Songoftheday 6/16/17 - All my life I wanted to make it to the top, some said I wouldn't they told me no but I didn't stop...
from the album Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em (1990)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #2 (two weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 11
Today's song of the day comes from rapper MC Hammer, whose second major-label album, Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em, became a huge success, already spinning off two top ten pop hits with "U Can't Touch This" and "Have You Seen Her", and going on to spend an incredible 21 weeks at #1 on Billboard's albums chart. The third pop radio single released from the record would be "Pray", the first big mainstream rap single that would be based on religion. With an A-list sample from Prince's "When Doves Cry" as the foundation for the song, "Pray", with lyrics from Hammer spreading the word but with such an authoritative funky beat that it doesn't sound corny, ended up being his highest-charting pop single, almost reaching the pinnacle...
"Pray" became Hammer's third consecutive top ten pop hit, reaching the runner-up spot in America in November of 1990. The single also climbed to #4 on Billboard's R&B chart, while the 12" single mixes made it to #3 on their Dance Club Play list (his best showing there as well). Internationally, the song hit the top ten in New Zealand (#2), the Netherlands (#3), Germany (#4), Norway (#5), Australia (#7), Finland (#7), the UK (#8), and Switzerland (#10). In Canada, it almost did the trick at #14.
(Click below to see the rest of the post)
Here's the house music style "Jam The Hammer" mix that helped the 12" single into the top-3 on the dance chart...
The rapper performed "Pray" on this awards show (after a "Here Comes The Hammer" intro)...
and finally, here's Hammer live in Japan in 1991...
Up tomorrow: An alternative rock band laments the effects of addiction, not the guy from Friends.
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