Somebody's Watching Me
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| "Somebody's Watching Me" | |||||||||||||
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| Single by Rockwell featuring Michael Jackson | |||||||||||||
| from the album Somebody's Watching Me | |||||||||||||
| B-side | Somebody's Watching Me (Instrumental) | ||||||||||||
| Released | January 1984 /edit 2004 | ||||||||||||
| Format | 7" single Cassette tape CD Single |
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| Recorded | 1984 | ||||||||||||
| Genre | R&B, Synthpop | ||||||||||||
| Length | radio edit-3:59; original version-4:59 | ||||||||||||
| Label | Motown M 1702 |
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| Writer(s) | Kennedy Gordy Curtis Anthony Nolen |
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| Producer | Curtis Anthony Nolen | ||||||||||||
| Rockwell featuring Michael Jackson singles chronology | |||||||||||||
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"Somebody's Watching Me" is the debut single by R&B artist Rockwell, released on the Motown label in 1984. [1] The song's lyrics relate the narrator's paranoid fear of being followed and watched. It featured former Motown artists Michael Jackson on the chorus and Jermaine Jackson on additional backing vocals.
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[edit] Original recording
Rockwell is the son of Motown CEO Berry Gordy Jr. The singer had himself signed to Motown without his father's knowledge. The elder Gordy did not find out that Rockwell was his son Kennedy until after the single and the accompanying album, Somebody's Watching Me, were released.[citation needed]
Produced by Curtis Anthony Nolen, the song featured backing vocals by Michael Jackson.[2] "Somebody's Watching Me" peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1984, and reached the top of the Billboard R&B singles chart, as well as reaching number six on the UK Singles Chart.
It was the only major hit for Rockwell. His follow-up single, "Obscene Phone Caller," was Rockwell's only other Top 40 single, reaching #35 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 2009, the song was ranked #20 on VH1's 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80s.
[edit] Music video
The single's music video underscores the song's paranoid tone with a haunted house-inspired theme, including imagery of floating heads, ravens, graveyards, and shower scenes referencing the film Psycho. The mailman who appears in the music video for "Somebody's Watching Me" also stars in the video for "Obscene Phone Caller". This was a low budget video. Music video produced by The Wolfe Company, directed by Francis Delia, cinematography by Dominic Sena, production manager: Jason Braunstein, production coordinator: Jon Leonoudakis. Leonoudakis appears in the video as the visual metaphor "watching" Rockwell through the porthole of the front door.
[edit] DJ BoBo version: "Somebody Dance With Me"
| "Somebody Dance With Me" | ||||
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| Single by DJ BoBo | ||||
| Released | 1992 | |||
| Format | CD | |||
| Genre | Dance-Pop, Pop | |||
| Length | 3:31 | |||
| Label | Fresh | |||
| Writer(s) | Rockwell, DJ BoBo, Daniel Peyer, Kurt Burger | |||
| Producer | Gutze Gautschi, Mark Wyss, DJ Bobo, Joe Wuest, Axel Breitung | |||
| DJ BoBo singles chronology | ||||
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DJ BoBo based his 1992 single "Somebody Dance With Me" on "Somebody's Watching Me". It peaked at #1 in Switzerland, #4 in Germany, #3 in Austria, #1 in Sweden, #3 in Netherlands, #3 in Norway and #13 in Australia.
CD Single
- Somebody Dance With Me (Radio Mix)
- Somebody Dance With Me (Club Mix)
- Uh-Uh! (Deejay Remix)
- Somebody Dance With Me (Live In Switzerland)
Remix - CD-Maxi Fresh 1240
- Somebody Dance With Me (Remix)
- Move Your Feet
- Somebody Dance With Me (Live In Switzerland)
Remix Italien - CD-Maxi DWA 0097
- Somebody Dance With Me (Heaven Trouble Remix)
- Somebody Dance With Me (Radio Mix)
- Somebody Dance With Me (Club Mix)
- Uh-Uh! (Deejay Remix)
- Somebody Dance With Me (Live In Switzerland)
[edit] Beatfreakz version
| "Somebody's Watching Me" | ||||
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| Single by Beatfreakz | ||||
| Released | 2006 | |||
| Format | CD Single | |||
| Writer(s) | Kennedy Gordy | |||
| Beatfreakz singles chronology | ||||
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In May 2006, the Beatfreakz recorded a pseudo-cover of the song which sampled the chorus but omitted the verses. Their version peaked at #1 in Spain, #3 in the UK Singles Chart, #3 in the German Official Dance Chart, #4 in Russia, #7 in Finland, #12 in the Dutch Top 40, #18 in France, #36 in the Belgium UltraTop 50, #45 in Australia.
- CD single
- Somebody's Watching Me [Hi_Tack Edit]
- Somebody's Watching Me [Hi_Tack Club Mix]
- Somebody's Watching Me [E-Craig's 2006 Remix]
- Somebody's Watching Me [DeNnis Christopher Remix]
- Somebody's Watching Me [Ian Carey Club Mix]
[edit] Other cover versions
- Jamaican dancehall group T.O.K. covered the song for their 2001 album My Crew, My Dawgs as a hidden track.
- A cover of the song by Morris Day (lead singer of The Time) was included on The Haunted Mansion: Haunted Hits, the soundtrack album for the 2003 Walt Disney Pictures film The Haunted Mansion.
- Kidz Bop Kids covered this song on the 2004 album Kidz Bop Halloween.
- In 2005, Royal Gigolos recorded a pseudo-cover of the song which sampled the chorus but omitted the verses.
- Finnish power metal band Warmen included a cover of the song on their 2005 album Accept the Fact. Their version featured heavy metal singer Alexi Laiho.
- Florida alternative band Presence recorded a cover of the song in 2006.
- Danish industrial metal band Raunchy covered the song for their 2008 album Wasteland Discotheque.
- Electro music/hip hop producers Mysto & Pizzi recorded a cover of the song for a series of Geico television commercials. [3] Unlike in the original Rockwell version, in which the verses were rapped, Mysto & Pizzi's version is sung through the entire song. It is available as a free download on Geico's website, and there is also a music video.
- Punk pop band The Get Go covered this song, and reposted it on their MySpace as a tribute to Michael Jackson on 1st July 2009.[4]
- The Hit Crew did a cover of the song for several Drew's Famous Party Music Halloween titles.
[edit] Sampling
- TRU incorporated the lyrics and main melody of the chorus into their 1997 single "I Always Feel Like (Somebody's Watching Me)".
- Christian artist tobyMac sampled the chorus for his song "Somebody's Watching" from his 2001 album Momentum.
- In 2001, French hip hop group Fonky Family sampled the song in "Art 2 Rue".
- R&B artist Ciara incorporated a portion of "Somebody's Watching Me" for her 2006 hit single "Get Up".
- Hip hop group The Pack incorporates parts of the song, including the chorus, in their single "I'm Shinin'" from their 2007 album Based Boys.
- In 2008, internet celebrity Jeffree Star used the chorus of the song in his own track "Starstruck" which features the band Danger Radio.
[edit] Appearances in other media
- The Mysto & Pizzi cover version was featured (as a remake) in a series of commercials for GEICO that began airing in December 2008 and throughout 2009. The campaign, created by The Martin Agency,[5] consisted of various advetisements in which people would happen upon Kash, a stack of money with googly eyes, while the song is played in the background.
- The original song was used in a TV commercial for EA Sports' NHL 09, where the gamer is heard singing the chorus, changed slightly for comedic effect while gameplay footage is shown.
[edit] References
- ^ One of the "Artist Facts" listed on the Music Choice channel, whenever "Somebody's Watching Me" is played.
- ^ Cheryl Higginson (1984-05-01). "Rockwell Rockets Up The Popular Charts". Luddington Daily News.
- ^ "GEICO - The Remake of Somebody's Watching Me...". 2009-01-27. http://www.geico.com/about/commercials/music/.
- ^ "The Get Go on MySpace Music". 2009-07-28. http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=158233652&blogId=497990261.
- ^ Parpis, Elefteria (2008-12-05). "'Kash' Debuts for Geico". Adweek (Nielsen Business Media). http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/creative/news/e3ie8946cda1b3f6da233b6e4a88fb268ea. Retrieved 2008-12-19.
[edit] External links
- Music video for "Somebody's Watching Me" at YouTube (requires Adobe Flash)
| Preceded by "Encore" by Cheryl Lynn |
Billboard's Hot Black Singles number one single March 3 - March 31, 1984 (five weeks) |
Succeeded by "She's Strange" by Cameo |
