Songoftheday 10/20/18 - Race for the border my daughter 'cause beats you're bangin' out, Jeeps rockin' beats in the streets when there's time for hangin' out...
from the album Down With The King (1993)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #21 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 10
Today's song of the day comes from the legendary rap trio RUN-DMC, who had dominated the east coast hip-hop scene throughout the 1980s, and scored two big (and pivotal) pop hits from their Raising Hell album with "You Be Illin'" and their remake collaboration with Aerosmith, "Walk This Way". The album itself went to #3 on the American LP chart and ended up selling over three million copies. However, Run, DMC, and DJ Jam Master Jay found it difficult to keep that momentum going; their next album Tougher Than Leather was a great leap forward in material, but with the airwaves now full of hip-hop acts, despite reaching the top ten (#9), and going platinum (one million copies sold), only one track hit the pop Hot 100 - "Mary Mary", which peaked way down at #75. (Three songs from the album made the R&B top-40, with "Run's House" reaching #10 and hitting #37 in the UK.) There was a movie released under the Tougher Than Leather name featuring the trio, but it bombed badly.
It got worse when their next record, Back From Hell, came out in 1990. This time, nothing from the disc made the pop charts, and only one track, "What's It All About", managed to climb into Billboard magazine's R&B top-40, topping out at #24. The album itself stopped at a dismal #81 after three consecutive platinum-selling records. All three were battling demons, most prominently DMC with his drinking, but also Jay's car accident.
After taking a needed break to get their collective acts together (and Run to "find God" as "Rev Run"), the trio returned in 1993 to more favorable circumstances with their sixth studio set Down With The King. Produced by Pete Rock, who also lays down a cameo verse with recording partner C.L. Smooth, the track reestablished them as genre "founding fathers" without having to overbrag at all. Instead of a pop-oriented sample, they got props from the community for focusing on the rhymes over a sample of an obscure track from the Broadway musical Hair, "Where Do I Go". Also, a who's who of hip-hop made their support shown on the music video, including yesterday's SOTD artists, PM Dawn...
"Down With The King" became RUN-DMC's third and so far last top-40 pop hit in May of 1993. The song reached #9 on Billboard's R&B chart, while spending two weeks at #1 on their Rap Singles list. Internationally, the single was a minor hit in the UK (#69) and Canada (#80). A second single from Down With The King, "Ooh, Whatcha Gonna Do", slipped on to the R&B chart at #78 while "bubbling under" the pop Hot 100 at #106.
Despite the bounce in momentum, Run, DMC, and Jay seemed to go in separate directions through the rest of the decade. DMC's addiction troubles re-emerged, and the pair musically had drifted apart. Still, the RUN-DMC name was just as fresh as before, courtesy of a pair of remixed singles from their past: Jason Nevins took their classic "It's Like That" to become a house-music banger. In America, it seemed to have stiffed, only reaching #90 on the R&B chart and "bubbling under" the Hot 100 pop list, but that's deceiving, for it got decent airplay. Internationally, it became the biggest single they ever had, going to #1 all over Europe like in the UK, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Finland, Denmark, and Australia (it hit #3 in Canada).
The trio's next album, Crown Royal, was released in 2001, but even though it reached the Top-40, it was mostly a Run-led affair with a load of guest stars instead of DMC's participation. Two years later, another rework of older track "I'm Tricky" featuring Jackknife Lee entered the British chart at #20, their final top-40 hit there. But it was a sad coda; Jam Master Jay was gunned down in his neighborhood in a still-cold case murder. RUN and DMC called the act quits, but since have appeared on TV frequently, with "Rev Run" having a longstanding reality show.
(Click below to see the rest of the post)
And here's RUN DMC appearing on Soul Train...
Next up, live on Yo! MTV Raps promoting the single...
And lastly, on Motown Live in 1998, with Naughty By Nature (whose influence is definitely shown in the record) making a cameo...
Up tomorrow: A culture club kid has a BIG surprise.
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