Songoftheday 8/1/22 - I see myself in the pouring home, I see the light come over known ...

 

 

"South Side" - Moby featuring Gwen Stefani

from the album Play (1999) 

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #14 (one week)

Weeks in the Top-40: 26

Today's song comes from Richard Melville Hall, who records under the moniker Moby. Raised by his mother after his dad was killed in a motor vehicle crash, he mostly grew up in Connecticut before moving back to his birthplace of New York City. He played guitar briefly in the band Ultra Vivid Scene, before striking out as a club DJ and artist, and signed with the indie label Instinct Records. Moby released his first single, "Mobility", in 1990. The song didn't make much waves beyond New York, but one of the "B-sides" of the single, "Go", was released on its own two years later, where it went to #18 on Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart in America, and was a top-ten pop hit in the UK (#10) and the Netherlands (#9), thanks to a remix that incorporated the theme to the Twin Peaks TV show. "Go" would anchor his first album from Instinct, Moby, which was mostly unfinished demos since Moby was trying to leave for a bigger label (and more compensation for his work). Nevertheless, two more tracks from the record, "Drop A Beat" and "Next Is The E", became top ten hits on Billboard's Dance Club Play chart (#6 and #8 respectively), while the latter, retitled "I Like It" to avoid the drug reference, landed Moby a second British top-40 hit at #38.  After two more compilations and an Ambient album, Moby finally was let go by Instinct to be able to sign with Elektra Records in 1993.

Moby's first release on the new label was the extended play single Move. The title track "Move (You Make Me Feel So Good)" went all the way to #1 on the American dance club play chart in 1993, while reaching the top-40 in the UK (#21), the Netherlands (#23), and Sweden (#40). His first full-length album on Elektra, Everything Is Wrong, arrived two years later, and spun off three top ten dance hits in America and four top-40 pop hits in the UK, with "Feeling So Real" reaching #9 on the former and #30 on the latter, while also getting a top ten hit in Switzerland at #7. The album landed at #21 on the British albums sales tally.

Even though he was heralded as the next big thing in dance music, Moby felt disillusioned to the point that his next album, Animal Rights in 1996, which moved into the harder industrial dance and rock genre. While the album managed to scrape the British Albums top-40, it sold way less, with the single "That's When I Reach For My Revolver", a remake of a punk rock song, stalling at #50 on the British singles chart, and American clubs completely ignoring it. After releasing the movie collection I Like To Score in 1997, which included a revamped version of "The James Bond Theme" from the Tomorrow Never Dies movie from the franchise that scored a second #1 dance hit in the US and second top ten pop hit in the UK at #8, Moby parted ways with Elektra. 

After a bit Moby ended up at V2 Records (Richard Branson's second attempt at a Virgin label), which is where he released Play in 1999. The album combined dance beats with more organic soul and rock elements. The lead single from the set, "Honey", actually came out the year before, where it returned Moby to the British top-40 at #33, and matched that rank with the second release "Run On". The third single from Play, "Bodyrock", a hip-hop track, brought Moby back to the dancefloor in the U.S., hitting #6 on the Dance Club Play chart, while getting to #38 in the UK. The track put Moby on the radio in a big way for the first time, climbing to #26 on Billboard's Alternative Rock radio chart, and served as the theme song for the third and final season of the pre-insane Kirstie Alley sitcom Veronica's Closet. "Bodyrock" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 2000, losing to Santana's "The Calling" featuring Eric Clapton from their mammoth Supernatural album.

The next single from Play would be the more moody "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad", was one of the album tracks which featured mournful soul vocals on a slower beat, and was a top ten hit on the European version of the Hot 100, reaching the top ten in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, as well as #16 in the UK. A non-album track, "Why Can't It Stop" from the movie soundtrack to Hackers 3, popped on to the dance chart at #47 but it was an anomaly, a rave-techno track possibly left over from the Instinct days. The blues-dance fusion was continued by the following release "Natural Blues", which used vocals from Vera Hall from a record from 1937. The haunting song climbed to #11 on the Dance Club Play chart, and made it to #24 on Alternative Rock radio. It also made the top ten on the singles charts in Italy, France, and Belgium. The song was nominated for a Grammy for Best Dance Recording in 2001, which criminally went to the Baha Men for "Who Let The Dogs Out". Next came  "Porcelain", based on a breakup and having Moby sing on it himself, the sweeping grandeur of the production helped it score Moby's first radio hit on the older-skewing Adult Top-40 format at #24, while getting to #18 on Alternative Rock stations. The remixes of the track helped it rise to #14 on the Dance Club Play chart. Internationally, the song climbed to #5 in the UK.

For the seventh single from Play, Moby's song "South Side" restored the vocals from No Doubt lead singer Gwen Stefani that were left off the album version. Written and produced by Moby, the song is meant to be an homage to the section of Chicago where house music and violence collide (I know, I lived there). The laid back production of the track belies the almost gang-style ride-or-die lyrics. The music video pays no mind to either of these elements, with Joseph Kahn having Moby and Stefani mocking the MTV and Hollywood youth culture of the moment. In the end, radio and the American public picked this as the big hit from Play, and Moby's biggest success of his career...

"South Side" became Moby's first and only hit on Billboard's Hot 100 pop chart, reaching the top-20 in May of 2001. It was also Gwen's first hit under solo billing, but definitely not her last. The song spent three weeks at #3 on Billboard's Alternative Rock radio roundup, while getting to #8 on the older-skewing Adult Top-40 chart and #15 on the Mainstream Top-40 airplay list. Internationally, the song went to #3 in Canada. The Play album, released back in May of 1999, eventually peaked at #38 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, spending 94 weeks on the list and going on to sell over two million copies. It also hit #1 on the British Albums chart. At the Grammy Awards in 2000, Play was nominated for Best Alternative Album, which went to Beck for his Mutations set. A compilation of all the videos from the record, Play: The DVD, was put up for a Grammy for Best Long Form Video in 2002, losing to Recording The Producers: A Musical Romp with Mel Brooks. 

One more single was released from Play, "Find My Baby", which was another blues/dance fusion. The track made it to #4 in Belgium, and reached the top-40 in Italy at #36. 

In 2002, Moby came back with his next studio album 18, which attempted to recreate the eclectic mix that made Play so iconic. The album came in at #4 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, but sold just over a half million copies. (It scored a second #1 album in the United Kingdom.) The first single from the record, "We Are All Made Of Stars", also tried to emulate "South Side" with nicer lyrics. While the song reached the top-40 on the Adult Top-40 (#32), Alternative Rock (#22), and the new Adult Album Alternative (or "Triple A") Rock (#9) formats, the song missed the pop Hot 100 altogether (the remixes of the track helped it up to #13 on the dance chart). Internationally, the song did better, just missing the top ten in the United Kingdom at #11. while making that level in Spain (#2), Belgium (#2W/#4F), Hungary (#3), Italy (#4), Portugal (#5), and Greece (#5). The title track "18" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance, which went to blues veteran B.B. King for his rendition of "Auld Lang Syne".

Moby's third album for V2 Records, Hotel, checked in in 2005, going to #28 on the Billboard 200 in America, while reaching #8 in the United Kingdom. American radio basically eschewed the rock-oriented record, with only "Beautiful" going to #5 on the Triple-A rock format. Internationally, the set did better, with lead single "Lift Me Up" placing in the top ten in a number of European countries and reaching #18 in the UK. A hits set for the label, Go - The Very Best Of Moby, was released before V2 shut down; from it a collaboration with francophone siren Mylene Farmer, "Slipping Away (Crier La Vie)", topped the singles chart in France and Belgium in 2006. Also from the collection, "New York, New York", was his most recent appearance on the British Singles chart at #43.

Mute Records, who had been releasing Moby's albums internationally, took him up in America for his next release, Last Night, which was his fourth top-40 album in America at #28. Two tracks from the album, "Disco Lies" and "I Love To Move In Here", topped Billboard's Dance Club Play chart, with the former also getting to #10 on their Dance Radio Airplay list. A third, "Ooh Yeah" made it as high as #3 on the Dance Club Play tally. A welcome return to his roots, Moby earned another Grammy nomination for that album, for Best Electronic/Dance Album, which went home with Daft Punk for their Alive 2007 concert set. Mute set the artist up with the Little Idiot imprint, and Moby put out the mostly-instrumental Wait For Me in 2009, which hit the Billboard 200 top-20 at #22. The single "Mistake" was his most recent club hit in Billboard at #19. 

Since then, Moby has released seven studio albums on the Little Idiot label on Mute, with 2013's Innocents his most recent appearance on the Billboard 200 sales tally at #66. He also has put out three ambient records independently as well. In 2018, the song "Like A Motherless Child" from the Everything Was Beautiful, and Nothing Hurt album placed at #33 on the Triple-A Rock radio chart. His most recent album, Reprise, was originally released in the spring of 2021, with commentary and remixed versions following. 

(7/10)

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Here's the album version of "South Side", which omits Gwen's vocals (at the time of release, he wasn't happy with the mix with her vocals). Mind you this is the only version available on Spotify right now...

Moby and Stefani performed the song on Letterman...

Next up, Moby at a radio gig in 2013...

and lastly, with singer Skylar Grey in 2015...

Up tomorrow: A felon's former friends check out a female.