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Remember the Time

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"Remember the Time"
Song
B-side"Come Together"

"Remember the Time" is a single by American singer Michael Jackson Recorded in the Hit Factory Miami. The song was released by Epic Records on January 14, 1992 as the second single from Jackson's eighth studio album, Dangerous. Written and composed by Teddy Riley, Michael Jackson and Bernard Belle, the song was produced by Riley and Jackson. "Remember the Time" was a successful attempt by Jackson to create a New jack swing-flavored jam with the accompaniment of co-producer Riley. Musically, the song is dance-oriented and its instruments include a piano and guitar. "Remember the Time" lyrics are about remembering being in love with someone.

"Remember the Time" was generally well received by contemporary critics. The song was commercially successful, peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and number one on Billboard's R&B singles chart. Internationally, the song was a top ten hit in nine countries, peaking at number one in New Zealand, as well at number two in Spain and three in the United Kingdom. The song reached the top twenty in all major territories. A nine minute music video directed by John Singleton, marketed as a "short film", was released for the song. The video is set in ancient Egypt and features appearances by Eddie Murphy, Iman, The Pharcyde and Magic Johnson. The video was generally well received.

Background and composition

"Remember the Time" was released as the second single from Michael Jackson's eight studio album, Dangerous on January 14, 1992. The song was written by Teddy Riley, Michael Jackson and Bernard Belle, and was produced by Riley and Jackson. "Remember the Time" is three minutes fifty nine seconds long. The song's music was compared to Jackson's 1979 single, "Rock with You" from his Off the Wall album.[2] According to co-writer Teddy Riley, the song is about Jackson falling in love with Debbie Rowe in the late 1980s and early 1990s.[3]

Musically, "Remember the Time" is a pop and new jack swing song. The songs lyrics are about remembering being in love with someone, which can be seen in the lyrics "Do you remember when we fell in love/We were young and innocent?".[4] Sputnikmusic viewed the songs lyrics as being about a "love affair in the past and doesn't have any real faults to it".[1] Instruments for "Remember the Time" include a piano and guitar.[5] The song is set in the key of an original F Minor with Jackson's voice range being sung from Eb4 to C6.[5] The song's tempo is moderate at 116 beats per minute.[5]

"Remember the Time" did not feature on the setlist for the Dangerous World Tour, but was rehearsed. At the 1993 Soul Train Music Awards, the song won the award for Best R&B/Soul Single - Male. Jackson appeared with an injured foot and on crutches, but was able to perform the song seated in a chair, surrounded by dancers.

Reception

Critical reception

"Remember the Time" was generally well received by contemporary music critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine, a writer for Allmusic, commented that the album Dangerous had "plenty" of "professional craftsmanship at its peak" because of "such fine singles" like "In the Closet" and "Remember the Time".[6] Erlewine listed "Remember the Time" as being a highlight from Dangerous.[6] Alan Light, a writer for Rolling Stone, stated that he felt "Remember the Time" was the "most lighthearted musical track on the album" and described the song's lyrics as telling of a "blissful romance only to ask, 'So why did it end?'"[7] Jon Parales of The New York Times commented that "titles like 'Remember the Time', 'She Drives Me Wild' and 'Give in to Me'" tell the lyrics' "whole story - though they don't suggest the wretched tone he has when he sings them."[8] Richard Harrington, a writer for The Washington Post, described "Remember the Time" as being "wistful" commenting that he felt that the song featured Jackson's "least affected vocal performance" but that it "builds an engaging, radio-friendly momentum".[9]

Chart performance

"Remember the Time" peaked within the top five on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number three on the charts issue date March 7, 1992, five weeks after the singles release.[10] The song saw similar success on other Billboard charts; topping the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs on March 7, and peaking at number two Dance/Club Play Songs on April 4, 1992, and number fifteen on Adult Contemporary on March 21 in the same year.[10] The song peaked at number two on Billboards Hot Dance Music/Maxi Singles Sales.[11] "Remember the Time" was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for the shipment of over 500,000 units in the United Sates in March 1992.[12] The song saw similar commercial success internationally, charting within the top twenty in major territories at the time of its release. In the United Kingdom, "Remember the Time" first entered the chart on the issue date February 15, 1992, placing at number six.[13] The following week, on February 22, the song charted at number three, where it peaked; the song remained on the charts for a total of eight weeks.[13]

"Remember the Time" topped the New Zealand charts for two consecutive weeks, having first entered the chart at number three on February 23.[14] "Remember the Time" peaked at number four in the Netherlands and Switzerland.[15] The song also charted within the top ten on the French, Australian, Swedish, Italian, and Norwegian charts; peaking at number five, six, eight and ten.[15] The song charted within the top twenty, peaking at number sixteen, in Austrian.[15] Having been re-issued for Jackson's Visionary campaign in 2006, "Remember the Time" peaked at number two in Spain on the charts issue date on May 14, 2006.[16] After Jackson's death in June 2009, his music saw a serge in popularity.[17] In the United Kingdom, on the charts issue date of July 11, the song re-entered the chart at number eighty one.[13]

Music video

File:Remember the time 140x105.jpg
Jackson wearing a gold satin costume in the video for "Remember the Time".

As part of promotion for "Remember the Time", a music video, which was filmed in mid-January 1992, was released.[18] Prior to the release of the video, Jackson's record label promoted the video by releasing clips, as well as releasing behind the scenes clips of making the video.[2] The nine minute video was promoted as a "short film".[2] The music video premiered on MTV, Fox and Black Entertainment Television on February 2, 1992.[19] After the video was premiered on MTV, the channel aired a "rockumentary" called "More Dangerous Than Ever" which included glimpses of the making of the video.[2] Jackson's record label, would not release the videos budget figures.[2] The music video for "Remember the Time" was directed by John Singleton and choreographed by Fatima Robinson; the video was an elaborate production and became one of Jackson's longest videos with a length of over nine minutes. The video was set in ancient Egypt, and featured groundbreaking visual effects and appearances by Eddie Murphy, Iman, The Pharcyde, Magic Johnson, Tom "Tiny" Lister, Jr. and Wylie Draper,[2] who portrayed Jackson as an adult in the made for TV movie The Jacksons: An American Dream and died shortly after appearing in this video.

When Jackson appears in the video as a hooded wizard, he is the third person to come in and try to entertain the Pharaoh's bored partner. The two first ones have failed and she has sent them to execution. The Queen sees that this wizard is different anyway—instead of juggling or eating fire, he walks up the steps to her throne and sings to her, asking her if she "remembers the time" they were together. The Pharaoh (played by Murphy) hardly appreciates this move and summons his guards. Jackson runs away to another room and begins an elaborate, Egyptian-style choreography with the Pharaoh's servants. When the guards find him out, the servants disappear and so does Jackson, in a swirl and a cloud of golden dust. In the video Jackson was dressed in a costume made of gold satin and he wore a golden chain mail, a white skirt with a phallic dangling sash, black pants and black boots.[2] This video features a distinct physically complicated dance routine that became the centerpiece of many other videos from the Dangerous album. It is also one of the very few videos in which Jackson is seen embraced in a kiss. Later, in 1993 on Oprah, Iman remarked that Jackson was a "very, very good kisser."

The music video was generally well received by music critics. Ira Robbins of Entertainment Weekly described "Remember the Time" as being a "gorgeous ancient Egyptian extravaganza" video.[20] The music video appeared on the Jackson's video: Dangerous – The Short Films in 1993,[21] Video Greatest Hits – HIStory in 1995[20] and Michael Jackson's Vision in 2010.[22] The music video, along with other videos from Dangerous, were frequently shown on MTV.[21]

Track listings and formats

Charts and certifications

Chart procession and succession

Preceded by Billboard Hot R&B Singles number-one single
March 7, 1992 		Succeeded by

Personnel

  • Written and composed by Teddy Riley, Michael Jackson and Bernard Belle
  • Produced by Teddy Riley and Michael Jackson
  • Recorded and mixed by Bruce Swedien, Teddy Riley and Dave Way
  • Solo and background vocals, vocal arrangement by Michael Jackson
  • Keyboards, synthesizers, rhythm and synthesizer arrangements by Teddy Riley
  • Sequencing and programming by Wayne Cobham

References

  1. ^ a b "Dangerous". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 2009-06-21. Cite error: The named reference "Dangerous" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Jon Parales (1992-02-04). "Review/Video; Michael Jackson's Costly New Promotional Clip". NYTimes.com. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
  3. ^ Cheo Hodari Coker (1996-11-24). "Mr. New Jack Swings Back". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-10-28.
  4. ^ David Browne (1994-01-14). "Sound Effects". EW.com. Time Warner Inc. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
  5. ^ a b c "Remember the Time - Michael Jackson Digital Sheet Music (Digital Download)". MusicNotes.com. Alfred Publishing Co. Inc. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
  6. ^ a b Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "allmusic (( Dangerous > Overview ))". Allmusic.com. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
  7. ^ Alan Light (1992-01-09). "Dangerous : Michael Jackson : Review". RollingStone.com. Wenner Media LLC. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
  8. ^ Pareles, Jon (1991-11-24). "Recordings View; Michael Jackson in the Electronic Wilderness". NYTimes.com. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
  9. ^ Richard Harrington (1991-11-24). "Article: Jackson's `Dangerous' Departures; Stylistic Shifts Mar His First Album in 4 Years". HighBeam.com. The Gale Group, Inc. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
  10. ^ a b "Click to PlayClick to Play VideoRemember the Time - Michael Jackson". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
  11. ^ a b c d e f "allmusic ((( Michael Jackson > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles )))". Allmusic.com. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
  12. ^ a b "Gold and Platinum". RIAA.com. Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2010-02-28.
  13. ^ a b c d e "Remember the Time". ChartStats.com. The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
  14. ^ a b "Michael Jackson - Remember the Time (song)". Charts.org.nz. Hung medien. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Michael Jackson - Remember the Time (chanson)". LesCharts.com. Humg Medien. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
  16. ^ a b "Michael Jackson - Remember the Time (song)". SpainishCharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
  17. ^ Ed Christman, Antony Bruno, (2009-07-02). "Michael Jackson Music Sales Surge Could Last For Months". Billboard.com. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 2010-02-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ "NEW MICHAEL JACKSON VIDEO DUE FEB. 2". hiladelphia Inquirer. 1992-01-21. Retrieved 2010-05-27.
  19. ^ The Philadelphia Inquirer (1992-01-21). "New Michael Jackson Video Dub Feb. 2". Nl.Newsbank.com. News Library. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
  20. ^ a b Ira Robbins (1993-12-17). "Michael Jackson Video Greatest Hits -- HIStory". EW.com. Time Warner, Inc. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
  21. ^ a b Lisa Schwarzbaum (1993-12-17). "Dangerous: The Short Films". EW.com. Time Warner, Inc. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
  22. ^ Cite error: The named reference videoalbum3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  23. ^ a b "Swiss Singles Chart Archives". HitParade.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
  24. ^ "Billboard Top 100 - 1992". Retrieved 2010-07-30.

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