Songoftheday 6/4/24 - In the middle of the night, you hold me tight, said it's alright I'm yours forever

 

 

"Ooh!" - Mary J. Blige

from the album Love & Life (2003)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #29 (one week)

Weeks in the Top-40: 3

 

Ed Note: I'm back from vacation, thanks for being patient!

 

Today's song comes from R&B songstress Mary J. Blige, who had returned to the Top-40 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 in the summer of 2003 with "Love @ 1st Sight". The second single from her sixth studio album Love & Life was the exclamatory jam "Ooh!". Written by Blige with Mechalie Jamison and producers Sean "Diddy" Combs and Dimitri "D-Nat" Christo, the song rides on a sample of jazz-funk artist Hamilton Bohannon's "Singing A Song For My Mother" from 1973, giving them writing credit as well. Combs and Christo just add percussion to the looped sample, as Blige vamps sultrily about her current romance, with a twinge of disbelief that he's with her. It's not complex, but Mary sings the hell out of it, and while it doesn't match the depth of her best material, it's a worthy late night get in the mood groove...

"Ooh!" became the second crossover top-40 hit on Billboard's Hot 100 in October of 2003, while peaking at #14 on their R&B Singles chart. On the radio, the song climbed to #9 on Billboard's Mainstream R&B chart, #28 on the older-skewing Adult R&B airplay list, and #17 on the dance/R&B-oriented Rhythmic format. At the Grammy Awards in 2004, "Ooh!" was nominated for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, losing to Beyonce for her "Dangerously In Love 2" track. 

The third release from the album, "Not Today", featured rapper Eve, and appeared in the movie Barbershop 2. While it peaked at #21 on Billboard's R&B Singles chart, and appeared in the Mainstream Top-40 airplay list at #35, it stopped just short of the top-40 on the Hot 100 at #41. That was followed by "It's A Wrap", which was a minor R&B hit at #71. Mary also collaborated on a song with rock icon Sting, "Whenever I Say Your Name", which was on Sting's Sacred Love album but only was on the international release of Blige's Love & Life. Nevertheless, that song won Blige a Grammy in 2004 for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals. (It was a minor hit in the United Kingdom at #60.) 

Mary will be back to the series.

(6/10)

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For some reason, Mary doesn't have the music video for "Ooh!" on her channel, and the only copy I can find is this poor-quality clip....

Up tomorrow: A "confined" band with a now-problematic lead singer score a stubbornly long-lasting hit.