Tell Me Something Good
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2010) |
| "Tell Me Something Good" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| B-side | "Smokin' Room" |
"Tell Me Something Good" is a song by Rufus and Chaka Khan, written by Stevie Wonder and released in 1974. The single was a hit in the United States, peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent one week at number one on the Cash Box Top 100.[1] It was among the earliest hits to use the guitar talk box, by Tony Maiden.[2]
The song has been described as having ".. rude metallic guitar" (by Al Ciner) and ".. a beautiful bass, clav and heavy breathing groove." The song can be difficult to count as there is an off-count into the verse. The first note is on the "and of four." [3]
The record was produced by the band with Bob Monaco.[4]
Awards
Rufus won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus for the song at the 17th Annual Grammy Awards in 1975.
Samples
- The Ronnie Laws version was sampled by the Beastie Boys on their 1989 album Paul's Boutique.
- The UGK song "Something Good", from their 1992 debut album Too Hard to Swallow, samples the song - later chopped and screwed by DJ Screw on his 1995 release Volume II: All Screwed Up.
- The Case song "Tell Me", on his 1999 album Personal Conversation, was based on this song.
- The chorus is sampled in Bay Area rapper Mac Dre's song "Too Hard For The Fuckin' Radio".
Chart performance
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
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Cover versions
- Yvonne Fair recorded an acclaimed cover of the song on her 1975 album The Bitch is Black.
- Saxophonist Ronnie Laws recorded a version on his 1975 debut album Pressure Sensitive.
- Maceo Parker recorded a cover of the song for his album FunkOverload.
- Lee "Scratch" Perry recorded a cover of the song for The Upsetters' 1978 album Return of the Super Ape.
- Eric Marienthal included it on his album Sweet Talk.
- Robbie Nevil recorded a cover on his album Day 1 in 1991.
- Lee Aaron recorded a cover on her album Some Girls Do in 1991.
- Guitarist Steve Fister recorded a cover on his 2006 album Dodgin Bullets.
- Pink recorded a cover of the song for the 2006 film Happy Feet which was included on the soundtrack album.
- Guitarist Greg Howe recorded an instrumental version of the song for his 2008 album, Sound Proof.
- Matthew Morrison performed the song as his Glee character Will Schuester in the first season episode "Funk". The single was released on iTunes.
Live covers
- In 2002, En Vogue performed the song on their concert DVD, "Live in the USA".
- Dave Matthews & Friends covered the song live from 2003 to 2005.
- Singer Kim Yarbrough successfully auditioned for Season 2 of The Voice with the song, landing a spot on Team Adam.
- Stevie Wonder has performed this song live on several occasions.
- Gov't Mule with Susan Tedeschi and Eric Krasno on guitar on 6/7/14 at Mt. Jam, Hunter Mountain, NY.
- The Power Station (a Duran Duran side project) performed this song live for "The Living Fear Tour" in 1996/1997
Pop culture references
Ray Romano's character sings a variation of the song while eating his wife's braciole in the Everybody Loves Raymond episode, "Debra Makes Something Good."
On Will & Grace, Karen tells Jack that this is the song to which she and Stan make love. She then walks in on her husband cheating on her with the same song playing. Closed captioning for that episode incorrectly credits the song to Sly and the Family Stone.
In That '70s Show, in the episode "Water Tower", Eric walks in on his parents having sex, and the song plays every time he has recurring nightmares and thoughts of his parents.
BET cable network aired and produced a phone-in game show named after the song (which was also the theme song).Julie Rogers hosted this show which was a short-lived, live call-in game show where home viewers have to answer one question of the day that was followed by panel of thee celebrity judges ranking the best responses for a prize. It aired from 1988-89.
Many venues in the NBA, NHL, MLB, and NFL play this song when a play is under review by referees or umpires.
New York radio station WCBS-FM had a show in the morning named after the song (which was also the theme song). The host told the listeners about a positive true event that happened that day. The Bobby Bones Show also has a segment named after the song.[10]
Personnel
source:[11]
- Chaka Khan - lead vocals, background vocals
- Dennis Belfield - bass, background vocals
- André Fischer - drums, percussion
- Kevin Murphy - organ, clavinet
- Al Ciner- guitar
- Ron Stockert - vocals, keyboards
- Tony Maiden (uncredited) - guitar, talk box
- Nate Morgan (uncredited) - keyboards
References
- ^ a b "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-12-30.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Classic Soul Album Spotlight: Rufus' "Rags to Rufus@". soultrain.com. May 5, 2014. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
- ^ Miller, S., (2010) "Music: What Happened?" 125 Records, ISBN 0615381960, ISBN 978-0615381961
- ^ "Remembering Bob Monaco". 2 August 2009. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
- ^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
- ^ "Australian Chart Book". Austchartbook.com.au. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
- ^ "Top 100 Hits of 1974/Top 100 Songs of 1974". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
- ^ "Top 100 Hits of 1974/Top 100 Songs of 1974". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
- ^ https://www.iheart.com/podcast/51-Tell-Me-Something-Good-27457750/episode/1-26-tell-me-something-good-27947113/
- ^ "Rufus – "Tell Me Something Good" b/w "Smokin' Room"". internetfm.com. March 18, 2015. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
