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If You Don't Know Me by Now

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"If You Don't Know Me by Now"
Song
B-side"Let Me Into Your World"

"If You Don't Know Me by Now" is a song written by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff and recorded by the Philly soul musical group Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, which became their first hit after being released as a single in 1972 topping the US R&B chart and peaking at number three on the US Pop chart.[1]

The song was originally written for Labelle (a trio led by Patti LaBelle) but they never recorded it. Much like the issue with "I Miss You" and The Dells passing on it, the song's composers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff gave the song to Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, which featured Teddy Pendergrass as lead vocalist. In addition to the single release, the song was included on their debut album I Miss You.

Patti LaBelle later made the song as part of her concert repertoire in 1982. A live version appears on her 1985 album, Patti.

It was later covered by the English pop/soul band Simply Red, also becoming their best-known hit after reaching number one on the U.S. Hot 100 on July 15, 1989 and at number thirty-eight on the Hot Black Singles chart.[2] It peaked at number two in the UK Singles Chart. It also topped the Canadian Singles Chart.

Seal recorded the song for his 2008 album Soul, and, in April 2009, it became his first top-ten Adult Contemporary hit since "Love's Divine" in 2004;[3] the song was subsequently nominated for the Best Male Pop Vocal Performance Grammy.

Rod Stewart also included this song on his 2009 album Soulbook.

The song was chosen as one of the Songs of the Century by the RIAA. It was featured at the end of Michael Apted's movie Class Action (1991).

Simply Red version

"If You Don't Know Me by Now"
Song
B-side"Move on Out"

This version of the song is heard in the film American Psycho and appears in the game Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol. It is also available to download for the Xbox 360 game Lips and contains the music video. According to the producer Stewart Levine, he didn't want too much orchestration on the record and went with a two part-harmony instead of a three part harmony. Hucknall admitted he loved Harold Melvin and the Blue Note's version and stated he danced to their music when he was only 13.[4] Their version won a Grammy Award for the Best R&B Song of 1989.

Track listings

7" single
  1. "If You Don't Know Me by Now" – 3:23
  2. "Move on Out" (recorded Live Manchester on February 22, 1989) – 5:18
12" single
  1. "If You Don't Know Me by Now" – 3:23
  2. "Move on Out" (recorded live Manchester on February 22, 1989) – 5:18
  3. "Shine" (recorded live Manchester on February 22, 1989) – 3:30
3" CD single
  1. "If You Don't Know Me by Now" – 3:23
  2. "Move on Out" (recorded live Manchester on February 22, 1989) – 5:18
  3. "Shine" (recorded live Manchester on February 22, 1989) – 3:30
  4. "Sugar Daddy" – 3:30

Charts

Chart (1989) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[5] 1
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[6] 9
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[7] 3
Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[8] 5
France (SNEP)[9] 11
Invalid chart entered Germany2 19
Ireland (IRMA)[10] 4
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[11] 1
Norway (VG-lista)[12] 2
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[13] 2
UK Singles (OCC)[14] 2
US Billboard Hot 100[15] 1
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[16] 38
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[17] 1

Other cover versions

References

  1. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 393.
  2. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 528.
  3. ^ Chart Beat, Billboard.com, April 15, 2009.
  4. ^ Bronson, Fred (1992). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits. p. 736. ISBN 0-8230-8298-9.
  5. ^ "Simply Red – If You Don't Know Me by Now". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  6. ^ "Simply Red – If You Don't Know Me by Now" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  7. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 6403." RPM. Library and Archives Canada.
  8. ^ "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 6438." RPM. Library and Archives Canada.
  9. ^ "Simply Red – If You Don't Know Me by Now" (in French). Les classement single.
  10. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – If You Don't Know Me by Now". Irish Singles Chart.
  11. ^ "Simply Red – If You Don't Know Me by Now". Top 40 Singles.
  12. ^ "Simply Red – If You Don't Know Me by Now". VG-lista.
  13. ^ "Simply Red – If You Don't Know Me by Now". Singles Top 100.
  14. ^ "Simply Red: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  15. ^ "Simply Red Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  16. ^ "Simply Red Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard.
  17. ^ "Simply Red Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard.
  18. ^ "Zap Pow - If You Don't Know Me By Now". YouTube. 2012-02-17. Retrieved 2016-10-07.
  19. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2013). Hot Country Songs 1944–2012. Record Research, Inc. p. 319. ISBN 978-0-89820-203-8.
  20. ^ "Kickin' It Up overview". Allmusic.com.
  21. ^ "Gerald Albright Biography". VerveMusicGroup.com.

External links

Preceded by Billboard Best Selling Soul Singles number-one single (Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes version)
November 18–25, 1972 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Billboard Adult Contemporary (chart) number-one single (Simply Red version)
June 24, 1989 (6 weeks) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Billboard Hot 100 number-one single (Simply Red version)
July 15, 1989 		Succeeded by
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