Songoftheday 10/3/22 - Don't you try and tell me that he's not my type to hide what I feel inside, when he makes me weak with desire...

 

 

"Irresistible" - Jessica Simpson

from the album Irresistible (2001)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #15 (one week)

Weeks in the Top-40: 13

 

Today's song comes from singer Jessica Simpson, whose debut album had spun off a top ten hit off the bat with "I Wanna Love You Forever" and had a decently successful second follow-up on the Mellencamp-sampling "I Think I'm In Love With You". After touring opening for Ricky Martin and 98 Degrees, the latter including Simpson's boyfriend Nick Lachey, Simpson returned in the spring of 2001 with her sophomore effort Irresistible. The title track, written and produced by the B-list Swedish team of Anders Bagge and Arnthor Birgisson along with Pam Sheyne, was released as the lead single. Instead of banking on her vocal ability, the song has her taking the Britney-and-clones route with cooing thinly-veiled sexual ticks while insisting that she's been previously pure. Ugh, I hated this era of music for that. The patriarchal misogyny of it all. Anyhoo, it's set over that skittish turn-of century beat that could've been stolen from Pink or NSYNC, with a tinge of what seems to be a Swedes take on Latin music. By the end she does let go a little bit, but her voice is so electronically distorted that it's distracting from the somewhat decent production. The music video shows Columbia shelled out for the CGI of the time, with some weird Mission Impossible-like pastiche that gives them a reason to put Jessica in skimpier and skimpier outfits. But it did work for the 16-30 MTV TRL crowd, and Simpson found herself back on the charts...

"Irresistible" became Jessica's third top-40 hit on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 in July of 2001. On the radio, the song made it to #3 on the Mainstream Top-40 chart, and #12 on the dance/R&B-oriented Rhythmic format, the latter helped by a remix featuring barely-teen rapper Lil' Bow Wow. Internationally, the single hit the top ten in Poland (#2) and Belgium (#6W/#46F), and reached the top-40 in the United Kingdom (#11), Canada (#16),Norway (#16), Sweden (#17), Romania (#17), Ireland (#18), Switzerland (#20), Hungary (#20), Australia (#21), Italy (#26), Germany (#33). The Irresistible album, released in May of 2001, became Simpson's first top ten set at #6 on the Billboard 200, going on to sell over a half million copies.

 

Jessica's follow-up single, "A Little Bit", was co-written by future American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi. Attempting to swerve to the female-dominant flip of that coin, it still had her posturing and grimacing in sex kitten mode barely clothed in the video. However, despite being so TRL friendly, the single stiffed in the States. But Jessica will return to the series.

(4/10)

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A remix aimed for the urban market, produced by Jermaine Dupri and stupefyingly featuring 14-year-old rapper Lil' Bow Wow on a song about banging someone, dropped the Swedish production in favor of the too oft-used Kool & The Gang interpolation...

Jessica promoted the song with a live performance on The Tonight Show...

and lastly, live in a televised concert on the Fourth of July...

Up tomorrow: Girl-group identifies themselves.