"Private Number" is a song recorded by American

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singers

Judy Clay Judy Clay (September 12, 1938 – July 19, 2001)
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and William Bell (1968). In the US, it was released as a single, where it peaked at number 17 on the Best Selling Rhythm and Blues chart and number 75 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Outside the US, "Private Number" went to number eight in the United Kingdom.

911 version

English boy band

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covered "Private Number" for their third studio album, '' There It Is'' (1999). There are two different versions of the song: one version featuring Natalie Jordan and one featuring

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. The song was released as the third and final single from the album on May 3, 1999, and peaked at number three on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. It was the last of their string of consecutive top 10 hit singles in the UK.

Music video

The music video features 911 performing the song in pouring rain in China. There are two different versions of the video, one featuring Natalie Jordan and one featuring Fann Wong. In Jordan's version, she can be seen singing her parts whilst on a television screen and in a dark room. In Wong's version, she is standing by herself in the rain as well.

Charts

Release history

Other cover versions

* English

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band

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

covered this song in 1975. It featured on their ''Stealin' Home'' album and was released as a single on the

Harvest Records Harvest Records is a British-American record label belonging to Capitol Music Group, originally created by EMI in 1969. History Harvest Records was created by EMI in 1969 to market progressive rock music, and to compete with Philips' Vertigo ...

label. * In 2000, Bell performed a live version of "Private Number" with Scottish rock band

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

on '' Later... with Jools Holland''. * In 2011,

Jon Stevens Jon Stevens (born 8 October 1961) is a New Zealand singer, best known for his work with Noiseworks and ''Jesus Christ Superstar''. Biography 1980–1986: career beginnings and ''Jezebel'' Stevens was born in Upper Hutt, New Zealand, and is ...

covered the song for his album '' Testify!'' * In 2014, Bell duetted with Joss Stone on ''

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''. * In 2016,

Beverley Knight Beverley Knight (born Beverley Anne Smith, 22 March 1973) is an English recording artist and musical theatre actress. She released her first album, '' The B-Funk'', in 1995. Heavily influenced by American soul music icons such as Sam Cooke an ...

recorded a version with

Jamie Cullum Jamie Cullum (born 20 August 1979) is an English jazz-pop singer, songwriter and radio presenter. Although primarily a vocalist and pianist, he also accompanies himself on other instruments, including guitar and drums. He has recorded nine stu ...

for her album '' Soulsville''. The following year, Knight performed the song with Bell at a

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celebrating

Stax Records Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records. Stax was ...

Sampling

* The opening seconds and guitar riff of Clay and Bell's original version of the song were prominently

sampled Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of so ...

Rappin' 4-Tay Anthony H. Forté (born March 2, 1968), better known by his stage name Rappin' 4-Tay, is an American rapper from San Francisco, California. Early life Anthony Forte was born March 2, 1968 and grew up in San Francisco's Fillmore District. He has ...

's hip-hop single, "

Playaz Club "Playaz Club" is the lead single from Rappin' 4-Tay's second album, ''Don't Fight the Feelin. The song was produced by Cyrus Esteban and Frank "Franky J" Hudson, Jr. who used a sample of Judy Clay and William Bell's 1968 hit " Private Number" ...

", which reached #36 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in 1994. * The opening seconds were also sampled in Pretty Lights's "Finally Moving", which is featured on his 2006 album '' Taking Up Your Precious Time'', Nightmares On Wax's "You Wish" from his 2006 album

In a Space Outta Sound ''In a Space Outta Sound'' is the fifth studio album by Nightmares on Wax. It was released in 2006 on Warp. It peaked at number 93 on the UK Albums Chart. Critical reception At Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates review ...

, and more recently by

Purple Disco Machine Tino Piontek (born 12 February 1980), also known as Tino Schmidt and the stage name Purple Disco Machine, is a German disco and house music producer and DJ. Career Tino Piontek was born in Dresden on 12 February 1980, and grew up in East Germa ...

on "Devil in Me", featured in his 2017 album Soulmatic.

References

{{Authority control 1968 singles 1999 singles Virgin Records singles 911 (English group) songs 1968 songs Male–female vocal duets Stax Records singles Songs written by William Bell (singer) Songs written by Booker T. Jones