Songoftheday 10/16/20 - Heaven knows in my time I've been lonely, feeling my love that go in my mind...

 

 

"Do You Know (What It Takes)" - Robyn

from the album Robyn Is Here (1995 Sweden/1997 USA)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #7 (two weeks)

Weeks in the Top-40: 26

 

Today's song of the day comes from Swedish pop singer Robyn (Carlsson), who started her recording career when she was still in her teens, where she recorded her debut album Robyn Is Here for RCA Records. Her first single in her home country, "You've Got That Somethin'", reached the top-40 there in 1995 at #24, and eventually landing a minor hit in the UK at #54 a year later.  That was followed by "Do You Really Want Me (Show Some Respect)", which scored Robyn her first top ten in Sweden at #2. But it would be her third release that would bring the singer international success. "Do You Know (What It Takes)", written by Robyn with producers Max Martin and Denniz Pop along with writer Herbie Crichlow, straddled the line between sugary pop confection and neo-R&B assertiveness, with Robyn who refuses to settle for a man who just gives her appeasements and lies...

"Do You Know (What It Takes)" became Robyn's first (and biggest by a tie) hit in America, reaching the pop top ten in August of 1997. The single also placed on Billboard magazine's Adult Top-40 radio chart at #35, and even crossed over to their R&B genre chart at #33. Internationally, the single went all the way to #2 in Canada and #10 in her native Sweden, and made the top-40 in the UK (on its second release) at #26. The Robyn Is Here album, which made the Swedish top ten at #8, rose to #57 in the US, going on to sell over a million copies.

(Click below to see the rest of the post)

There was another version of the music video which originally came out on its initial release in Sweden in 1995...

Here's Robyn performing the song live on MTV in Europe...

 Next up, a clip of her performing the song at a festival and being interviewed in 1996...

and lastly, doing the song in her concert (a rarity) in 2008...

Up tomorrow: British new wave veterans disapprove.