in 1991, color me badd started something. three years after george michael's 'i want your sex' was banned, songs about sex hit the charts so fast that the regulators just gave up, it seems. la tour's 'people are still having sex', salt-n-pepa's 'let's talk about sex' and the divinyls' 'i touch myself' were successful but they didn't respectively alter the output of house, hiphop and rock in the way that 'i wanna sex you up' achieved.
until then new jack swing was mostly slickly produced, frenetic workouts requiring the running man dance, which was never going to work as foreplay really, was it? thus, bedroom music was, if not born, kicked into the 90s and made saucier than ever.
color me badd never quite replicated the success of their first single, mostly because all of their other songs were shit. they started to overdo the foreplay and lost the sleaze, by appearing in magazines gushing about how they loved to stroke a woman's hair, buy her roses and chocolates, before getting her into bed.
no woman on earth was gonna fall for that. but we do have them to thank for 90s slow jams and probably a lot of kids now aged about 15 or 16...
ten rude songs with which to woo your 90s lover - download here
color me badd never quite replicated the success of their first single, mostly because all of their other songs were shit. they started to overdo the foreplay and lost the sleaze, by appearing in magazines gushing about how they loved to stroke a woman's hair, buy her roses and chocolates, before getting her into bed.
no woman on earth was gonna fall for that. but we do have them to thank for 90s slow jams and probably a lot of kids now aged about 15 or 16...
ten rude songs with which to woo your 90s lover - download here
color me badd - i wanna sex you up
obviously. I prefer the new jack city version not the way too obvious 'let me take off all your clothes...'. cos that was the one we used to sing in classes run by ageing substitute teachers, leading them to denounce us as 'devil children'. lol. no, i didn't go to a convent.
obviously. I prefer the new jack city version not the way too obvious 'let me take off all your clothes...'. cos that was the one we used to sing in classes run by ageing substitute teachers, leading them to denounce us as 'devil children'. lol. no, i didn't go to a convent.
r.kelly - your body's calling
I was alarmed when my then five year old cousin named r.kelly as his favourite singer. turned out he'd only heard 'i believe I can fly' and 'gotham city'. phew! i was so not gonna be buying him '12 play' for christmas.
I was alarmed when my then five year old cousin named r.kelly as his favourite singer. turned out he'd only heard 'i believe I can fly' and 'gotham city'. phew! i was so not gonna be buying him '12 play' for christmas.
kut klose - I like
I really like this song. and they do that popular mid 90s girl group 'ohyeaheehyeahahahyeahyeah' bit in the chorus. oh you know what i mean... kut klose were keith sweat's girl group and they had some great slow jams on their one and only album.
I really like this song. and they do that popular mid 90s girl group 'ohyeaheehyeahahahyeahyeah' bit in the chorus. oh you know what i mean... kut klose were keith sweat's girl group and they had some great slow jams on their one and only album.
changing faces - keep it right there
nice remix by creepy devante of jodeci. changing faces improved over time from their awful debut 'stroke you up' to 2000's great 'that other woman'.
nice remix by creepy devante of jodeci. changing faces improved over time from their awful debut 'stroke you up' to 2000's great 'that other woman'.
jodeci - freek'n'you
later jodeci track bumped in every clapped out boy racer in london at some point in 1996. thanks to condition of said cars, it rarely had the desired effect on the ladies, sadly, and they looked a bit er, gay.
later jodeci track bumped in every clapped out boy racer in london at some point in 1996. thanks to condition of said cars, it rarely had the desired effect on the ladies, sadly, and they looked a bit er, gay.
aaliyah - age ain't nothin' but a number
except it is when you're 14, from a legal standpoint. try to ignore that fact and enjoy babygirl's cooing vocals.
1-900 - oh
forgotten new jack swing slowie with a nice color me badd style beat. so obscure i couldn't find a picture of them.
except it is when you're 14, from a legal standpoint. try to ignore that fact and enjoy babygirl's cooing vocals.
1-900 - oh
forgotten new jack swing slowie with a nice color me badd style beat. so obscure i couldn't find a picture of them.
adina howard - freak like me
the sugababes cover used an 80s electro classic and was coolly clever, but dropped the sleaziness of the original like a hot potato. which was half the point.
the sugababes cover used an 80s electro classic and was coolly clever, but dropped the sleaziness of the original like a hot potato. which was half the point.
silk - freak me
another level's later cover version sounds impressively copycat given that they're essex boys. but the original beats out dane bowers and co any day, for those that know.
another level's later cover version sounds impressively copycat given that they're essex boys. but the original beats out dane bowers and co any day, for those that know.
swv - downtown
if you can't work this song out you're not old enough to be reading this. swv, along with mary j blige, inspired many of today's r&b acts.
if you can't work this song out you're not old enough to be reading this. swv, along with mary j blige, inspired many of today's r&b acts.
