"Cruisin'" is a 1979 single written, produced, and recorded by
Smokey Robinson for
Motown Records' Tamla label. One of Robinson's most successful singles outside of his work with
The Miracles
The Miracles (also known as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles from 1965 to 1972) were an American vocal group that was the first successful recording act for Berry Gordy's Motown Records, and one of the most important and most influential group ...
, "Cruisin'" hit number one on the U.S. ''
Cash Box'' Top 100 and was also a major ''
Billboard'' Pop hit, peaking at number four the week of February 2, 1980. It was a Top Five hit on the Soul chart as well.
Background
The song was co-written by fellow Miracle
Marv Tarplin
Marvin Tarplin (June 13, 1941 – September 30, 2011) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist for the Miracles from the 1950s through the early 1970s. He was one of the group's original members and co-wrote several of their bigges ...
. "Cruisin'" was an even bigger hit in New Zealand, hitting number one on that country's chart. It is included on Robinson's ninth studio album, ''
Where There's Smoke...''.
Reportedly, Robinson had a cold when he recorded the song. It was originally intended as a B-side for a remake of "
Get Ready".
Chart performance
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
D'Angelo version
Neo soul
Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from soul and contempo ...
musician
D'Angelo recorded a cover of the song for his 1995 album ''
Brown Sugar
Brown sugar is unrefined or partially refined soft sugar.
Brown Sugar may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Brown Sugar'' (1922 film), a 1922 British silent film directed by Fred Paul
* ''Brown Sugar'' (1931 film), a 1931 ...
''. The cover was released as the album's second single on October 12, 1995, and was commercially successful charting within the top ten of the US R&B charts.
[ Billboard Singles: ''Brown Sugar'' ]AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
. Retrieved on 2010-05-09. the album reached sales of 500,000 copies in the United States by October 1995.
[Ayers, Anne.]
D'Angelo Cruisin' Through His First Tour
''USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...
'': 14.D. November 1, 1995.
This version appeared in the third episode of the
UPN
The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which pr ...
sitcom,
Moesha in 1996.
Composition and arrangement
"Cruisin", a cover of
Smokey Robinson's 1979 hit of the same name, here features a predominant string section.
[Shapiro (2006), p. 104.] The longest track on the album, it employs
violin
The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...
,
viola
; german: Bratsche
, alt=Viola shown from the front and the side
, image=Bratsche.jpg
, caption=
, background=string
, hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71
, hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow
, range=
, related=
*Violin family ...
and
cello
The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...
, as well as
shakers and light percussion, while
sleigh bell
A jingle bell or sleigh bell is a type of bell which produces a distinctive 'jingle' sound, especially in large numbers. They find use in many areas as a percussion instrument, including the classic sleigh bell sound and morris dancing. The ...
s are featured in the chorus.
[Metal Lungies: Remix Tuesdays - D’Angelo Part 4](_blank)
Metal Lungies. Retrieved on 2009-02-01. Flutist Lauryn Vivino contributes with
piccolo. The track also features steady piano-playing by D'Angelo,
[W & A's Record Reviews: D'Angelo](_blank)
Warr.org. Retrieved on 2009-02-01. with
Brooklyn Funk Essentials-member
Bob "Bassy" Brockmann playing the trumpet.
[Discogs: Bob "Bassy" Brockmann Discography](_blank)
Discogs. Retrieved on 2009-02-01.
Track listing
#"Cruisin'"
#"Brown Sugar"
Charts
Gwyneth Paltrow and Huey Lewis version
Gwyneth Paltrow and
Huey Lewis
Hugh Anthony Cregg III (born July 5, 1950), known professionally as Huey Lewis, is an American singer, songwriter, and actor.
Lewis sings lead and plays harmonica for his band, Huey Lewis and the News, in addition to writing or co-writing many o ...
performed a cover of the song in the 2000 film ''
Duets
A duet is a musical composition or piece for two performers.
Duets or The Duets may also refer to:
Films and television
* ''Duets'' (film), a 2000 film, starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Giamatti and Huey Lewis
* "Duets" (''Glee''), a 2010 episo ...
''. The song is included on the soundtrack of the film and released as a single on September 11, 2000. The duet spent one week at number one on the US
Adult Contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...
chart. It was an even bigger hit in Australia and New Zealand, reaching number one on both country's singles charts, and in Iceland, where it climbed to number four in November 2000.
Track listing
Australian and German CD single
# "Cruisin'" (by Paltrow and Lewis) – 4:51
# "Feeling Alright" (by Lewis) – 4:02
# "Beginnings / Endings" (by
David Newman) – 1:59
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Other covers
* In 1988,
crossover thrash
Crossover thrash (often abbreviated to crossover) is a fusion genre of thrash metal and hardcore punk. The genre lies on a continuum between heavy metal and hardcore punk. Other genres on the same continuum, such as metalcore and grindcore, ...
band
Beowülf covered the song on their album ''
Lost My Head... But I'm Back on the Right Track''.
* Canadian jazz singer
Holly Cole included a cover of "Cruisin'" on her 1990 album ''
Girl Talk''.
* In 2001, saxophonist
Jaared covered this song on his album ''Foreword''. Three years later, the late bassist
Wayman Tisdale
Wayman Lawrence Tisdale (June 9, 1964 – May 15, 2009) was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and a smooth jazz bass guitarist. A three-time All American at the University of Oklahoma, included a cover of the song on his album ''Hangtime''.
* Filipino acoustic band
MYMP
M.Y.M.P. (or MYMP, short for Make Your Momma Proud) is an acoustic band from Quezon City, Philippines. They released their first album, ''Soulful Acoustic'' in 2003 and a double album, '' Beyond Acoustic'' which was a number six charting album, ...
released their version on the album ''The Unreleased Acoustic Collection'' and again on ''Back to Acoustic'' in 2013.
* Japanese singer
Maki Ohguro
is a Japanese pop singer and songwriter from Sapporo, Hokkaido under B-Gram Records label.
Biography
In 1989, she passed Being Inc.'s singers audition, the "3rd BAD".
In 1992, she debuted with the single "Stop Motion" released under B-Gram ...
(大黒 摩季 Ōguro Maki) released her version on the 2007 compilation album ''Best of Best 1000''.
*
Coolio has also sampled this song. Although the verse lyrics are changed in his song, the chorus is the same.
Popular culture
*In 2009,
''Essence'' magazine included the song in their list of the "25 Best Slow Jams of All Time".
*Robinson's version appears in the 2013 videogame
Grand Theft Auto V inside the radio station The Lowdown 91.1.
*Robinson's version appears in a
2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...
TV commercial
A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...
for
Allstate.
See also
*
List of Billboard Adult Contemporary number ones of 2000
Adult Contemporary is a chart published by '' Billboard'' ranking the top-performing songs in the United States in the adult contemporary music (AC) market. In 2000, seven different songs topped the chart in 52 issues of the magazine, based on ...
*
List of ''Cash Box'' Top 100 number-one singles of 1980
References
External links
Lyrics of this song*
{{authority control
1979 singles
1995 singles
2000 debut singles
Smokey Robinson songs
D'Angelo songs
Gwyneth Paltrow songs
Cashbox number-one singles
Number-one singles in Australia
Songs written by Smokey Robinson
Songs written by Marv Tarplin
Number-one singles in New Zealand
Song recordings produced by Smokey Robinson
1979 songs
Motown singles
Hollywood Records singles
Tamla Records singles
Cooltempo Records singles
Rhythm and blues ballads
Soul ballads
1970s ballads