Everybody Everybody (song)

"Everybody Everybody" is a song by the Italian house group Black Box, with uncredited vocals by American singer Martha Wash, from their debut studio album, '' Dreamland'' (1990). Wash was replaced by French model Katrin Quinol as the credited vocalist who made several appearances with Black Box, which led Wash to file a lawsuit against the group. The song was written by Daniele Davoli, Mirko Limoni, and Valerico Semplici, while produced by Groove Groove Melody. It was released by RCA Records as the third single from the album. The house, pop, and eurodisco song consists of an organ, drums, horns, and strings. "Everybody Everybody" contains a sample of Larry Blackmon's vocals and a drum loop from Bobby Byrd's 1987 remix of James Brown's song "Hot Pants" (1971).

"Everybody Everybody" received generally positive reviews from music critics, who praised the production and vocals. The song peaked at number eight on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, number 10 on the New Zealand Singles Chart, and at number 16 on the UK Singles Chart. An accompanying music video was released in 1990, which depicts Katrin Quinol lip synching the song in a unitard.

Background and controversy

In 1989, Martha Wash was approached by Black Box, then known as Groove Groove Melody, to record demos for other musicians in exchange for a flat fee payment. Wash recorded vocals for the songs in a five-day period, which were kept in six of nine songs from the group's debut studio album '' Dreamland'' (1990). However, she was not credited on the album's liner notes as French fashion model Katrin Quinol was brought in to phonetically learn the songs on ''Dreamland'' for seven months despite not knowing the English language, and made several appearances as part of the group. Black Box's record label RCA Records continuously stated that Quinol was the lead vocalist of each song, in response to publications such as ''Billboard'' and ''The New York Times'' insisting that another singer appeared on the album.

On 21 November 1990, several consumer class action lawsuits were issued in the Los Angeles Federal District Court relating to Milli Vanilli and Black Box. RCA Records initially believed that the vocals in Black Box's music belonged to Quinol, who was seen in the group's promotional material. Wash sued the Black Box members in September 1990 for false advertising and uncredited vocals, but was settled out-of-court in December 1990. She eventually signed an eight-year contract with the record label to record eight individual albums, in addition to a financed national tour. RCA Records additionally recognised Wash as the "principal voice" on ''Dreamland'' and insisted that Black Box's producers were the cause of her "discrimination".

Composition and critical reception

"Everybody Everybody" is a house, pop, and eurodisco song, which contains a "house-inspired rhythmic base", a syncopated drum loop from Bobby Byrd's 1987 remix of James Brown's song "Hot Pants" (1971), and a roller rink-styled organ. It uses horns and strings to create a "disco-era influence", which ''Billboard'' staff compared to the atmosphere of Studio 54. According to the song's sheet music that was published on Musicnotes.com, it is set in the time signature of common time, with a tempo of 118 beats per minute, while composed in the key of F minor. Wash's voice on the track ranges from the low note of A₃ to the high note of F₅, while the song is constructed in verse–chorus form. A sample of Cameo lead singer Larry Blackmon's vocals is periodically used throughout the song, where an "ow" is heard in the lyrics. Wash performs a gospel-influenced belt, as Marisa Fox of ''Entertainment Weekly'' described her vocals as "grand-diva"-styled over the song's "roaring sound".

''Billboard'' writer Bill Coleman described "Everybody Everybody" as "thoroughly contagious" and stated that the vocals and lyrics are "uplifting". John Leland of ''Newsday'' stated that the song is the "dance-party anthem of the season". Writing for ''The Network Forty'', Yvette Ziraldo opined that the production is "infectious", while Chris Heath of ''Smash Hits'' declared it as "almost brilliant". Ernest Hardy of '' Cashbox'' complimented the song's "raw vocal" alongside the production's "relentless groove", but noted the similar sound with Black Box's previous singles "Ride on Time" and "I Don't Know Anybody Else". ''NME'' writer Roger Morton praised the song as a successor to "Ride on Time" with its "burnished gold vocal , but recognized that they were lip-synched.

In 2009, ''Blender'' staff placed "Everybody Everybody" at number 335 on their ''500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born'' list and described it as "criminally buoyant" for "drunk wedding guests" to dance to. ''Pitchfork'' writer David Raposa ranked the song on their list of ''Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s'' at number 171 in 2010, stating that the Cameo sample distinguished it from other "pop-house bandwagoners". BuzzFeed staff listed it at number 14 on their ''101 Greatest Dance Songs Of the '90s'' in 2017 list. ''Billboard'' placed "Everybody Everybody" at number 457 in their ranking of their ''Top Songs of the '90s''. In 2022, ''Rolling Stone'' staff ranked the song at number 194 on their ''200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time'' list.

Commercial performance and music video

In June 1990, "Everybody Everybody" appeared in dance clubs, with its popularity resulting in airplay on urban contemporary and contemporary hit radio stations. In the United States, the song peaked at number eight on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart dated 20 October 1990, where it remained for 19 weeks. It also topped the Dance Club Songs chart issued 21 July 1990, and charted for 10 weeks. On the 3 June 1990, issue of the UK Singles Chart, "Everybody Everybody" peaked at number 16 and charted for six weeks. The song bowed at number 35 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, and reached number 11 on the New Zealand Singles Chart.

An accompanying music video for "Everybody Everybody" was released, which depicts Quinol squatting while wearing a unitard and lip synching the song's vocals. In late 1990, Wash saw the music video and called her manager after realising that she was uncredited on the song. She described Quinol's appearance as being " ixfeet tall, very skinny ithcobalt-blue eyes" and suggested that such models were utilised in various music videos as "props". Writing for the ''St. Petersburg Times'', Jean Carey considered the video to be "lame" and wrote that it "encourage the rumors" about "the group's mystery vocalist".

In popular culture

Dominican-American group Proyecto Uno covered the song under the title "Todo El Mundo", with Remezcla writer Cheky acknowledging that it connected with "African-American culture" and made the merenhouse genre prevalent.

A cutaway segment on the episode of American animated series ''Family Guy'' titled " Play It Again, Brian" included "Everybody Everybody", which was performed by the character Cleveland Brown. The segment was included on top-10 listicles by ''IGN'' and ''Screen Rant'' staff for highlights involving Brown. The song was played on the final episode of the FX series '' The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story'', where ''The Seattle Times'' writer Tricia Romano compared the lyrics of Wash's vocals, "Sad and free", to O. J. Simpson's acquittal in the O. J. Simpson murder case. "Everybody Everybody" was included on the third season of American comedy drama series ''Master of None'', as the characters Alicia and Denise danced to the song while doing laundry.

Track listing

Canadian 12-inch single

UK CD single

UK 12-inch single

Australian cassette single (Love Unlimited Edit)

German maxi single 1

German maxi single 2

German 7-inch single

German 12-inch single (House Special)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Everybody Everybody (Song)
1990 singles
Black Box (band) songs
Martha Wash songs
RCA Records singles
1989 songs
1990 songs