Back to Life
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| “Back To Life” | |||||
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| Single by Soul II Soul from the album Club Classics Vol. I |
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| Released | June 17, 1989 | ||||
| Format | 7" single 12" maxi single Cassette CD single |
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| Genre | R&B, Dance | ||||
| Length | 3:52 | ||||
| Label | Virgin | ||||
| Writer(s) | Jazzie B Caron Wheeler Nellee Hooper Simon Law |
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| Producer | Jazzie B Nellee Hooper |
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| Soul II Soul singles chronology | |||||
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"Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)" is a song by British R&B band Soul II Soul. It appeared on their debut album Club Classics Vol. I, (Keep On Movin' in the U.S.) and was released as its second single. "Back to Life" was one of two songs on the album featuring British R&B singer Caron Wheeler and gained success in both the UK and in the U.S.
The album version of the song was an a cappella which was remixed and re-recorded before being released as a single. Two new versions were produced — the first taking the original recording with instrumentation added, and the second was a re-working of the song with new lyrics and chorus (also adding "However Do You Want Me" to the title). It was this second version that became most popular. "Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)" peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming one of Soul II Soul's most successful singles in the U.S. (and the only one to enter in the top 10). In the UK it performed even better, reaching number one in the UK Singles Chart for four weeks in June 1989. For a time, the album was packaged together with a CD3 single including the new versions of the song.
The song was later sampled by rapper Tragedy Khadafi, then known as the Intelligent Hoodlum, on his song "Back to Reality". The song appeared on his debut album, Intelligent Hoodlum. The song was also featured in the opening scene of Hype Williams' motion picture Belly.
The song featured in "The Fresh Prince Project", the pilot episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The main character, Will Smith sings the song while waiting on the door step and dances to it in his bedroom later in the episode.
[edit] Charts
| Chart (1989) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 4 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot R&B Songs | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Dance Club Play | 1 |
| U.S. ARC Weekly Top 40 | 3 |
| UK Singles Chart | 1 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 2 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 3 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 13 |
| Australian Singles Chart | 45 |
| Preceded by "Sealed with a Kiss" by Jason Donovan |
UK number-one single June 18, 1989 |
Succeeded by "You'll Never Stop Me Loving You" by Sonia |
| Preceded by "Can't Get Over You" by Maze featuring Frankie Beverly |
Billboard's Hot R&B Songs number-one single October 7, 1989 |
Succeeded by "Miss You Much" by Janet Jackson |
