Somebody's Watching Me
| "Somebody's Watching Me" | ||||||||||
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| Single by Rockwell | ||||||||||
| from the album Somebody's Watching Me | ||||||||||
| B-side | Somebody's Watching Me (Instrumental) | |||||||||
| Released | January 1984 /edit 2004 | |||||||||
| Format | 7" single Cassette tape |
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| Recorded | 1983 | |||||||||
| Genre | Synthpop | |||||||||
| Length | 4:59 (Album Version) 4:00 (Single Version) 3:33 (Radio Version) |
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| Label | Motown M 1702 |
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| Writer(s) | Kennedy Gordy Curtis Anthony Nolen |
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| Producer | Curtis Anthony Nolen | |||||||||
| Rockwell 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. 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.[1] A clip of the song was remixed and released on Michael Jackson's Immortal album in 2011, with parts of songs such as "Is It Scary", "Threatened" and "Monster".
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[edit] Original recording
Rockwell is the son of Motown CEO Berry Gordy Jr. At the time of the recording Rockwell was estranged from his father and living with Ray Singleton, his father's ex-wife. Singleton served as executive producer on the project and would occasionally play some demo tracks to Berry Gordy. The elder Gordy was less than enthusiastic about Rockwell's music until he heard the single with a familiar voice featured prominently on background vocals.[1][2]
Produced by Curtis Anthony Nolen, the song featured backing vocals by ex-Motown artist Michael Jackson and Alan Murray on percussion.[1][3] "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.
[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 novel 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"
DJ BoBo based his 1992 single "Somebody Dance with Me" on "Somebody's Watching Me" with new lyrics and rap. The DJ Bobo single peaked at #1 in Sweden and Switzerland, #3 in Austria, Netherlands and Norway, at #4 in Germany and #13 in Australia.
[edit] Beatfreakz version
| "Somebody's Watching Me" | ||||
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| Single by Beatfreakz | ||||
| Released | 2006 | |||
| Format | CD Single | |||
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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
- New York based rapper Necro featured a remix of the song on his album Street Villains Vol. 2
- 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.
- Nerdcore hip hop artist Able-X covered the song for his 2007 album Cover Fire Volume 1.
- Danish industrial metal band Raunchy covered the song for their 2008 album Wasteland Discotheque.
- Electro music/hip hop artist/dj/producers, Mysto & Pizzi, recorded a cover of the song for a series of Geico television commercials.[4] Unlike in the original Rockwell version, in which the verses were rapped, Mysto & Pizzi's version is sung through the entire song.
- Punk pop band The Get Go covered this song, and reposted it on their MySpace as a tribute to Michael Jackson on July 1, 2009.[5]
- The Hit Crew did a cover of the song for several Drew's Famous Party Music Halloween titles.
- The song has been covered on YouTube under the name of Gabe's Watching, referencing Valve Corporation Managing Director Gabe Newell. The website can be viewed here.
[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 de 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.
- For the 2011 Cirque du Soleil show Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour the background vocals from this song found its way into a medley that included "Is It Scary", "Threatened", and "Thriller."
[edit] Appearances in other media
- It was featured in the pilot episode of the hit 80's TV show, Miami Vice, where Detective Rico Tubbs (played by Philip Michael Thomas), is seen lipsyncing it during a scene in a strip club.
- The Mysto & Pizzi cover version was featured in a series of commercials for GEICO that began airing in December 2008 and throughout 2009. The campaign, created by The Martin Agency,[6] consisted of various advertisements 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.
- The song was used as Number Four's ringtone in the film adaptation of I Am Number Four.
- The song was featured in the classic skateboarding film Round 2 Rodney Mullen vs. Daewon Song.
- The song was also featured in the Halloween episode (4th episode overall) of the popular New Jersey College Radio Show "The Nonsense con Christina y Juan".
- The song is also used for the sequence with the cats in The Cleveland Show's series 3 episode 6 "Sex and the Biddy".
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c (1984) Album notes for Somebody's Watching Me by Rockwell. Hollywood, California: Motown Records.
- ^ Gordy Singleton, Raynoma (1990) "Super Three" Berry, Me and Motown (First ed.) Chicago: Contemporary Books pp. 297–299 ISBN 0-8092-4340-7 "As they finished mixing down the record, I could barely wait to rush it over and play it for Berry."
- ^ 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.
