Songoftheday 4/9/22 - In the corners of mind I just can't seem, to find a reason to believe that I can break free...

 

 

"Shackles (Praise You)" - Mary Mary

from the album Thankful (2000)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #28 (one week)

Weeks in the Top-40: 7

 

Today's song comes from the gospel duo Mary Mary, neither of whom are named Mary, but rather sisters Erika and Trecina "Tina" Atkins. The siblings grew up in California, the daughters of two prominent members of a pentacostal church, where they grew up singing in the choir. After studying music in college and singing backup for some secular R&B artists, they were signed to Columbia Records taking the stage moniker name-checking the two most known women in the New Testament (Jesus' mother Mary and Mary Magdalene). Mary Mary released their debut album Thankful in 2000, with the song "Shackles (Praise You)" as the first song promoted to radio. Following the path set by such neo-gospel artists like Kirk Franklin, and with production by Warryn Campbell, "Shackles" sounded miles away from what gospel was at the time. Using modern production which made the record sound not to different from Destiny's Child, and with a bassline taken from Dennis Edwards' "Don't Look Any Further" (giving Franne Gold, Dennis Hitchings, and Dennis Lambert writers' credit), the song still had its spiritual message intact. Erika and Tina bring the party and make the idea of praising the Lord a truly joyous affair, and even to those who don't believe, the sincerity and lack of religious obligation allowed anybody to join the goings on. The groove doesn't seem dated, and even the touches of autotune don't drive down the song, and were put in as touches, not to hide the lack of vocal ability. "Shackles" was a massive success on Christian radio, but also broke through in its own right on mainstream urban and pop stations, without even seeming like a novelty....

"Shackles" became Mary Mary's sole top-40 pop hit on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart in May of 2000. The song climbed to #9 on their R&B Singles chart, and #7 on the older-skewing Adult R&B format list. The track was even remixed for the clubs, and climbed to #19 on the Dance Club Play chart. Internationally, the single made the top ten in Australia (#2), Poland (#2), Hungary (#2), The Netherlands (#4), Denmark (#4), the UK (#5), Norway (#5), Belgium (#6F/#8W), New Zealand (#8), and Iceland (#8). The Thankful album, released in May as the song was cresting, rose to #59 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, spending over a year on the chart, and #22 on the R&B Albums list, going on to sell over a million copies. At the Grammy Awards in 2001, Thankful won the trophy for Best Contemporary Gospel Album. 

The pair's follow-up single, "I Sings", featured a Biggie Smalls soundalike rapper, and while it was just a minor R&B hit at #68 and missed the Hot 100 altogether, the song reached #32 on the Adult R&B radio list and was a top-40 hit in the UK at #32. 

The Atkins sisters returned in 2002 with their sophomore effort Incredible, which made the top-40 on the Billboard 200 at #20 (and #10 on the R&B Albums list), selling a half-million copies. Lead single "In The Morning" again stopped short in the bottom half of the R&B Singles chart at #54, while getting to a respectable #8 on the Adult R&B radio list.

After a three year break to focus on their growing families, Mary Mary came back in 2005 with their self-titled third album, which was their first to make the Billboard 200 top 10 at #8, also selling a half-million. The song "Yesterday", which sported a powerful video that spotlighted domestic violence, reached #8 on the Adult R&B radio chart, and #50 on the R&B singles chart. The album was nominated for a Best Contemporary Gospel Album Grammy, which went to CeCe Winans for her Purified release.

With their third album The Sound, the duo and producer Campbell went back to a more contemporary R&B production, and again allowed for dance remix overhauls to its singles. In return, "Get Up", which got them back into the R&B top-40 at #30, topped Billboard's Dance Club Play chart in 2008. Follow-up "God In Me" did even better, getting to #5 on the R&B chart (their highest rank), #8 on the Adult R&B list, returning them to the pop Hot 100 at #68, and scoring a second #1 Dance Club Play hit. The Sound was their highest-charting set on the Billboard 200 (#7) and R&B Albums (#2) lists. The sisters again got nominated for the Best Contemporary Gospel Album Grammy, losing out to Kirk Franklin's The Fight Of My Life, while "Get Up" earned them their second award for Best Gospel Performance. 

Mary Mary's last album (so far), Something Big, arrived in 2011, and was their third top ten album on the Billboard 200 at #10 and #6 on the R&B Albums list. The first single from the set, "Walking", climbed to #14 on the R&B Singles chart, #4 on the Adult R&B radio list, and #94 on the pop Hot 100 in Billboard. It also was remixed for the dancefloor, and the song went to #5 on the Dance Club Play chart. The album was up for the Best Gospel Album at the 2012 Grammys, which Kirk Franklin again took home for his Hello Fear release.

The following year, Erika and Tina appeared in their own reality show on the WE network, Mary Mary, while releasing a greatest hits set Go Get It. The title track, a new recording, reached #27 on the R&B Singles chart, #7 on the Adult R&B list, and "bubbled under" the Hot 100 at #115. The song won the Best Gospel Song Grammy, and was nominated in the Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian Performance category, which went to Matt Redman for "10000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)".

The series went on for six seasons to 2017, but Erika and Tina amicably split Mary Mary up to pursue solo endeavors. Erika (now Campbell, having married producer Warryn) released Help in 2014, which came in at #6 on the Billboard 200, and Tina (marrying an unrelated musician Teddy Campbell so also becoming a Campbell) put out It's Personal a year later, which made it to #90 on that albums tally. The pair announced there would be a reunion album in 2020, but as of now we're still waiting.

(9/10)

(Click below to see the rest of the post)

Mary Mary appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show, which really helped their exposure in 2000...

Next up, at Live At The Apollo that same year...

And lastly, the Campbells reunited for New Year's Eve 2022...

Up tomorrow: She's back, bitch.