"3 Is Family" is the first single released from American singer

Dana Dawson Dana Dawson (August 7, 1974 – August 10, 2010) was an American actress and singer. Early life and career Dawson made her acting debut at the age of 7 in a national tour of '' Annie''. She was an understudy of the character Mimi, in the nation ...

's second and final studio album, '' Black Butterfly'' (1995). The song was written by

Billy Mann William H. Mann (born William Isaiah Erlichman; December 20, 1968) is a Grammy-nominated American songwriter, record producer and founder of independent music publishing company Green & Bloom/Topline, as well as chairman of management firm Man ...

and produced by

Ric Wake Ric Wake is an American record producer who has won four Grammy Awards and two Oscar Awards. During his tenure as staff producer with Sony Music Entertainment he has worked with vocalists such as Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Lucero, Taylor D ...

. In several territories, including the United Kingdom, it was released as her debut single on June 26, 1995. It was not released in the United States. The track was positively received by music critics and became a big radio hit in Europe, charting within the top 10 on the singles charts of Italy and the United Kingdom. On the European Hit Radio year-end chart for 1995, it was ranked at number 36. The song's success resulted in the follow-up single, "Got to Give Me Love", having its release date pushed back to October 1995.

Critical reception

James Masterton James Masterton (born 2 September 1973) is a music writer and columnist, his work focusing on the UK Singles Chart having been an online fixture on various sites since the 1990s. Masterton is also a producer for talkSPORT, and has worked on air ...

described the song as "bright" and "an almost classic bit of summer pop" in his weekly UK chart commentary, noting that Dawson's voice sounded like Australian singer

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

's. A reviewer from ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later ...

'' wrote, "Coming from First Avenue in Hitsville, UK again, a hit is born almost per definition. Positioning her, she's the missing link between production stable mates

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and

Dina Carroll Geraldine Carroll (born 21 August 1968) is an English singer. She had a string of hits during the 1990s, including the UK top ten singles, " It's Too Late" (1991), " Don't Be a Stranger" (1993), "The Perfect Year", (1993), and "Escaping" (1996 ...

." British magazine ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' rated it four out of five, adding, "Yankee Dana is big in Europe, and must be fancied to make her UK breakthrough with this. The radio edit is concise and catchy, while mixes by T-Empo and Dancing Divaz have pushed it to the top of the club chart." James Hamilton from the '' RM'' Dance Update declared it as a "

Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreog ...

-ishly gurgled and cooed anxious jiggler". Peter Larsen of Danish radio station VLR said of the song, "It's simply a great pop song, which fully serves its purpose to make the people feel happy," while Sandra Boussu of Belgian radio station Hit-FM 106.1 described it as "summery" and "cheerful".

Chart performance

Despite becoming a European radio hit, ending 1995 as European Hit Radio's 36th-most-successful hit, the song appeared on the official singles charts of only a few countries. On the

Eurochart Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by '' Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately ...

, the single reached number 28. In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number 19 on July 9, 1995, then peaked at number nine two weeks later, spending a total of eight weeks in the top 100. On ''

''s ''RM'' Club Chart, it reached number one on June 17, 1995. The song charted for a single week in Iceland, debuting and peaking at number 37 on the Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 on the issue of August 26, 1995. "3 Is Family" spent 11 weeks on the

German Singles Chart The GfK Entertainment charts are the official music charts in Germany and are gathered and published by GfK Entertainment (formerly Media Control and Media Control GfK International), a subsidiary of GfK, on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindust ...

, climbing to number 59 on September 25. The same month, it debuted at number five in Italy, its peak. Outside Europe, the song managed to chart in Australia, where it peaked at number 54.

Track listings

* UK and Australian CD single # "3 Is Family" # "Freedom Calling" # "The Miracle of Your Love" # "3 Is Family" (T-Empo radio mix) * UK cassette single and European CD single # "3 Is Family" # "Freedom Calling" * UK 12-inch single :A1. "3 Is Family" (T-Empo club mix) :A2. "3 Is Family" (T-Empo dub) :A3. "3 Is Family" (D.A.R.C. hip hop mix) :B1. "3 Is Family" (Dancing Divas club mix) :B2. "3 Is Family" (Dancing Divas dub mix) :B3. "3 Is Family" (D.A.R.C. R&B mix)

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1995 singles 1995 songs American dance-pop songs EMI Records singles First Avenue Records singles Song recordings produced by Ric Wake Songs written by Billy Mann Dana Dawson songs