Black Box is an Italian house music group popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The group is currently made up of DJ Daniele Davoli, classically trained clarinet teacher Valerio Semplici, keyboardist and electronic musician Mirko Limoni, and vocalist Celestine Walcott-Gordon. French fashion model Katrin Quinol joined the act in 1989 and became the official face of Black Box, appearing on the cover of their single and album releases as well as in music videos, including the hit "Ride on Time", which was the highest-selling single of 1989 in the UK. The following year, it was revealed that Quinol was lip-syncing and had not performed on the recording. American singer Martha Wash performed the majority of the songs on the group's debut album, Dreamland, while being uncredited.
The Weather Girls are an American female duo whose best-known line-up comprised Martha Wash and Izora Armstead. Formed in 1976 in San Francisco, California, Wash and Armstead began their musical careers as Two Tons O' Fun, the female backup duo for disco singer Sylvester. After several years of singing background for Sylvester, the duo was signed in 1979 to Fantasy Records as Two Tons O' Fun. The duo changed their name to The Weather Girls and were launched into somewhat more mainstream recognition following the release of the single, "It's Raining Men" (1982), which became their first number-one song on the US Dance Chart and their biggest hit. Despite having several hit songs on the Dance Chart as Two Tons O' Fun and The Weather Girls, the duo never achieved a top 40 hit on the main US Hot 100 and ultimately disbanded in 1988 after the release of their self-titled fifth album The Weather Girls.
C+C Music Factory was an American musical group formed in 1989 by David Cole and Robert Clivillés. The group is best known for their five hit singles: "Gonna Make You Sweat ", "Here We Go ", "Things That Make You Go Hmmm...", "Just a Touch of Love", and "Keep It Comin'". The band stopped recording in 1996, following Cole's death. In 2010, C+C Music Factory reformed with Eric Kupper replacing Cole. Original member Freedom Williams acquired trademark rights to the name in 2003 and still tours under that moniker.
Gonna Make You Sweat is the debut studio album by American musical production group C+C Music Factory, released in the US on December 18, 1990. Following on the success of contemporaries Black Box and Technotronic, Gonna Make You Sweat was a worldwide smash, reaching number two on the US Billboard 200.
Frederick Brandon Williams, better known by his stage name Freedom Williams, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter, who gained fame as the lead rapper on C+C Music Factory's biggest hits.
Zelma Davis is a Liberian-born American singer-songwriter. She is primarily known for her number-one dance hits "Things That Make You Go Hmmm..." and "Just a Touch of Love" with C+C Music Factory. She has won four American Music Awards, five Billboard Music Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards, and a Grammy Award nomination with the group.
Martha Elaine Wash is an American singer-songwriter, actress, and producer. Known for her distinctive and powerful voice, Wash first achieved fame as half of the Two Tons O' Fun, who sang backing vocals for the disco singer Sylvester including on his signature hit "You Make Me Feel ". After gaining their own record deal, they released three consecutive commercially successful songs which all peaked at number two in the dance charts. The duo was renamed The Weather Girls in 1982 after they released the top-selling single "It's Raining Men", which brought them to mainstream pop attention. The Weather Girls released five albums and were heavily featured on Sylvester's albums.
From October 26, 1974 until August 28, 1976, Billboard's Disco Action section published weekly single retail sales charts from various local regions along with Top Audience Response Records in their magazine. Billboard debuted its first national chart devoted exclusively to 12-inch Singles Sales in their issue dated March 16, 1985. This record type is most commonly used in disco and dance music genres where DJs use them to play in discos or dance clubs because of the exclusive extended remixes that are often only made available on this format, but Billboard's 12-inch Single Sales chart ranks releases by artists from all styles of music that release maxi-singles.
Joanne Ruth Charlotte Accom, mononymously known as Joanne, is an ARIA Award winning Australian singer-songwriter.
"Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" is a song by American dance music group C+C Music Factory, released by Columbia in late 1990 as the debut and lead single from their first album, Gonna Make You Sweat (1990). The song is sung by singer Martha Wash and rapper Freedom Williams. It charted internationally and achieved great success in the United States, Austria, Germany, and Sweden, where it reached number one on the charts. The music video for the song was directed by Marcus Nispel. Billboard magazine ranked "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" among the "500 Best Pop Songs of All Time" in 2023.
English electronic music group the Prodigy has released seven studio albums, one live album, one compilation album, one mix album, three extended plays, twenty-one singles, and twenty-two music videos. Hailed as pioneers of genres such as rave, techno, and big beat, the group have sold over twenty million albums worldwide. As of 9 November 2018 their UK album sales stood at 4,707,982.
Martha Wash is the debut solo studio album by American singer and songwriter Martha Wash. It was released on February 23, 1993, through RCA Records. Recording sessions for the album took place in 1992 at several studios, after leaving her then-group The Weather Girls. The tracks in the album are a mixture of uptempo songs and ballads, which are basically inspired by R&B and house genres; it also features elements of soul and pop music. The album produced two US Billboard Dance chart number-one singles: "Carry On" and "Give It to You", and a top-ten single "Runaround".
Anything Goes! is the second album by the US dance group C+C Music Factory. The album's lead single "Do You Wanna Get Funky"; which featured Martha Wash, Zelma Davis, and Trilogy, reached number 1 on the Dance/Club Play charts, number 40 on the Hot 100, and number 11 on the R&B Singles chart. The follow-up single, "Take a Toke" reached number 23 on the Dance/Club Play and 48 on the R&B Singles chart. "Take a Toke" was included in the soundtrack of Brazilian novela Quatro Por Quatro and was a hit single in the country.
"Things That Make You Go Hmmm..." is a song by American dance group C+C Music Factory. It was released in June 1991 as the third single from their debut album, Gonna Make You Sweat (1990). The single version features Freedom Williams and Zelma Davis who also appear in the accompanying music video, while female vocals are provided by Deborah Cooper instead of Davis on the original album version. The song was inspired by a running gag on The Arsenio Hall Show, where Arsenio, while allegedly on a long drive, pondered certain thoughts and referred to them as "things that make you go hmmm...."
"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).
"Strike It Up" is a song by Italian music group Black Box. It was the fifth single from their debut studio album, Dreamland (1990), and was released on 6 February 1991 in many countries worldwide. The single was a success on many charts, including the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, where it peaked at number eight. It also topped the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart in June 1991 for one week. In the United Kingdom, it peaked at number 16 on the UK Singles Chart. "Strike It Up" also was a top-10 hit in Denmark, Greece, Ireland, and the Netherlands. And on the Eurochart Hot 100, the track reached number 38.
Robert Clivillés and David Cole (1962–1995), known collectively as Clivillés and Cole, were American record producers, songwriters, and remixers active from the late 1980s who achieved success in the 1990s.
"Here We Go " is a song by American dance music group C+C Music Factory, released on March 3, 1991, as the second single from their debut album, Gonna Make You Sweat (1990). The song was a success in the US, reaching number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and number seven on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart. It also hit number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart for three weeks. In Europe, the single reached number 20 on the UK Singles Chart and number five on the UK Dance Singles Chart. The song was certified gold by the RIAA for sales of over 500,000 copies.
"Carry On" is a song by American singer Martha Wash, released on October 30, 1992 through RCA Records as the lead single from her debut solo self-titled studio album, Martha Wash (1993). It was written by Eric Beall, who also composed the instrumentation in collaboration with Steve Skinner and peaked at number-one on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart.
"Do You Wanna Get Funky" is a song by American dance music group C+C Music Factory featuring vocals from Martha Wash, Zelma Davis, and Trilogy. Released in July 1994 by Columbia as the lead single from the group's second album, Anything Goes! (1994), it reached number 40 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and topped both the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart and the Canadian RPM Dance chart. In Europe and Oceania, it was a hit in several countries, peaking at number two in New Zealand, number five in Finland, number 11 in Australia, and number 18 in the Netherlands. Keir McFarlane directed the song's music video, featuring the artists performing in a nightclub. "Do You Wanna Get Funky" was awarded one of ASCAP's Rhythm & Soul Awards in 1995.
