"Good Vibrations" is a song by American group

Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch was an American hip-hop group formed in 1991 by Mark Wahlberg (alias Marky Mark), Scott Gee, Hector the Booty Inspector, DJ-T, and Ashey Ace. The group's best known song is " Good Vibrations", which made it to numbe ...

featuring

Loleatta Holloway Loleatta Holloway (, ; November 5, 1946 – March 21, 2011) was an American singer known for disco songs such as "Hit and Run" and "Love Sensation". In December 2016, ''Billboard'' named her the 95th most successful dance artist of all time. Acco ...

. It was released in July 1991 as the lead single from their debut album, '' Music for the People'' (1991). The song became a number-one hit in the United States, Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland. It spent twenty weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, its last week rising 40 positions to number 27, but dropped out the following week.

Background

"Good Vibrations" was co-written by Amir Shakir (credited on the release as "Spice"), with his good friends

Donnie Donnie or Donny is a familiar form (hypocorism) of the masculine given name Donald, Donal, Don, or Donovan. It may refer to: People Arts and entertainment * Donny Baldwin, American drummer best known as a member of Jefferson Starship and Stars ...

and

Mark Wahlberg Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg (born June 5, 1971), former stage name Marky Mark, is an American actor, businessman, and former rapper. He has received multiple accolades, including a BAFTA Award, and nominations for two Academy Awards, three ...

. Amir also wrote and produced " Wildside" and three other songs for Mark Wahlberg's debut album, as well as four songs on Wahlberg's second LP. "Good Vibrations" features a sample of American singer

singing "

Love Sensation "Love Sensation" is a 1980 song performed by American R&B singer Loleatta Holloway, taken from her album of the same name. The song was produced and written by Dan Hartman, arranged by Norman Harris, and mixed by Tom Moulton. It was a hit on ...

", written by

Dan Hartman Daniel Earl Hartman (December 8, 1950 – March 22, 1994) was an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. Among songs he wrote and recorded were " Free Ride" as a member of the Edgar Winter Group, and the solo hits ...

, and Hartman was given co-writer credits on later releases of Wahlberg's song.

Critical reception

Bill Lamb from

About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly About.com) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, ...

said

had a history of scrapes with the law as a teenager, "but his ready-for-video buffed body and good looks, combined with energetic

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

beats and

's diva-esque vocals, made for a smash pop hit."

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 databas ...

editor Steve Huey noted that the rapper's "aggressively delivered raps were fairly simplistic, but not comical; one of the main hooks was a simple piano sample that ascended, descended, and reascended." He added that "Good Vibrations" "was easily the most infectious song Marky Mark ever recorded". ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' magazine picked it as one of the "pick tracks" from the '' Music for the People'' album, noting that it features "canny sampling", and adding that Marky Mark "enters

Vanilla Ice Robert Matthew Van Winkle (born October 31, 1967), known professionally as Vanilla Ice, is an American rapper, actor, and television host. Born in South Dallas, and raised in Texas and South Florida, Ice released his debut album, ''Hooked'', ...

territory with a lightweight pop/rap track." Dave Sholin from the ''

Gavin Report The ''Gavin Report'' was a San Francisco-based radio industry trade publication. The publication was founded by radio performer Bill Gavin in 1958. Its Top 40 listings were used for many years by programmers to decide content of programs. The pu ...

'' wrote that "bustin' out of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Donnie Wahlberg Donald Edmond Wahlberg Jr. (born August 17, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, actor, record producer, and film producer. He is a founding member of the boy band New Kids on the Block. Outside music, he has had roles in the ''Saw' ...

's younger brother "is kickin' it and makin' one serious debut! The Wahlberg Brothers wrote and produced this hot track—something they deserve to point to with pride. Credit Loleatta Holloway with takin' it up more than a few notches on a chorus nothing short of incredible." A reviewer from ''

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 ...

'' commented, "Sampling is also an art form dear to Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch. But, to their credit, their debut single acknowledges their debut to Loleatta Holloway's now-familiar "It's such a good vibration". This may not be a big hit, but with 20-year-old Marky's rhythmic rapping, good looks and bad-boy image, it's chartbound." Johnny Dee from ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand fo ...

'' said "it sounds uncannily like '

Ride On Time Ride may refer to: People * MC Ride, a member of Death Grips * Sally Ride (1951–2012), American astronaut * William Ride (19262011), Australian zoologist Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Ride'' (1998 film), a 1998 comedy by Millicent ...

' by

Black Box In science, computing, and engineering, a black box is a system which can be viewed in terms of its inputs and outputs (or transfer characteristics), without any knowledge of its internal workings. Its implementation is "opaque" (black). The te ...

with a couple of raps over the top. But! As Marky puts it, this is "designed to make your behind move" and it does."

Music video

A black and white

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

was produced to promote the single. It featured Marky Mark working out and boxing barechested, and making out with a girl on a bed. Boxer

Micky Ward George Michael Ward Jr. (born October 4, 1965), often known by his nickname, "Irish" Micky Ward, is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2003. He challenged once for the IBF light welterweight title in 1997, and held t ...

is credited for helping with the boxing technique and training used for this video.

also made an appearance performing the chorus. Mark Wahlberg first met Micky Ward when he was 18 and later played him on the big screen in the 2010 film ''

The Fighter ''The Fighter'' is a 2010 American biographical sports drama film directed by David O. Russell, and stars Mark Wahlberg (who also produced), Christian Bale, Amy Adams, and Melissa Leo. The film centers on the lives of professional boxer Micky ...

''. The music video was produced by David Horgan and directed by Scott Kalvert.

Impact and legacy

In 2017, ''

BuzzFeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III to focus on tracking viral content. Ken ...

'' ranked "Good Vibrations" number 43 in their list of "The 101 Greatest Dance Songs of the '90s". In 2019, ''

'' placed it at number 115 in their ranking of "''Billboard''s Top Songs of the '90s". In 2021, it was ranked number 35 by ''BuzzFeed'' in their list of "The 50 Best '90s Songs of Summer".-

Track listings

* 7" single # "Good Vibrations" — 4:29 # "So What Chu Sayin" — 4:41 * CD maxi # "Good Vibrations" (club dub) — 5:22 # "Good Vibrations" — 4:29 # "Good Vibrations" (instrumental dub) — 5:02 # "So What Chu Sayin" — 4:41

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 1991 debut singles 1991 songs Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch songs Loleatta Holloway songs Interscope Records singles Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Number-one singles in Denmark Number-one singles in Sweden Number-one singles in Switzerland Songs written by Dan Hartman Songs written by Mark Wahlberg Black-and-white music videos