Amerie - Gotta Work

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I heard this for the first time last night and my first thought was "Wow has someone sampled JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR!!11!".

Now it seems that Andrew Lloyd Webber may have 'bitten' Sam and Dave, oh well.

I have never heard "Hold On I'm Comin" either I assume.

― Groke, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 15:13 (nineteen years ago)

good lord, england, get your lives together.

― strongohulkington, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 15:14 (nineteen years ago)

I think I was put off loads of great old Stax-y stuff by that Dave Marsh book: he managed to make it all sound so....exhausting.

― Groke, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 15:16 (nineteen years ago)

soul music was a lot of work.

― strongohulkington, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 15:16 (nineteen years ago)

we're just marinating in this stuff from the time we're born though, so i think most of us take it as a cultural given. there are probably more people who DON'T own a motown collection over here out of the feeling that they don't need to given how ingrained the songs are/how often they'll hear them in some other context.

― strongohulkington, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 15:18 (nineteen years ago)

Just played it now and it STILL really reminds me of JCS! Sorry Sam and Dave. And Amerie. And the world.

― Groke, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 15:19 (nineteen years ago)

i've never heard jesus christ superstar either if that helps.

― lex pretend, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 15:20 (nineteen years ago)

we're less concerned with this.

― strongohulkington, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 15:21 (nineteen years ago)

i'm not sure if i've heard it either.

― strongohulkington, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 15:21 (nineteen years ago)

was as much fuss made over the manifold samples on 'take control'?! as far as i recall everyone just focused on AMERIE instead of tom zé this, hall & oates that, which is as it should be

― lex pretend, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 15:22 (nineteen years ago)

WTF is it with all these people who have never heard Hold On I'm Coming? I thought that was one of those songs that passed the Bus Queue Test with flying colours (ie EVERYONE knows it).

― Matt DC, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 15:22 (nineteen years ago)

I still haven't heard Gotta Work.

― Matt DC, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 15:22 (nineteen years ago)

for some reason when i tried to sing "hold on i'm coming" in my head just now i started singing the ub40 cover of "here i am come and take me" instead

o_O

― strongohulkington, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 15:23 (nineteen years ago)

the horns on 'gotta work' are about the 10th most interesting or exciting or important thing about it anyway

― lex pretend, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 15:24 (nineteen years ago)

I still haven't heard Gotta Work.

ts not caring enough about a current single which is all over the internet by someone you know is a great popstar to have tracked it down by now vs not having heard...some old song, how on earth WOULD i have heard it anyway?

― lex pretend, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 15:28 (nineteen years ago)

Those are the Hitsville comps I was talking about...honestly, either collection will give you the basics, so if one's much cheaper than get that. And then once you discover a certain act you like, all the main Motown acts (and most of the minor ones) have about 100+ greatest hits albums and you can start exploring from there.

― musically, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 17:37 (nineteen years ago)

forks, dude, chill. didn't mean to bum you out or anything.

― stevie, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 18:52 (nineteen years ago)

WTF is it with all these people who have never heard Hold On I'm Coming? I thought that was one of those songs that passed the Bus Queue Test with flying colours (ie EVERYONE knows it).

-- Matt DC, Tuesday, April 17, 2007 4:22 PM (3 hours ago)

i have been horrifically familiar with this song for years, but i *did watch The Blues Brothers almost daily as a kid.

― stevie, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 18:52 (nineteen years ago)

the crazy harmonies at 2:00 just slay me. amerie is a genius.

― stevie, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 23:16 (nineteen years ago)

KLAJSFLKASJFLKASJFKL

― jim, Wednesday, 18 April 2007 00:11 (nineteen years ago)

As far as I know, I've never heard "Hold On, I'm Coming" either. (But I'm sure I have. The horn sample sounds hecka-familiar.)

Lex, or anyone - "Take Control"/Hall & Oates: Enlighten.

― The Reverend, Wednesday, 18 April 2007 05:33 (nineteen years ago)

In Australia "Hold On I'm Coming" has been used so much in advertising that I can't imagine not recognising it as something historical.

Actually I've always been disturbed by the sheer volume of ads which draw on Motown. It might be due to the themes of reliability which Motown songs often promoted - "Reach Out" and Wilson Pickett's "If You Need Me" are particularly well-plundered in this regard. And I'd be surprised "Hold On I'm Coming" hadn't been shoehorned into promoting some sort of home delivery service at one point or another - pizza? express courier post? replacement traveller's cheques? the ambulance?

― Tim F, Wednesday, 18 April 2007 06:01 (nineteen years ago)

the crazy harmonies at 2:00 just slay me. amerie is a genius.

i was just thinking that, they are like a rollercoaster!

― lex pretend, Wednesday, 18 April 2007 07:00 (nineteen years ago)

Just because someone's heard a song as background noise doesn't mean they know what the song is, no matter how ubiquitous.

― The Reverend, Wednesday, 18 April 2007 07:47 (nineteen years ago)

That's true - to be honest I'd thought Hold On I'm Coming was up there with Respect and Heard It Through The Grapevine and I Feel Good as records that EVERYBODY knew regardless of whether they had any active engagement with 60s soul or rnb but I'm willing to admit this perception could well have been skewed by the Blues Brothers.

Gotta Work is fantastic, by the way, and yes the horn sample is one of the less arresting things about it, possibly because it's been diluted slightly.

― Matt DC, Wednesday, 18 April 2007 19:33 (nineteen years ago)

(Also it wasn't that I didn't care enough, I just didn't have the time to track it down)

― Matt DC, Wednesday, 18 April 2007 19:34 (nineteen years ago)

three weeks pass...

ok so marcello and i were starting to talk about the album on the bjork thread - it's great! 'crush' is AMAZING.

also, best opening couplet ever: "whatcha gon' do when A catches an attitude? drop to your knees and show gratitude"

― lex pretend, Monday, 14 May 2007 10:42 (nineteen years ago)

Everything I've read about this makes it sound amazing. Anticipating highly.

― Matt DC, Monday, 14 May 2007 10:51 (nineteen years ago)

some stunning stuff on here. SOME LIKE IT especially.

very heavy on the jam and lewis/ prince in the 80's production and drum sounds.

― pisces, Monday, 14 May 2007 11:39 (nineteen years ago)

currently processing reservations.

there was something about lex's "moments in mundane days" line that caught me the wrong way w/r/t confirming a creeping suspicion of her indie token status now - that line say where rnb mysteriously becomes pj-approved Adventurous Pop or whatever. (not saying that lex is culpable, or that kitchen sinks be breaches of rnb protocol ALERT ALERT, or etc, but...)but i slept on my arm last night, and now its gonna hurt all day, and the masseur's away, and its raining &

'some like it' concerns me particularly. should be a bit of messy electro workout fun on the side but somehow feels more like the keystone of the album, not only cos it bridges the funky funk funk ~~mark ronson~~ songs and the 80s/crunky/floaty/ryanleslie modern ballads of the 2nd half, but also by virtue of its toxic ott awkwardness sliming all over the other songs once its gone. and it's unfair (and boring!) to keep bringing up that first album but maybe the naturalist 80sness of its gorgeously allpervasive ways needs restating in light of the 'some like it' and the attention it is bound to recieve. xp there u go.

or maybe i could just let go and like the thing? it's not like i can say i've heard a better album this year.

― r|t|c, Monday, 14 May 2007 12:21 (nineteen years ago)

that line say where rnb mysteriously becomes pj-approved Adventurous Pop or whatever

yes this was a faint suspicion of mine too but the song which is most "pj-approved adventurous pop" is 'crush', which knocks down all my defences in a single hit from those drum fills.

also incidentally is there any love out there at all for the rmx of 'touch' with TI? seriously. i love it so much. "with my hands like damn and my neck like wow"!

― lex pretend, Monday, 14 May 2007 12:31 (nineteen years ago)

'hate2loveu' is my favourite track. she is AWESOME.

― stevie, Monday, 14 May 2007 12:50 (nineteen years ago)

listening to it again last night, the other thing which balances out any leanings towards pj-pop it has is its determined classicist bent - it's as much a traditional soul/motown* album as it is a rihanna-esque "adventurous pop" one.

*"music i don't know enough about" if i misuse either term, i will get those chartbusters comps this week

― lex pretend, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 06:54 (nineteen years ago)

Wait....is this out? Coming out? Leaked? I was under the impression this was shelved until further notice.

― The Reverend, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 15:15 (nineteen years ago)

released yesterday in the uk i believe (at least i reviewed it last week on this basis)

― lex pretend, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 15:18 (nineteen years ago)

yeah, but not out in the U.S. until mid-July, for some reason (I'm guessing because "Take Control" was a top 10 hit in the U.K. but not here).

― Alex in Baltimore, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 15:19 (nineteen years ago)

its definitely out here - with '1 thing' appended, for some reason...

― stevie, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 15:33 (nineteen years ago)

Additional incentive to potential purchasers innit. (Something similar happened with the new JoJo album - they stuck "Leave (Get Out)" on the end as a bonus track.)

There's been a very proactive marketing campaign for the Amerie LP. Since before "Take Control" charted (which was only a couple of weeks ago) there have been posters up all over London advertising the LP.

― Jeff W, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 15:46 (nineteen years ago)

I don't understand why Amerie has failed to catch on in the US. I've liked nearly all of her singles from these past two records (wasn't much aware of her before that).

― jaymc, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 15:49 (nineteen years ago)

the posters are very wonderful things

― stevie, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 15:49 (nineteen years ago)

Touch also featured a remix of "Why Don't We Fall In Love" (not even a new remix, one from 2002) as a bonus track, so I guess that's a pattern with her or her label.

― Alex in Baltimore, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 15:51 (nineteen years ago)

define "failed to catch on," jaymc, two top 40 hits ain't bad.

― Alex in Baltimore, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 15:53 (nineteen years ago)

it's funny how r&b singers tend to be catch on in either the UK (amerie, kelis, rihanna) or the US (ciara, mya, nivea) but rarely both, unless they're megafamous superstars like beyoncé

― lex pretend, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 15:56 (nineteen years ago)

Amerie, Kelis, and especially Rihanna are certainly more popular in the US than Nivea.

Jaymc, get her first album now.

― The Reverend, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 16:03 (nineteen years ago)

i always got the impression kelis's profile in the US was close to zero!

― lex pretend, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 16:05 (nineteen years ago)

No, she's definitely popular, she just isn't HUGE like she should be.

― The Brainwasher, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 16:06 (nineteen years ago)

Also, Amerie is sort of boring and nondescript, that's why she hasn't really "caught on" here.

― The Brainwasher, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 16:08 (nineteen years ago)

!!!!

― Matt DC, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 16:08 (nineteen years ago)

"Milkshake" was huge! Awful fucking "Bossy" was pretty big, too. And no one gives one shit about Nivea. And rightfully so.

xps - Brainwasher, you can't be serious. (Although her new singles are kind of boring and nondescript, I'll give you that.)

― The Reverend, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 16:11 (nineteen years ago)

!!!!

― stevie, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 16:12 (nineteen years ago)

Skipping 78 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

i like 'some like it' even if it is horribly predictable coming from me. I love the tinny piano with its classy jazziness, matt bianco meets some passionate house diva who cant dance, i mean she sounds like cathy dennis. it just conjures all the right hair salon blow dried mousse french restaurant gold bauble feeling, it's so amerie,i walk with good posture, way more than that awful 'don't be afraid to touch' song, because amerie is jazzy. i agree the sam and dave song is boring though.

― minna, Friday, 30 November 2007 06:08 (eighteen years ago)

You know, she's really not a good singer for slow jams. I listened to an acapella last night and now her vibrato kind of gets on my nerves, it's like she can only do it one way and doesn't have a lot of control?I think that's why the uptempo rhythmic stuff works so much better for her.

Btw Make Me Believe, Crush, and Gotta Work are all A+ (Some Like it is A-)!

― Jordan, Friday, 30 November 2007 16:23 (eighteen years ago)

For some reason this just doesn't work as an album even though there are 5-6 tracks I absolutely love.

― Matt DC, Friday, 30 November 2007 17:08 (eighteen years ago)

Best track = All Roads and its unashamed soft rockness.

― Matt DC, Friday, 30 November 2007 17:09 (eighteen years ago)

Any other singer would have made "All Roads" into sub-"American Idol." I love how her voice starts to crack in the last third.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Friday, 30 November 2007 17:15 (eighteen years ago)

"All Roads" is kind of painful to listen to. :/

― jaymc, Friday, 30 November 2007 17:36 (eighteen years ago)

can someone link to the rolling r'n'b thread?
i cant find it

― robin l, Wednesday, 5 December 2007 10:40 (eighteen years ago)

here

― r|t|c, Wednesday, 5 December 2007 13:30 (eighteen years ago)

four years pass...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX87SBDDCFY

^knew about the curtis og, but never knew about this version

― hologram ned raggett (The Reverend), Tuesday, 1 May 2012 08:44 (fourteen years ago)

seven years pass...

have been obsessed with Because I Love It all year

― ufo, Wednesday, 4 September 2019 10:55 (six years ago)

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