Super Freak
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| “Super Freak” | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Rick James from the album Street Songs |
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| Released | 1981 | ||||
| Genre | R&B | ||||
| Length | 3:24 | ||||
| Label | Motown Records | ||||
| Producer | Rick James | ||||
| Rick James singles chronology | |||||
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"Super Freak" is a 1981 hit single, produced and performed by Rick James for the Motown label. The song, co-written by James and Alonzo Miller, was first released on James' album Street Songs and was one of James' signature songs. It features background vocals from Motown labelmates The Temptations, in which the bass singer is James' uncle Melvin Franklin, and Canadian singer Taborah Johnson.
The song was a big hit for James in 1981, charting on the pop, R&B and dance charts in the U.S. On the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the song peaked at #16 in the fall of 1981 and spent 10 weeks in the top 40. Together with two other singles from Street Songs, "Give It to Me Baby" and "Ghetto Life", it spent three weeks at #1 on the American dance charts earlier that year.
The song is well known by those who grew up in the late-1980s/early-1990s for being sampled by M.C. Hammer on his smash hit "U Can't Touch This". However, the "Rick James" segments featured on Chappelle's Show have brought the original song back into general familiarity.
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[edit] Freak in films
An instrumental version of the song was also heard in the 1983 comedy Doctor Detroit and the 1992 movie Batman Returns. The song is featured in the Australian movie Garage Days, the 2006 film American Dreamz, and plays a major part in the 2006 film Little Miss Sunshine.
It was used as the theme tune to the classic Swedish cartoon "Sams and Char".
The track was featured in the soundtrack to the 2006 video game Scarface: The World is Yours.
The 2006 Beatfreakz remix was also featured in UK TV series Nathan Barley.
[edit] Freak covers
In 1984, the Los Angeles based novelty band Big Daddy (whose comic conceit was to cover fast songs as ballads and slow songs up-tempo, and all contemporary songs done in 1950s style) recorded the song to a slower beat as if it had been done by the Everly Brothers.
The Dave Matthews Band also paid homage to the deceased Rick James in Live Trax Vol. 8, segueing into "Super Freak," thrilling the fans, who sang along enthusiastically. [1]
Apollo Zero reconstructed a mashup featuring James' lead vocals to this song over the instrumentation and background vocals from the 2004 JC Chasez single "All Day Long I Dream About Sex", entitled "All Day I Dream About Sex...With a Superfreak".
In 2006, the Beatfreakz made their own cover version of the song, under the same name of "Superfreak" and gained a #7 UK hit with it. Australian Idol 4 finalist Bobby Flynn performed a version of the song. That same year the underground Chicago band Straitjacket covered this song on their album Vices.
The title track of Jay-Z's 2006 comeback album Kingdom Come features a sample from "Super Freak."
The song, done in bluegrass style by Ricky Skaggs and Bruce Hornsby, is featured on their 2007 eponymous collaborative album.
The disco cover band "Superfreak" was formed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1999 by former Nixon band members John Humphry and Jesse Davis. Current members include Donovan Williams -vocals, Jeff Blount - Bass guitar, Jeff Williams - Drums and Frank Arnold - Guitar www.superfreak.net
Van Halen played an extract of Superfreak during some of their shows on their 2008 US tour.
[edit] References
The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 6th Edition, 1996, It was chosen in The Mighty Boosh Night shown on MTV2.
[edit] See also
List of number-one dance hits (United States)
[edit] Audio sample
[edit] External links
| Preceded by "Try It Out" / "Hold Tight" by Gino Soccio |
Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number-one single (with "Give It to Me Baby" and "Ghetto Life") July 25, 1981 - August 8, 1981 |
Succeeded by "I'm in Love" by Evelyn King |
