Don't Look Any Further

"Don't Look Any Further"
Single by Dennis Edwards featuring Siedah Garrett
from the album Don't Look Any Further
Released	3 April 1984
Genre	R&B, quiet storm
Label	Motown Records
Writer(s)	Franne Golde, Dennis Lambert, Duane Hitchings
Producer(s)	Dennis Lambert
Dennis Edwards singles chronology
– "Don't Look Any Further" (1984) "(You're My) Aphrodisiac" (1984)

	"Don't Look Any Further" by Dennis Edwards An audio sample of "Don't Look Any Further" (released 1984)
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"Don't Look Any Further" is a 1984 single by former Temptations lead singer Dennis Edwards, featuring Siedah Garrett. The single was written by Franne Golde, Dennis Lambert and Duane Hitchings. It peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Black Singles chart and peaked at No. 72 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[1] In the UK, the song peaked at No. 45.^[2]

Guitar, bass and drum programming is by Paul Jackson, Jr.

Sampling

• The 1986 single "City Lights" by William Pitt, which was European hit, uses the same bassline and chord structure.
• The first well-known sample of the song's distinctive bassline is in Eric B. & Rakim's 1987 single "Paid in Full".
• 2Pac's song "Hit Em Up", from his 1998 compilation album Greatest Hits, also samples "Don't Look Any Further".
• The 'Don't Look Any Further Remix' of the song "Unpretty" by R&B girl group TLC heavily samples the song.
• The Notorious B.I.G. and Junior Mafia also sample "Don't Look Any Further" for their song "Gettin' Money (Remix)".
• Australian hip hop group The Herd sample the bassline in their song, "77%".
• Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock also sample the bassline in their song "Make It Hot".
• Lil Wayne samples "Don't Look Any Further" on his 2002 single "Way of Life". It features Big Tymers and TQ and appears on his album 500 Degreez.
• Houston rapper Z-Ro sample the song in "Mo City Don (Freestyle)" off his album Let the Truth Be Told.
• Rapper Snoop Dogg samples the song in "New Jackson" (De Sean Jackson Theme Song) and in the song "Paper'd Up".
• Aloe Blacc uses a simplified version of the bass in "Love Is the Answer".

In popular culture

• "Don't Look Any Further" played a prominent role in the plot of The X-Files episode "Orison", as a high school memory trigger/divine warning for Dana Scully.
• The instrumental has been used as an underscore in several first season episodes of Everybody Hates Chris.
• It also appears in episode 4 of HBO's How to Make It in America.

Music video

The music video for the song has been described as "what ... might be the worst video ever".^[3]

However, given the rudimentary style of video making utilized at the time, many believe that the video was of, at least, moderate quality. Despite its simplicity, some early video aficionados descride the video as "awesomely terrible". Regardless of how critics view this video, most agree that it is visual accompaniment for one of the greatest soul songs of the 1980s.

Cover versions

M People version

"Don't Look Any Further"
Single by M People
from the album Elegant Slumming
B-side	Remixes, La Vida Loca
Released	22 November 1993
Format	7" single, 12" maxi CD single, cassette
Genre	Pop, soul
Length	3:26
Label	Deconstruction
Producer(s)	M People
M People singles chronology
"Moving on Up" (1993) "Don't Look Any Further" (1993) "Renaissance" (1994)

"Don't Look Any Further" is the eighth single from British band M People. It was the third single from their second album Elegant Slumming. It was released on 22 November 1993. The song peaked at number nine on the UK Singles Chart.^[4]

Composition and arrangement

Heather Small sings the lead duet of the song which was originally sung by Dennis Edwards, and Mark Bell sings the female part (originally sung by Siedah Garrett). Small slightly alters the third line of the first verse: "What you need is a lover, someone to take over. Oh babe, don’t look any further" instead of singing: "What you need is lover, a man to take over. Oh girl, don’t look any further".

The M People version stayed very faithful to the original, incorporating the much sampled bassline, with a trademark deeper Moog sound, and programmed drumming sticking to the same familiar bass drum beat. However, instead of the guitar in the middle eight, they used a saxophone in its place and just one set of keys with progressive and chords plays throughout with splices of percussive drumming at junctions between verses and choruses.

Backing vocals are provided by critically acclaimed British R&B gospel group Nu Colours.

Chart performance

The song received very positive reception from critics. The single became the fourth consecutive top 10 hit for the band and their third consecutive Top 10 from the Elegant Slumming album. It charted and peaked at number 9, spending five weeks in the Top 20 with weekly sales starting at 82,000 copies and it continued to sell over 60,000 copies in each of the following four weeks.

The song spent a total of 10 weeks on the chart, leaving in early February 1994, so "Don't Look Any Further" had the second longest chart sojourn of any M People single, after the 11 weeks of both predecessor singles. Elsewhere, they secured their second consecutive Top 5 hit in New Zealand where it peaked at number 4 and stayed in the chart for 18 weeks. In Switzerland, it took the single seven weeks to peak at number 23, but stayed in the Swiss Top 40 for 18 weeks in total.

Music video

The video was filmed over two days in Germany's capital of Berlin on 26 and 27 October 1993 while the band was still promoting "Moving on Up"'s success around Europe. Great landmarks including the Brandenburg Gate, The Berlin Wall, Berliner Dom, the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church and the Fernsehturm (the TV Tower in Alexanderplatz) are all featured within the video adding to the atmospheric backdrop seen in a misty haze.

As the only second M People music video to be filmed abroad, the external shots show Small walking around the cold city centre as is also Mark Bell who is never seen singing with Small but they seem to pass each other at various points without realising while walking around town. Mike, Paul and Shovell are also seen chatting to each other under bridges, whilst Small seems oblivious to their existence.

Other internal shots show both Small and Bell leaning up against separate opposing walls and later are seen in a split-screen effect singing their duet but, again, never directly to each other. During the final chorus, Small is seated in a quiet German pub alone at a table at the fore and in the background, Mike, Paul and Shovell are seated around another table and they join in to sing the chorus. In this final scene, the camera continues to pan horizontally from right to left and back repeatedly as the four main members of the band all sing together.

Live performances

During both legs of the Elegant Slumming tours, Mark Bell would continue to duet the song with Small. But on subsequent tours, the male lead would change: on the Bizarre Fruit tours, Small would duet with backing vocalist Paul Johnson. On the Fresco tour she'd sing with the late Lynden David Hall, who was also supporting them and Nate James would duet on the 2005 Re-union Tour, as he was supporting them. Other duets have been sung with backing vocalist Tommy Blaize after 2007.

Remixes

The two mixes were provided by British house music producer (Dancing) Danny D (a.k.a. D Mob) who gave a funkier interpretation with additional backing vocals on the chorus whereas the similar sounding "Strip to the Bone" mix (also by Danny D) gave the song a funkier version with an additional rap ad-lib of "the drum, the bass" to bridge the verse and chorus.

Artwork

One of the four sofas as seen on the Elegant Slumming album cover is featured on the cover of this single on its own. It is this particular pink sofa that Heather Small was sat on on the cover of the parent album and her not being there incorporates the idea of "look(ing) no further" and finding no one there, in total contrast to the previous single "Moving on Up" when it was just a side profile of Small that made up the artwork.

Track listings

7" mini

1. "Don't Look Any Further" (M People Master Edit) - 3:25
2. "La Vida Loca" - 4:31

12" maxi

1. "Don't Look Any Further" (M People Master Mix) - 5:28
2. "Don't Look Any Further" (Strip to the Bone Mix) - 5:26
3. "Don't Look Any Further" (Danny D Mix) - 5:38
4. "La Vida Loca" - 4:31

CD maxi

1. "Don't Look Any Further" (M People Master Edit) - 3:25
2. "Don't Look Any Further" (Strip to the Bone Mix) - 5:26
3. "Don't Look Any Further" (Danny D Mix) - 5.38
4. "La Vida Loca" - 4:31

Chart positions

The Kane Gang version

In 1988, British blue-eyed soul/sophisti-pop group The Kane Gang took their version to number 52 on the UK Singles Chart,^[8] and number 64 on the Hot 100. The Kane Gang's rendition of "Don't Look Any Further" was number one on the US dance charts for one week, and was their sole entry on the chart.^[9]

Track listing

US 7" vinyl

A. "Don't Look Any Further"

B. "I Thought I Could Handle It"

References