I Didn't Mean to Turn You On

Last updated
"I Didn't Mean to Turn You On"
I Didn't Mean to Turn You On.jpg
Single by Cherrelle
from the album Fragile
B-side "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On (Instrumental)"
ReleasedApril 1984
Recorded1983–84
Genre
Length7:03 (album version)
6:21 (12" version)
3:58 (single edit)
Label Tabu
Songwriter(s)
  • James Harris III
  • Terry Lewis
Producer(s) Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
Cherrelle singles chronology
"I Didn't Mean to Turn You On"
(1984)
"Fragile… Handle with Care"
(1984)

"I Didn't Mean to Turn You On" is the debut single written by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and originally performed by American singer Cherrelle in 1984. In the song, the singer is attempting to rebuff unwanted sexual advances following a date, including pressure to have a one-night stand. [3] In 1986, "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On" was covered by English singer Robert Palmer. Palmer's cover fared better on the pop chart while Cherrelle's version was a hit on the R&B chart.

Contents

Original Cherrelle version

The song was released as Cherrelle's debut single and was her first hit, peaking at number 8 on the soul chart and number 79 on the Hot 100. [4] On the US dance chart, "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On" went to number 6. [5] A slightly altered version of the song is featured in the 2015 N.W.A biopic Straight Outta Compton . [6]

Chart positions

Chart (1984-1985)Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [7] 79
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play 6
U.S. Billboard Hot Black Singles 8

Robert Palmer version

"I Didn't Mean to Turn You On"
It Didn't Mean to Turn You On by Robert Palmer.jpg
UK vinyl single
Single by Robert Palmer
from the album Riptide
B-side "Get It Through Your Heart"
Released7 July 1986 [8]
Recorded1985; Compass Point Studios
(The Bahamas)
Genre
Length3:43
Label Island
Songwriter(s)
  • James Harris III
  • Terry Lewis
Producer(s) Bernard Edwards
Robert Palmer singles chronology
"Hyperactive"
(1986)
"I Didn't Mean to Turn You On"
(1986)
"Discipline of Love (Reissue)"
(1986)
Music video
"Robert Palmer - I Didn't Mean To Turn You On (Official Video)" on YouTube

English rock singer Robert Palmer recorded a cover version one year later, and it was released as the fifth single from his eighth studio album Riptide (1985). The single hit No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1986, behind "Amanda" by Boston. Palmer loved the song musically, but he found the lyrics distasteful and sexist because they were written by older men to be sung by a young woman. [9] Palmer recorded it in part as a joke, thinking it would be an ironic role reversal to have the lyrics coming from a nearly 40-year-old man. [10] [11] The music video which was directed by Terence Donovan and storyboarded by concept developer Andrew Trovaioli, featured women like the ones featured in "Addicted to Love"; it hit No. 1 on MTV on October 17, 1986. [12]

Chart positions

Weekly charts

Chart (1986)Peak
position
UK Singles (Official Charts Company) [13] 9
US Billboard Hot 100 [14] 2
US Billboard Dance Club Songs (Remix) [15] 26
US Cash Box [16] 4

Year end charts

Chart (1986)Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100 [17] 46

Other cover versions

Related Research Articles

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Riptide is the eighth studio album by English singer Robert Palmer, released in November 4, 1985 by Island Records. The album was recorded over a period of three months in 1985 at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas. The album peaked at No. 5 on the UK Albums Chart and at No. 8 on the US Billboard 200. It was certified double Platinum in the US by the RIAA in March 1996 and certified Gold in the UK by BPI in August 1986. It features the songs "Addicted to Love", "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On", "Hyperactive", "Discipline of Love", and "Riptide" which were all released as singles. The single "Addicted to Love" was accompanied by an iconic and much-imitated music video, directed by Terence Donovan, in which Palmer is surrounded by a bevy of near-identically clad, heavily made-up female "musicians," either mimicking or mocking the painting style of Patrick Nagel. In September 1986, Palmer performed "Addicted to Love" at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles, California. In 1987, he won the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for "Addicted to Love". At the 1987 Brit Awards, Palmer received his first nomination for Best British Male.

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