Artists". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  12. 1 2 "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born". Blender. 1 April 2009. p. 4. Archived from the original on 7 January 2010. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  13. 1 2 Coleman, Bill (7 July 1990). "Dance Trax: The Summer's Sizzling For Everybody Everybody" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 102, no. 27. p. 27. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  14. ↑ Breihan, Tom (5 January 2022). "The Number Ones: Right Said Fred's 'I'm Too Sexy'". Stereogum. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  15. ↑ "Billboard: Single Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 102, no. 23. 9 June 1990. p. 84. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  16. ↑ "Everybody Everybody". Musicnotes.com. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  17. 1 2 3 Raposa, David (30 August 2010). "The Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s: 200-151". Pitchfork. p. 3. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
  18. ↑ Henderson, Alex. "Dreamland - Black Box | AllMusic Review by Alex Henderson". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  19. ↑ Fox, Marisa (26 April 1991). "Dance Now!!". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  20. ↑ Ziraldo, Yvette (21 September 1990). "Crossover: Retail Sales" (PDF). The Network Forty. No. 30. p. 54. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  21. ↑ Heath, Chris (2 May 1990). "Review: LPs". Smash Hits. No. 298. p. 55. Retrieved 16 August 2021 – via Flickr.
  22. ↑ Hardy, Ernest (16 June 1990). "On The Dancefloor: New Grooves - Singles" (PDF). Cashbox. Vol. 53, no. 47. p. 12. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  23. ↑ Morton, Roger (26 May 1990). "Singles". NME. Retrieved 24 February 2023 – via Flickr.
  24. ↑ Stopera, Matt; Galindo, Brian (11 March 2017). "The 101 Greatest Dance Songs of the '90s". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  25. ↑ "Greatest of All Time: Billboard's Top Songs of the '90s". Billboard. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  26. ↑ Matos, Michaelangelo (22 July 2022). "200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  27. 1 2 "Black Box Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  28. 1 2 "Black Box Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  29. 1 2 "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  30. 1 2 "Black Box – Everybody Everybody". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  31. 1 2 "Black Box – Everybody Everybody". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  32. ↑ Carey, Jean (8 December 1990). "Knifestyles of the rich and famous? Series: Videosyncracies". St. Petersburg Times. p. D.1 – via ProQuest.
  33. ↑ Cheky (2 May 2019). "5 Songs That Prove African American Music Helped Proyecto Uno Create Merenhouse". Remezcla. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  34. ↑ Haque, Ahsan (11 May 2012). "Family Guy's Top 10 Cleveland Moments". IGN. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  35. ↑ McCormick, Colin (7 April 2021). "Family Guy: 10 Funniest Cleveland Brown Scenes, Ranked". Screen Rant. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  36. ↑ Romano, Tricia (6 April 2016). "'The People v. O.J. Simpson': A finale worth savoring". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  37. ↑ Heggeness, Greta (24 May 2021). "'Master of None' Season 3 Is Now Streaming on Netflix—Here's My Honest Review". PureWow. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  38. ↑ Moran, Robert (8 January 2022). "Emily's apartment, the Pineapple Suite, and other TV locations we want to visit". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  39. ↑ Everybody Everybody (back cover). Black Box. Canada: RCA Records. 1990. 2628-1-RD.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  40. ↑ Everybody Everybody (back cover). Black Box. United Kingdom: Deconstruction Records. 1990. PD 43716.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  41. ↑ Everybody Everybody (back cover). Black Box. United Kingdom: Deconstruction Records. 1990. PT 43716.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  42. ↑ Everybody Everybody (back cover). Black Box. Australia: BMG Ariola. 1990. CS 3715.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  43. ↑ Everybody Everybody (back cover). Black Box. Germany: Polydor Records. 1990. 867 603-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  44. ↑ Everybody Everybody (back cover). Black Box. Germany: Polydor Records. 1990. 877 305-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  45. ↑ Everybody Everybody (back cover). Black Box. Germany: Deconstruction Records. 1990. PB 43715.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  46. ↑ Everybody Everybody (back cover). Black Box. Germany: Polydor Records. 1990. 877 423-1.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  47. ↑ "Black Box – Everybody Everybody" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  48. ↑ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. 18 August 1990. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  49. ↑ "Black Box – Everybody Everybody" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  50. ↑ "Black Box – Everybody Everybody" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  51. ↑ "Classifiche". Musica e Dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 31 May 2022. Set "Tipo" on "Singoli". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Black Box".
  52. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Black Box" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  53. ↑ "Black Box – Everybody Everybody" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  54. ↑ "Black Box – Everybody Everybody". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  55. ↑ "Black Box Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  56. ↑ "Hot 100 – Year-End 1990". Billboard. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  57. ↑ "Dance Singles Sales – Year-End 1990". Billboard. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  58. ↑ "Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs – Year-End 1990". Billboard. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
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