Everybody Everybody – Black Box | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning
Chart Performance: Pop (#8) & R&B (#2); 1990
Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne
The practice of using artist “brands” in the public arena – creating video and print images to go along with studio vocalists singing over tracks crafted by producers and played by session musicians – was rampant in European dance/house music.
Sometimes this approach backfired when the singer refused to take a back seat and demanded acknowledgement for his or her performance. Case in point: Martha Wash, who sang on the three massive international hits credited to Black Box, including Everybody Everybody.
The power behind BB was an Italian collective, Groove Groove Melody, made up of club DJ Dabiele Davoli, computer expert Mirko Limoni, and clarinetist Valeric Semplici. GGM even hired French model Katrin (Catherine Quinol) to lip synch Martha’s vocals for video.
Martha, who had already gone through this with C&C Music Factory’s Gonna Make You Sweat(Everybody Dance Now), decided she’d had enough, and embarked on a solo career where she would at least receive credit for her work.
This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.
Produced by:
- Groove Groove Melody
Lyrics Written by:
- Daniele Davoli
- Mirko Limoni
- Valerio Semplici
Ed Osborne
Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).