Songoftheday 7/29/19 - Isn't that cute an extra belly button!
from the albums On The Attack and More (1994)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #14 (two weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 18
Today's song of the day comes from the dance music production team 20 Fingers, who came together in Chicago in the mid 1990s with producers Carlos Rosario and Manny Mohr and remixers JJ Flores and Onofrio Lollino along for the ride. Recruiting rapper/signer (Sandra) Gillette from New Jersey, the act released their debut single, the novelty dance track "Short Dick Man", in the summer of 1994. A bouncy yet weirdly-percussed single mocking a guy's genital stature, it was the must un-PC thing of the year, totally destroying a suitor with the motion of two fingers...
"Short Dick Man" (changed to "Short Short Man" for the radio) became both 20 Fingers' and Gillette's first and only top-40 pop hit in January of 1995. The extended mix of the song helped it rise to #3 on Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart as well. Internationally, the single was a huge success, topping the chart in France and Italy, and reaching the top ten in Germany (#3), Australia (#4), Austria (#6), Belgium (#6), New Zealand (#7), and the Netherlands (#9). In the UK, the uncensored version went to #21, while "Short Short Man" actually did better at #11.
20 Fingers' next release, "Lick It" featuring Roula, granted them a second #1 in Italy, while in the U.S. it stalled down at #72. For the third single from the debut album, Gillette was brought back for "Mr. Personality", which just missed the pop top-40 in America at #42, while getting to #8 in Italy. The 20 Fingers production crew also helmed the debut album for similar act Max-A-Million, scoring three more minor pop hits in America, with a cover of Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing" making the top-5 in Australia and New Zealand in 1995. That same year, 20 Fingers returned without Gillette for "Sex Machine" featuring Katrina, but besides a #14 placing in Italy got little notice anywhere else. While they continue to mix and produce the act hasn't had a single or album since.
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Here's the edited "Short Short Man" you would've heard on the radio...
In Spain, 20 Fingers used rapper Machito Ponce to record a Spanish-language version of "Short Short Man", which went to #2 on that country's singles chart...
And finally, Gillette live in Brazil in 1995...
Up tomorrow: San Francisco rapper takes you to private quarters.
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