"Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" is a 1979

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

song performed by American R&B duo McFadden & Whitehead, from their debut album '' McFadden & Whitehead'' (1979). They wrote and produced the song along with keyboard player Jerry Cohen.

Background

"Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" is about succeeding despite having faced previous disadvantages ("so many things that held us down"). It was widely interpreted to be about the experience of the

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

community. After it gained popularity, it was often referred to as "the new black national anthem" (the original being the 1900 song "

Lift Every Voice and Sing "Lift Every Voice and Sing" is a hymn with lyrics by James Weldon Johnson (1871–1938) and set to music by his brother, J. Rosamond Johnson (1873–1954). Written from the context of African Americans in the late 19th century, the hymn is a pr ...

").

Kelefa Sanneh Kelefa T. Sanneh (born 1976) is an American journalist and music critic. From 2000 to 2008, he wrote for ''The New York Times'', covering the rock and roll, hip-hop, and pop music scenes. Since 2008 he has been a staff writer for ''The New Yorker ...

noted the song was, "an exuberant number often interpreted as an expression of Black pride". He also noted that the authors of the song were in a dispute over royalties with their record label

Philadelphia International Philadelphia International Records was an American record label based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1971 by songwriting and production duo Gamble and Huff, Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, along with their longtime collaborator ...

. Singer Whitehead said, "If anything, the song was a declaration of our independence from Gamble."

Production

Although the song was taken as social commentary, in an interview conducted by Philadelphia video producer Bob Lott, Whitehead and McFadden revealed that the song expressed their frustration with Philadelphia International owners Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. For many years the pair were encouraged to remain as house songwriters and not performers. Gamble has confirmed that upon first hearing "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now", he tried unsuccessfully to convince McFadden and Whitehead to give the song to

the O'Jays The O'Jays are an American Rhythm and blues, R&B group from Canton, Ohio, formed in summer 1958 and originally consisting of Eddie Levert, Walter Lee Williams, William Powell, Bobby Massey, and Bill Isles. The O'Jays made their first chart appea ...

. He believed it was better for them to write and produce for the prominent recording artists of the day than to try to compete with them as on-stage performers. This song features a female chorus in the repeated refrain. Electronic beeping feedback sounds are heard towards the ending of the longer version of the song.

Chart performance

Released as the lead single from the album, the song spent a week at number one on the R&B singles chart. It also proved to be a successful crossover hit, peaking at number 13 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The single also made it to number 10 on the disco charts, and reached number 5 in the UK. It eventually went double Platinum for selling 2 million copies.

Personnel

Gene McFadden Gene McFadden (January 28, 1949 – January 27, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He was one of the key members of the Philadelphia International record label, and was one-half of the successful team of McFadden & Wh ...

– lead vocals * John Whitehead – lead vocals * Jerry Cohen – keyboards * Dennis Harris – guitar *

Bobby Eli Bobby Eli (born Eli Tatarsky; March 2, 1946 – August 17, 2023) was an American musician, arranger, composer and record producer from Philadelphia. He was a founding member and lead guitarist of Philadelphia studio band MFSB. Overview Bobby ...

– guitar * Jimmie Williams – bass * Keith Benson – drums * Barbara Ingram, Carla Benson, Evette Benton – backing vocals * Don Renaldo And His String & Horn Sections – orchestral accompaniment

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Other notable versions

In 1995,

Luther Vandross Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American Soul music, soul and Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer. Over his career, he achieved eleven consecutive RIAA certification, RIAA-certified ...

released his version of the song, which charted in New Zealand at number 50. His version of the song was also performed as a duet with British girl group, the

Spice Girls The Spice Girls are an English girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Mel B ("Scary Spice"), Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"), Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"), Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"), and Victoria Beckham ("Posh Spice"). They have sold over 10 ...

for their '' An Audience with...'' special on the UK's

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the ITV (TV network), Channel 3 ...

in 1997. It later appeared as a B-side to their single " Stop".

Samples

The bassline of the track was used in " Ma quale idea" by Italian artist Pino D'Angiò.

References

{{authority control 1979 debut singles 1979 songs 1995 songs American disco songs Philadelphia International Records singles Songs about Philadelphia Songs written by Gene McFadden Songs written by John Whitehead (singer)