Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now
"Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" | |
---|---|
Song | |
B-side | "Layin' It on the Line" |
"Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" is a No. 1 hit song co-written by Albert Hammond and Diane Warren,[2] recorded by the American rock band Starship. Featured as the theme to the romantic comedy film Mannequin,[3] it hit No. 1 in the Billboard Hot 100 on April 4, 1987 and reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart for four weeks the following month and became the UK's 2nd biggest selling single of 1987. At the time, it made Grace Slick the oldest female artist to have a number one single in the United States[4] though the record was later broken by Cher's "Believe" in 1999. The song also received an Oscar nomination for "Best Original Song" at the 60th Academy Awards. In addition to appearing on the Mannequin soundtrack, the song was also released on Starship's album No Protection in 1987.
Background and writing
In a radio interview, Albert Hammond said that the idea for the song came from his impending marriage to his live-in girlfriend of seven years, after his divorce from his previous wife was finalized. He had said to Diane Warren, "It's almost like they've stopped me from marrying this woman for seven years, and they haven't succeeded. They're not gonna stop me doing it."[5] The song in recent years has been played as a "backing song" on the show The X Factor when reviewing some of acts back to the viewers. The song has been considered "feel good" propelled by a strong synthesizer beat while the lyrics "banal yet effective."[6]
Music video
A music video was produced for the song. It shows Mickey Thomas pursuing a mannequin come to life, played by Grace Slick, wrapped around footage from the film. Meshach Taylor, who plays window dresser Hollywood Montrose in the film, makes a cameo.
In popular culture
The song had played a major role in 1993 for the Montreal Canadiens NHL team during their 24th conquest of the Stanley Cup. While driving home after a lost game, head coach Jacques Demers heard the song playing on the radio and realised it was an empowering song. The next day, he brought to the Montreal Forum a cassette tape with the song on it and distributed among players a small card saying "We're on a mission, nothing's gonna stop us". They soon started to win. He played the song throughout all the playoff games and they eventually won the Stanley Cup that year.[7]
In 2013, the song was used in an advertising campaign by UK telecommunication company Talk Talk. As a result on Sunday 8 September 2013, it charted at number 39 on the Official UK Chart.[8]
Track listings
7" single
- "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" – 4:29
- "Layin' It on the Line" (live at Stopher Gym, Louisiana State University) – 4:15
12" single
- "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" – 4:29
- "Layin' It on the Line" (live at Stopher Gym, Louisiana State University) – 4:15
Charts and sales
Peak positions
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Year-end charts
Certifications
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Chart successions
Cover versions
- George Lam, a Hong Kong singer, recorded a cover version in Cantonese for his album in 1987. (Chinese name of the song: 敢愛敢做)[29]
- Alexia Vassiliou & Costas Charitodiplomenos sang a cover version in Greek, entitled Kanenas de mas stamata (Greek: Κανένας δεν μας σταματά) in 1987.
- The Shadows did an instrumental version on their album Reflection, in 1990.
- Liliane Saint-Pierre recorded a cover version, Eeuwig van je houden, in 1991.
- This song has been covered by American pop punk band The Starting Line on their 2001 EP With Hopes of Starting Over on the Drive-Thru Records label.
- This song was covered by Filipino acoustic band MYMP on their 2006 album New Horizon[30]
- The track's songwriter Albert Hammond recorded Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now as a duet with Bonnie Tyler on his 2010 album 'Legend'.[31]
- Vocaloid characters Hatsune Miku and Megurine Luka covered this song in a duet.
- Mexican pop group OV7 recorded a cover version in Spanish of Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now, in 2012, called "Magia".
Live cover performances
- The song was performed by Anthony Kavanagh and Alison Crawford during the UK talent-search show Grease Is the Word.[32]
References
- ^ RIAA Gold and Platinum Database [1]
- ^ Nothing's gonna stop us now and the hit songs of Diane Warren MUSIC SCORE.D WARREN – 1991
- ^ King, Alex P. (2004). Hit-parade – 20 ans de tubes (in French). Paris: Pascal. p. 340. ISBN 2-35019-009-9.
- ^ Gotta revolution, 1987: Grace slick, Paul Kantner, and “volunteers of America” W Glausser – Popular Music & Society, 1988 – Taylor & Francis
- ^ Song details: Nothing's gonna stop us now – Albert Hammond
- ^ The when, where, and who of pop lyrics: the listener's prerogative. T Murphey. Popular Music, 1989 – Cambridge Univ Press
- ^ Leclerc, Mario (2005) (in French). Jacques Demers – En toutes lettres. Quebec: Stanké. p. 472. ISBN 2-7604-0976-7
- ^ http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/starships-sales-rocket-following-x-factor-ad-campaign-2478/
- ^ "Starship – Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
- ^ Lwin, Nanda. Top 40 Hits: The Essential Chart Guide (2000).
- ^ "Starship – Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" (in French). Les classement single.
- ^ Irish Single Chart Irishcharts.ie (Retrieved April 10, 2008)
- ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Starship" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
- ^ "Starship – Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". Top 40 Singles.
- ^ "Starship – Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". VG-lista.
- ^ "Starship – Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". Singles Top 100.
- ^ "Starship – Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". Swiss Singles Chart.
- ^ UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved April 10, 2008)
- ^ a b c Billboard Allmusic.com (Retrieved September 3, 2008)
- ^ 1987 Austrian Singles Chart Austriancharts.at (Retrieved September 3, 2008)
- ^ "Single top 100 over 1987" (pdf) (in Dutch). Top40. Retrieved September 21, 2010.
- ^ 1987 Swiss Singles Chart Hitparade.ch (Retrieved September 3, 2008)
- ^ 1987 UK Singles Chart [2] (Retrieved March 4, 2009)
- ^ 1987 Billboard Singles Chart [3] (Retrieved February 19, 2011)
- ^ Canada certifications cria.ca (Retrieved September 3, 2008)
- ^ Swedish certifications Ifpi.se (Retrieved September 11, 2008)
- ^ UK certifications Bpi.co.uk (Retrieved September 3, 2008)
- ^ U.S. certifications riaa.com (Retrieved September 1, 2008)
- ^ Performance on YouTube
- ^ MYMP Discography
- ^ "Albert Hammond Returns with "Legend"". Retrieved November 21, 2010.
- ^ Performance on YouTube
External links
- 1987 singles
- Jefferson Starship songs
- Billboard Adult Contemporary number-one singles
- Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
- Irish Singles Chart number-one singles
- RPM Top Singles number-one singles
- UK Singles Chart number-one singles
- Songs written by Diane Warren
- Songs written by Albert Hammond
- Song recordings produced by Narada Michael Walden
- Pop ballads
- Rock ballads
- Songs from films
- Vocal duets