Songoftheday 2/24/21 - Every time I make a run, girl you turn around and cry I ask myself why, oh why?

 

 

"Gone Till November" - Wyclef Jean

from the album The Carnival (1997)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #7 (one week)

Weeks in the Top-40: 18

 

Today's song of the day comes from Wyclef Jean, who had been a third of the seminal hip-hop group The Fugees. Their album The Score had scored three big hits with "Fu-Gee La" and their reinterpretations of Bob Marley's "No Woman No Cry" and Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly".  However, the group fractured after the success of the record, though continuing to have ties with each other's work. In the spring of 1997, Wyclef reemerged with a his first solo lead single "We Trying To Stay Alive", which featured fellow Fugee Pras as well as John Forte. The Bee Gees-sampling track just missed the pop top-40 at #45, while peaking at #14 on Billboard magazine's R&B chart. It also was a decent hit in the UK, climbing to #13. Releasing his first "solo" album The Carnival that June (which was billed as "featuring the Refugee All-Stars", the next cut from the record promoted to radio (without a commercial single) was "Guantanamera", a reinterpretation of an old Cuban folk song that the soft-pop group the Sandpipers took to the top ten in America and Britain in 1966. Jean's version placed on Billboard's R&B Airplay chart at #23, and the Hot 100 pop airplay list at #62. That song, which featured Celia Cruz and Jeni Fujita, earned Wyclef a Grammy nomination in 1998 for Best Rap Duo/Group, which went to Puff Daddy for his Notorious B.I.G. tribute "I'll Be Missing You". In the fall of 1997, Pras and the Refugee All-Stars landed a top-40 pop hit with "Avenues", which Wyclef produced.

That December, Wyclef released a second commercial single from The Carnival. "Gone Till November". Written by Jean with co-producer Jerry Duplessis, the song was much less a hip-hop song than a reggae-rock ballad, with him trying to explain how his work keeps him from his family and promising them he will return despite her tears. With a lush orchestral background courtesy of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, the song sounded heartfelt and important, disguising a lot of the baller attitude in the verses. And it worked - heck, even a certain folk legend shows up in the music video...

"Gone Till November" became Wyclef Jean's first top-40 pop hit as a lead solo artist, reaching the top ten in America in March of 1998. It would be his biggest lead hit of his career (he only went higher as a featured artist on Destiny's Child's debut single "No No No Pt 2", which peaked at #3). The song also climbed to #9 on Billboard's R&B chart, and got to #2 on their Rap Singles list. Internationally, the single made the top ten in the UK (#3), New Zealand (#4), and Ireland (#5). It also placed in the top-40 in the Netherlands (#15), Switzerland (#22), and Germany (#31). The Carnival album, released the previous summer, crested at #16 on the Billboard 200 sales chart, and #4 on the R&B Albums tally, going on to sell over two million copies. At the Grammy Awards in 1998, The Carnival was nominated for Best Rap Album, losing to Puff Daddy again for his No Way Out set. The following year, "Gone Till November" was up for a Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance, which Will Smith took home for "Gettin' Jiggy Wit' It". 

In 1998, a "bonus edition" of The Carnival was released with a few new songs. Three of them were released on a separate EP, which made the pop and R&B singles chart. "What's Clef", featuring model turned rapper Naomi Campbell, spent a week at #61 (#48 at R&B), followed by the Night Ranger-clocking "Chickenhead" featuring Spragga Benz, which peaked at #69 (#54 R&B), and finally, "Cheated (To All The Girls)" with Queen Pen and the Product (yes, interpolating the Julio Iglesias/Willie Nelson hit) which got to #74 (#53 R&B). The Product, two young singers, will return as guests on Santana's #1 hit "Maria Maria".

(7/10)

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A remix of "Gone Till November", almost unrecognizable to the original, features rapper Canibus along with R. Kelly and Destiny's Child. A special music video was made for this version...

Here's Wyclef performing with a young orchestra...

Next up, with a live band in 2010...

and lastly a really cool version for Dutch radio...

Up tomorrow: Wisconsinite soul singer is "ready for the world" for her first hit.