"Let's Groove" | ||||
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Single by Earth, Wind & Fire | ||||
from the album Raise! | ||||
B-side | "Let's Groove" (Instrumental) | |||
Released | September 1981 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 5:39 (album version) 4:02 (single version) 3:56 (video version) 6:43 (12" Disco Single) | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Maurice White | |||
Earth, Wind & Fire singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Let's Groove" on YouTube |
"Let's Groove" is a song by American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released as the first single from their eleventh studio album, Raise! (1981). It is written by Maurice White and Wayne Vaughn, and produced by White. The song was a commercial success, and was the band's highest-charting single in various territories. It peaked inside the top 20 in countries including the United States, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Canada and other component charts in America. In 1979 and the early 1980s, there was a severe backlash against disco music. In spite of this, the band decided to revive the disco sound that was included on their previous works and later records. Musically, "Let's Groove" is post-disco, pop and funk which includes instrumentation of synthesizers and keyboards along with live electric guitars.
"Let's Groove" was produced by Maurice White for Kalimba Productions. With a duration of five minutes and thirty nine seconds, the song has a tempo of 126 beats per minute. [3] [4]
Ken Tucker of Rolling Stone described Let's Groove as "city music" where "the horn section screams like a car running a red light." [5] Record World praised the "deep, brawny bass line." [6] Ed Hogan from AllMusic noted that White "brought in guitarist Roland Bautista and began co-writing, with Emotions member Wanda Vaughn and her husband Wayne Vaughn, a song that reflected the then-emerging electronic sound of the '80s. Not to be confused with the same-named hit by Archie Bell & the Drells, "Let's Groove" certainly was a change. Starting off with a robotic-sounding vocoder riff, it served up a more gritty-sounding EWF for the 1980s, laced with Brecker Brothers-supplied horn blasts that rival those of EWF's 1976 gold single 'Getaway'." [7] People though said that the album's "biggest disappointment is Let's Groove, yet another gotta-boogie tune." [8] Jordan Bartel of The Baltimore Sun noted that the song was "quite possibly the funkiest thing to come out of the early 1980s". [9] Richard Williams of The Times wrote "Let's Groove, the bass-heavy new single, is a reliable pointer". [10] Whitney Pastorek of Entertainment Weekly declared that "I actually love this song, especially the little computer voice in the background, like Pac-Man has come to life to boogie just for me!" [11]
NME placed Let's Groove at number 16 on their Singles of the Year list of 1981. [12] "Let's Groove" was also Grammy nominated in the category of Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. [13]
The song peaked at number three in the US, becoming their 7th and last top 10 hit. [14] It also spent eight weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart in late 1981 and early 1982 and was the second R&B song of 1982 on the year-end charts. [15]
The single sold over a million copies in the US and has been certified gold by the RIAA as until the RIAA lowered the sales levels for certified singles in 1989, a gold single equalled 1 million units sold. [16] "Let's Groove" was also certified platinum in the UK by the British Phonographic Industry. [17]
The accompanying music video of "Let's Groove" was the first ever to be played on Video Soul on BET. [18] [19] Heavy with vintage electronic effects, the video was directed and created by Ron Hays using the Scanimate analog computer system at Image West, Ltd. [20]
The style of the music video influenced that of Bruno Mars' "Treasure". [21]
Engineers [22]
Performers [22]
Year | Publication | Country | Accolade | Rank |
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1981 | NME | UK [12] | Singles of the Year | 16 |
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [49] | Platinum | 90,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [17] | Platinum | 600,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [16] | Gold | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
"Let's Groove" was interpolated in "Feels" by Calvin Harris featuring Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry and Big Sean, [50] and in "Alright" by Kent Jones.
• the song was used in 1998 film The Waterboy
• this song was used in the 2005 movie Kronk's New Groove.
"Let's Groove" | ||||
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Single by CDB | ||||
from the album Glide with Me | ||||
Released | 1995 | |||
Recorded | 1994 | |||
Length | 4:17 | |||
Label | Sony Music | |||
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) |
| |||
CDB singles chronology | ||||
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In 1995, "Let's Groove" was covered by the Australian R&B/pop boy band CDB. In Australia, the song reached number 2 and was certified platinum for shipments of over 70,000 units. [51] [52] In New Zealand, it peaked at number 1 for three weeks and also received a platinum certification, indicating sales exceeding 10,000 copies. [53] [54] At the ARIA Music Awards of 1996, "Let's Groove" won the Highest Selling Single category. [55]
CD single (662147 2) [56] [ deprecated source ]
Chart (1995–1996) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [51] | 2 |
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [53] | 1 |
Chart (1995) | Position |
---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [52] | 8 |
Chart (1996) | Position |
---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [57] | 80 |
New Zealand (RIANZ) [58] | 14 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [52] | Platinum | 70,000^ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [54] | Platinum | 10,000* |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
"Let's Groove" | |
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Single by Asia's Got Talent judges | |
Released | May 14, 2015 |
Length | 3:32 |
Label | Universal |
Songwriter(s) |
|
Producer(s) | David Foster |
"Let's Groove" was covered by the Asia's Got Talent judges—David Foster, Anggun, Melanie C and Vanness Wu—and released as a promotional single on May 14, 2015, by Universal. [59] It was released as a charity single for the May 2015 Nepal earthquake and all money raised was donated to the victims. [60] This version was produced by David Foster. [61]
On May 14, 2015, the four artists performed the song in the final of first season of Asia's Got Talent . [62] On June 4, the Asia's Got Talent released the behind the scenes video of the recording. [63]
Country | Date | Format | Label |
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Hong Kong [59] | May 14, 2015 | Digital download | Universal |
Indonesia [64] | |||
Malaysia [65] | |||
Singapore [66] | |||
Vietnam [67] |
Earth, Wind & Fire is an American band formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1969. Their music spans multiple genres, including jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, Latin and Afro-pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million records worldwide.
Maurice White was an American musician, best known as the founder, leader, main songwriter and chief producer of the band Earth, Wind & Fire, also serving as the band's co-lead singer with Philip Bailey.
Raise! is the eleventh studio album by the American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released on November 14, 1981, by ARC/Columbia Records. The album spent 11 weeks atop the Billboard Top R&B albums chart and peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 chart. Raise! has been certified Platinum in the US by the RIAA, Gold in the UK by the BPI and Gold in Canada by Music Canada.
"Boogie Wonderland" is a song by American band Earth, Wind & Fire with the Emotions, released in April 1979 on Columbia Records as the first single from their ninth album, I Am (1979). The song peaked at number 14 on the US Billboard dance chart, number six on the Hot 100, and number two on Billboard Hot Soul Singles. It was certified gold in the US and platinum in the UK. "Boogie Wonderland" was Grammy-nominated for Best R&B Instrumental Performance and Best Disco Recording; it won the Grammy for Best R&B Instrumental Performance.
"After the Love Has Gone" is a song by Earth, Wind & Fire, released in 1979 as the second single from their ninth studio album I Am on ARC/Columbia Records. The song reached No. 2 on both the US Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart, No. 3 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, and No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart. "After the Love Has Gone" was certified gold in the US by the RIAA and silver in the UK by the BPI.
Spirit is the seventh studio album by American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released on September 28, 1976, by Columbia Records. The album rose to No. 2 on both the Billboard 200 and Top Soul Albums charts. Spirit has also been certified Double Platinum in the US by the RIAA.
Faces is the tenth studio album by the American band Earth, Wind & Fire released on October 14, 1980, on ARC/Columbia Records. The album reached number 10 on the Billboard Top LPs chart, number 2 on the Billboard Top Soul albums chart and number 10 on the UK Albums Chart. Faces was certified Gold in the US by the RIAA.
"September" is a song by the American band Earth, Wind & Fire released as a single on November 18, 1978, by ARC/Columbia Records. The song was written by Allee Willis and Maurice White, based on a music sequence developed by guitarist Al McKay. Initially included as a track for The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1, "September" was very successful commercially and reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot R&B Songs chart, No. 8 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart. The song remains a staple of the band's body of work and has been sampled, covered, remixed, and re-recorded numerous times.
"Fantasy" is a song by American band Earth, Wind & Fire, which was issued as a single in 1978 by Columbia Records.
CDB are an Australian R&B, dance and vocal harmony quartet formed in 1991 with Andrew De Silva, Brad Pinto and his brother Gary Pinto, as well as Danny Williams. CDB is an initialism which stands for Central Dandenong Boys. Their highest charting single was a cover version of Earth, Wind & Fire's "Let's Groove", which peaked at number two on the ARIA Singles Chart and number one on the New Zealand Singles Chart. "Hey Girl " also reached number one in New Zealand. Their debut studio album, Glide with Me was released in November 1995. The group disbanded in 1999.
Earth, Wind & Fire is an American musical group. Their style and sound span over various music genres such as jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, Latin, and Afro-pop. They are among the best-selling music artists of all time, with sales of over 90 million records worldwide.
"Fall in Love with Me" is a song by American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released in November 1982 upon Columbia Records as the first single from their twelfth album, Powerlight (1983). It rose to No. 4 on the US Billboard R&B Singles chart, No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and No. 14 on the Canadian RPM Top Singles chart. "Fall In Love With Me" was Grammy nominated for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.
"System of Survival" is a song by the band Earth, Wind & Fire issued as a single in October 1987 on Columbia Records. The single reached number one on both the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart and Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart. "System of Survival" also reached No. 9 on the New Zealand Pop Singles chart, No. 14 on the Dutch Pop Singles chart and No. 25 on the Belgian Pop Singles chart.
"All in the Way" is a song by the band Earth, Wind & Fire featuring the Emotions, released as a single in 2003 on Kalimba Music from the album The Promise. The single peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard Adult R&B Songs chart, No. 25 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, and No. 31 on the UK R&B Singles chart.
"Thinking of You" is a song by American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released in January 1988 on Columbia Records as the third single from their fourteenth studio album, Touch the World (1987). It reached number one on the US Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart and number three on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart.
"Let Me Talk" is a song by American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released in August 1980 by ARC/Columbia Records as the first single from their tenth album, Faces (1980). It reached No. 8 on the US Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart and No. 29 on the UK Pop Singles chart.
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This post-disco pop funk epic is centered on a relentless, repeating bassline that really does make you want to, uh, groove.