Today's song comes from singer and tuna-aficionado Jessica Simpson, whose debut single "I Wanna Love You Forever" reached the pop top ten in America at the close of 1999. For her follow-up, they released a duet with her then-boyfriend Nick Lachey of the boy-band 98 Degrees, "Where You Are". Despite the cross-promotional potential, and writing from hot producers Sam Watters (of Color Me Badd fame) and Louis Biancaniello, the single stalled down at #62 on the pop Hot 100, though it rose to #22 on the Mainstream Top-40 radio chart and #23 on the "easy listening" Adult Contemporary format list.
For the third try, Simpson along with producers Cory Rooney and Dan Shea mined the 80's for "I Think I'm In Love With You". Dominated by the instrumental sample of John Cougar Mellencamp's "Jack & Diane", it's a simple love song with simple lyrics meant to ride the groove of the #1 hit from 1982. The gimmick worked, and it was an earworm that got her back on MTV and the radio for her second decent hit. Her vocal gymnastics really work with the song, and the amusement park dance-a-thon music video help re-sell her as the "fun girl"...
"I Think I'm In Love With You" became Jessica's second pop top-40 hit in the U.S. in August of 2000. The song climbed to #26 on Billboard's magazine's Adult Contemporary radio chart, and #5 on the Mainstream top-40 airplay list. The dance remixes of the song, done by the likes of Lenny B and Peter Rauhofer, helped it rise to #31 on the Dance Club Play chart and #21 on the dance-oriented Rhythmic radio list. Internationally, the single reached the top ten in Canada (#2), Belgium (#3W/#36F), and Australia (#10), while making the top-40 in the UK (#15), Iceland (#17), New Zealand (#20), and the Netherlands (#31). Jessica will return to the series.
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Jessica performed the song live on Top Of The Pops in 2000...
Next up, live at the World AIDS Day concert that same year...
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