Free Your Mind (song)

"Free Your Mind"
Single by En Vogue
from the album Funky Divas
Released August 24, 1992 (U.S.)
Format CD single, cassette single
Recorded December 1991—January 1992[1]
Genre R&B, Funk rock
Length Album Version 4:52
LP Edit 4:10
Label East West
Writer(s) Denzil Foster, Thomas McElroy
Producer(s) Foster & McElroy
En Vogue singles chronology
"Giving Him Something He Can Feel"
(1992)		 "Free Your Mind"
(1992)		 "Give It Up, Turn It Loose"
(1992)

"Free Your Mind" is the name of a Grammy Award-nominated hit single released by the American all-female R&B group En Vogue. Released on September 24, 1992 "Free Your Mind" is the third single released from En Vogue's critically acclaimed album Funky Divas. The anti-prejudice rock-oriented song reached number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 16 on the UK Singles Chart.

"Free Your Mind" debuted at number 89 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 the week of September 12, 1992. Within one week, it jumped to number 45, then to number 25, and continued to make impressive strides until it eventually peaked at number 8 the week of October 31, 1992. Altogether, "Free Your Mind" spent 16 weeks in the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100.

Song information

"Free Your Mind" used the chorus line of the George Clinton/Funkadelic song, "Free Your Mind and The Rest Will Follow" with his permission. The guitar and bass tracks for the song were written and recorded by San Francisco-based guitarist Jinx Jones. The opening line: "Prejudice, wrote a song about it. Like to hear it? Here it go!", is adapted from a line originally used by David Alan Grier's character Calhoun Tubbs from Fox's In Living Color.

The song is known for its award-winning music video, directed by Mark Romanek. On January 21, 1993, En Vogue performed the song on a sixth-season episode of the NBC sitcom A Different World (where they guest-starred as Vernon Gaines' nieces). It was certified gold by the RIAA in late 1992. It is one of several songs to feature all four members of the group on lead vocals.

Janet Jackson included the video in the Countdown of her twenty-five favorite videos of all-time at number eleven.[2]

The track has been included in Les Mills' most recent BodyVive class.

The song was covered by The Band on their 1996 album High on the Hog, and by Sub7even in 2002.

The song was covered as part of a mash-up on Fox's Glee along with "Stop! In the Name of Love" by the Supremes in the episode "Never Been Kissed".

The song was used in the 1994 film The Cowboy Way.

The song was covered by Swedish band Slapdash, track 13 on the album "Actual Reality"

The song was used on the show "Modern Family" during a flash mob.

The song was covered by Greek pop star Elena Paparizou who performed it at the first MadWalk By Vodafone on February 2,2011 along with her smash hit single Baby It's Over, dressed by Apostolos Mitropoulos.

The song was used in the trailer for the Seth Rogen comedy The Interview.

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards of 1993

MTV Video Music Awards 1993

Charts

Peak positions

Chart (1992) Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100 8
US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs 23
US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play 39
UK Singles Chart 16
Australian Singles Chart[3] 39
Dutch Singles Chart[4] 15
Irish Singles Chart[5] 23
New Zealand Singles Chart[6] 12
Swedish Singles Chart[7] 29
Chart (2002) Peak
position
German Singles Chart 50

End of year charts

End of year chart (1992) Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[8] 93

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.faqs.org/copyright/dont-think-i-can-make-it-by-denzil-foster-thomas-mcelroy/
  2. ↑ http://www.janet-xone.com/2006_10_01_archives.html#116036418360381766
  3. ↑ "australian-charts.com". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
  4. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl". MegaCharts. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
  5. ↑ "The Irish Charts". MegaCharts. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
  6. ↑ "charts.org.nz". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
  7. ↑ "swedishcharts.com". hitparad.se. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
  8. ↑ "Billboard Top 100 - 1992". Retrieved 2010-07-30.

References

    External links