Things That Make You Go Hmmm...

"Things That Make You Go Hmmmm..."
Single by C+C Music Factory
from the album Gonna Make You Sweat
Released June 23, 1991
Format 7", 12", CD single
Recorded 1990
Genre Hip hop, dance
Length 5:23
Label Columbia
Writer(s) Robert Clivillés, Freedom Williams
Producer(s) Robert Clivillés, David Cole, Freedom Williams
C+C Music Factory singles chronology
"Here We Go (Let's Rock & Roll)"
(1991)		 "Things That Make You Go Hmmmm..."
(1991)		 "Just a Touch of Love"
(1991)

"Things That Make You Go Hmmmm..." is a song by American dance group C+C Music Factory. It was released in June 1991 as the third single from the album, Gonna Make You Sweat. The single features Freedom Williams and he is also seen in the song's music video. The song was inspired by a running gag on The Arsenio Hall Show, whereby Arsenio, while on an alleged long drive, ponders certain thoughts and refers to them as "things that make you go hmmm....". The C+C song was a success in the US, reaching #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #31 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. It also reached #4 on the UK Singles Chart. The song contains samples from the songs "I'm Shook" by James Brown and "Apache" by the Incredible Bongo Band.[1] The song was certified gold by the RIAA on August 13, 1991 for sales of over 500,000 copies.

Music video

The style of the music video was a major trendsetter in the early 1990s. It featured silhouetted animation of dancers jumping and dancing in front of a white background, with the stage visible, but also in a silhouette. The story of the song was also interpreted with black and gold cut-out animation that was a departure from the in-vogue 3D CGI animation of the time; however, these 2-D cut-outs ended up being even more progressive.

In popular culture

In American advertising, Coca-Cola was one of the first to advertise special promotions featuring the group in a special, brief cut of their music video. A version of the song was also used in a series of ads for McDonalds. It was used in the British television series Brainiac: Science Abuse. The ABC television network was one of the earliest media outlets to jump on the C+C bandwagon, advertising their spring 1992 prime-time programming under the takeoff banner, "Shows that make you go...", using a custom version of the song and running ads with a woman posing in front of a white background. Then, for their 1992-93 network campaign, ABC brought out many of their stars to do a complete take-off of the song and video for the It Must Be ABC banner.

In 1992, the song was featured highlights of the Philippine Basketball Association and the National Basketball Association, this was used during the PBA First Conference in the highlight footage of the Vintage Sports coverage of the PBA on PTV-4 before the news program Pangunahing Balita.[2]

The song was heard in the short-lived U.S. TV show Surviving Jack in episode six "She Drives Me Crazy".

The British girl group Stooshe covered the song and released it in 2013 as a B-side to their single "Black Heart", under the title "Things That Make You Go Mmm". The single reached #3 in the UK and #4 in Scotland.

Chart positions

Peak positions

Chart (1991) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[3] 3
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[4] 14
Canada Dance (RPM)[5] 1
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[6] 10
Germany (Media Control Charts)[7] 27
Ireland (IRMA)[8] 9
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[9] 19
New Zealand (RIANZ)[3] 2
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[3] 14
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[3] 15
United Kingdom (The Official Charts Company)[10] 4
US Billboard Hot 100 4
US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs 31
US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs 1

Year-end charts

Chart (1991) Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[11] 51

Certifications

Country Certification Date Sales certified
U.S.[12] Gold 1991 500,000

Preceded by
"Such a Good Feeling" by Brothers in Rhythm		 Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number-one single
August 31, 1991 - September 7, 1991 		Succeeded by
"The Whistle Song" by Frankie Knuckles

References

  1. ↑
  2. ↑ Things that make you go HMMMM on YouTube
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Things That Make You Go Hmmm...", in various singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved April 10, 2008)
  4. ↑ Canada peak
  5. ↑ Canada dance peak
  6. ↑ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  7. ↑ German Singles Chart Charts-surfer.de (Retrieved April 10, 2008)
  8. ↑ Irish Single Chart Irishcharts.ie (Retrieved April 10, 2008)
  9. ↑ "Single top 100 over 1991" (PDF) (in Dutch). Top40. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
  10. ↑ UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved April 10, 2008)
  11. ↑ "Billboard Top 100 - 1991". Retrieved 2009-09-15.
  12. ↑ U.S. certifications riaa.com (Retrieved August 5, 2008)