Songoftheday 1/20/23 - It's over and done but the heartache lives on inside, and who is the one you're clinging to Instead of me tonight?

 

 

"Emotion" - Destiny's Child

from the album Survivor (2001)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #10 (one week)

Weeks in the Top-40: 15

 

Today's song comes from Destiny's Child, whose album Survivor had spun off two top #1 hits with "Independent Women Part 1" and "Bootylicious" as well as the title track which made it to #2. For the fourth single the trio released their first and only "true" remake as a single (as opposed to sampling), and went to the disco era, but for something softer. "Emotion" was a #3 pop hit in 1978 written by Barry and Robin of the Bee Gees, but not performed by that classic group. Instead, the song was released by Australian singer Samantha Sang, a relative unknown even in her home country. The ballad had the typical lush production and the Gibbs singing background, and that certainly helped both with her success but preventing them from glutting the market on their own. Even the music video from her just had her miming all the parts...

The remake from Beyonce Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams, produced by Mark Feist, starts off replacing the synth intro with acoustic guitars, but quickly focuses on their vocal harmony over everything else, with Kelly Rowland taking lead before Beyonce takes over. I mean, the Gibbs' lyrics are on point with painting a picture of a breakup that the singer doesn't want and jealousy festers just underneath the surface. The music video splits up the group into three scenarios dealing with loss running concurrently until they all reunite at the end of the clip...

Destiny's Child's take on "Emotion" scored a fourth top 10 hit on Billboard magazine's pop Hot 100 in December of 2001, while making it to #28 on their R&B Singles chart. On the radio, the song peaked at #8 on the Mainstream Top-40 airplay chart, #28 on the R&B/Hip Hop Airplay list, and #12 on the dance-oriented Rhythmic format, while landing their first and only hit on the Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening")  list at #23. The ballad was remixed at a higher tempo for the dancefloor, and the resulting remixes by Victor Calderone and Maurice Joshua among other helped it rise to #10 on Billboard's Dance Club Play chart. Internationally, "Emotion" reached the top ten in New Zealand (#2), the United Kingdom (#3), Norway (6), Hungary (#7), Portugal (#8), Ireland (#9), and the Netherlands (#10), while making the top-40 in Canada (#11), Sweden (#14), Australia (#17), Belgium (#19 Flanders/#30 Wallonia), Germany (#21), Switzerland (#21), Austria (#28), Romania (#34), and Italy (#38).

A fifth single from the record, a didactic diss on "hoochie mamas" called "Nasty Girl", which sounded like a Pink record and sported a music video that almost seemed to me like they hired a lookalike for her early look. This record wasn't promoted in America, but was a decent hit internationally, peaking at #10 in Australia and hitting the top 40 in Denmark (#14), the Netherlands (#21), Switzerland (#22), Belgium (#31 Flanders), Sweden (#32), Ireland (#34), and Germany (#36).

All three would soon embark on solo careers paths for a while, but the trio will return to the series.

(6/10)

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The production behind Destiny's Child's version was actually recycled from another version of "Emotion" that Feist produced for singer Regine Velasquez three years prior...

Here's the extended remix by tribal house DJ/producer Victor Calderone that completely reworks the ballad for the club...

Here's the trio on a TV appearance with backing orchestra...

And on tour behind the album in the Netherlands for their DVD album...

and lastly, on the Soul Train Lady Of Soul Awards in a tribute to the recently departed Aaliyah...

Up on Monday: The Canadian rock band everyone loves to hate started out on a high note with this recalling song.