Songoftheday 2/1/18 - I'm just a telephone call away you can pick it up and call me any day, and Ima listen to all you got to say 'cause I'm the type of man that never turn a woman away...
from the album Homebase (1991)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #20 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 6
Today's song of the day comes from the hip-hop duo from Philadelphia, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince (Will Smith), who entered the 1990s with their seasonal anthem, "Summertime". The second single from their Homebase album was a retooling of the disco anthem "Ring My Bell". The original version of the track, written by Frederick Knight, went to #1 on the American pop chart in 1979...
For Jeff and Will's version kept the infectious chorus and substituted Smith's rap verses over Jeff's house music beat, although it was only Knight who got credit. Check out those cellular phones...
"Ring My Bell" became the second top-40 pop hit from Homebase in November of 1991. The single also climbed to #22 on Billboard's R&B chart, the same rank the 12" remixes made on their Dance Club Play list. Internationally, the record went all the way to #6 in New Zealand, and hit the top-40 in the Netherlands (#11), Belgium (#26), and Switzerland (#29), while stopping down at #53 in the UK and #58 in Australia. A third single from the album, "The Things That U Do", missed the pop chart, and on the R&B chart missed the top-40 at #43, but did manage to hit the top 40 in the Netherlands and New Zealand.
Up tomorrow: Crimson crooner and the band are ignited.
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