"Stop!" is a song by English singer-songwriter Sam Brown from her debut studio album of the same name (1988). It was written by Brown,

Gregg Sutton Gregg Sutton is an American musician, songwriter, guitarist, singer and bassist, who lives in Los Angeles. Career Gregg has written hits for Sam Brown (" Stop!"), Joe Cocker ("Tonight" and seven others) and contributed songs to Maria McKee, Lo ...

and

Bruce Brody Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album ''Horses''. Called the "punk poet ...

. "Stop!" reached number 52 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 ...

when it was first released. Following its re-release in 1989, the song peaked at number four, becoming Brown's highest-charting single to date, and spending 12 weeks on the chart. Additionally, "Stop" topped the charts in Belgium, Iceland, the Netherlands and Norway, while reaching the top five in Australia, Austria, Finland, France, Ireland and Switzerland. The song was featured in the soundtrack to the 1992 film '' Bitter Moon''.

Critical reception

Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later ...

'' picked "Stop!" as Single of the Week, complimenting "an impressive new talent whose striking debut single leaves us with no doubts about her future." They added that "her commanding vocals fare well in this emotional and powerful

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

, suitable for all types of radio formats." Upon the 1989 re-release, Betty Page from ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the ''NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in ''Re ...

'' wrote, "Second time lucky, please, for Sam's powerful R&B-ish ballad (out first time last year) from her cruelly overlooked debut LP. It's a barnstormer of a vocal performance — gutsy but strangely vulnerable at the same time. What a woman. She's made it big in Europe already, so it's about time you lot out there woke up to her considerable talents."

David Cavanagh David Cavanagh was an Irish writer and music journalist, best known for his the critically acclaimed 2000 book ''My Magpie Eyes Are Hungry for the Prize'', which detailed the rise and fall of Creation Records, and for his editorship of '' Select'' ...

of ''

Sounds In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...

'' described the song as "absolutely corking" and "solid gold". He added, "Sam's obviously a sucker for

Dusty Springfield Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), known professionally as Dusty Springfield, was an English singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano sound, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, Pop music, p ...

and is equipped with a startlingly good voice."

Track listings

*UK CD single #"Stop!" (edit) #"Blue Soldier" *UK 7-inch single :A. "Stop!" (edit) :B. "Blue Soldier" *UK 12-inch single :A1. "Stop!" (album version) :A2. "Poor Frank" :B1. "Blue Soldier" :B2. "Bones"

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of '' Stop!'' * Sam Brown –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

; string arrangements *

Jakko Jakszyk Michael "Jakko" Jakszyk (born Michael Lee Curran, 8 June 1958) is an English musician, record producer, and actor. He has released several solo albums as a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist and has been the lead singer for King Crims ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

Gavin Harrison Gavin Richard Harrison (born 28 May 1963) is an English musician. He is best known for playing with the progressive rock bands Porcupine Tree (2002–2010; 2021–present), King Crimson (2008, and 2014–present) and The Pineapple Thief (2016� ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

*Ed Poole –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

*Kevin Malpass –

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

; string arrangements * Bob Andrews – Hammond organ solo *

Andy Price Andy Price is a British television and film composer. He has scored more than 50 films for television and more than 25 productions for theatres around the country, including the Bristol Old Vic, National Youth Theatre and the RSC. Price has com ...

– 1st

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 regular ...

*Mark Walton – 2nd violin *Kate Musker –

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

*Peter Esswood –

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

Vicki Brown Vicki Brown (23 August 1940 – 16 June 1991) was an English pop, rock and contemporary classical singer. She was a member of both The Vernons Girls and The Breakaways and was the first wife of fellow singer and musician Joe Brown and mother o ...

–

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

Margo Buchanan Margo Buchanan is a Scottish singer-songwriter, composer, musician, and recording artist. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Buchanan is best known for her work as a session backing vocalist. Early years Margo Buchanan was born in Lanark, ...

– backing vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Jamelia version

English singer

Jamelia ' Jamelia Niela Davis (born 11 January 1981) is an English singer, songwriter and television presenter. She has released three studio albums, each of which has reached the Top 40 in the UK, which collectively have spawned eight UK top-ten singl ...

covered "Stop!" after the makers of the 2004 film '' Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason'' approached her to record it to illustrate an integral part of the film. Jamelia instantly accepted the offer and explained how much she was a fan of the character and of

the first film ''The First Film'' is a 2015 British documentary film about cinema pioneer Louis Le Prince, made by David Nicholas Wilkinson. It argues the case that Le Prince, rather than the Lumière brothers, was the true inventor of moving pictures, making ...

. The exclamation mark at the end of the title was dropped for the Jamelia release. "Stop" was released as a double A-side with the song " DJ" on 1 November 2004. The single peaked at number nine on the UK Singles Chart and became Jamelia's fourth consecutive top-10 entry, spending 12 weeks on the chart. It also became her fourth consecutive top-40 single in Australia, peaking at number 37. The formats of "DJ" and "Stop" received a staggered release. On 1 November 2004, the two-track CD one was released along with the "DJ" CD release. Due to time constraints, the "Stop" music video (directed by Alex Hemming) could not be added in time to make the 1 November release date and so the CD two was released a week later on 8 November 2004. This was also the first

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

release from Jamelia. The single release also contained a cover of

Wham! Wham! (briefly known in the US as Wham! U.K.) were an English pop duo formed in Bushey in 1981. The duo consisted of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. They became one of the most commercially successful pop acts of the 1980s, selling more ...

's "

Last Christmas "Last Christmas" is a song by British pop duo Wham!, originally released in December 1984 on CBS Records International, CBS Records internationally and as a double A-side and B-side, A-side on Epic Records with "Everything She Wants" in the UK ...

Track listings

* UK CD1 and European CD single # " DJ" # "Stop" * UK CD2 # "DJ" # "Stop" # "

" # "Stop" (video) * Australian CD single # "DJ" # "Stop" # "Last Christmas"

Charts

All entries charted as "DJ" / "Stop" unless otherwise noted.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Other versions

*It was covered by Polish singer

Edyta Górniak Edyta Anna Górniak (; born 14 November 1972) is a Polish pop singer with a career spanning 3 decades. Górniak started as a musical theatre actress in 1990. She performed in the most popular musical in Polish history, the Tony Award-nominated ...

in 1989, at age 16, when she gave her first public appearance on a Polish television talent show of which she won. *It was covered by

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre that combines elements of blues and rock music. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock (electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and drums, sometimes w ...

Joe Bonamassa Joseph Leonard Bonamassa ( ; born May 8, 1977) is an American blues rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. He started his career at age twelve, when he opened for B.B. King. Since 2000, Bonamassa has released fifteen solo albums through his ind ...

in 2009, who recorded a seven-minute version of the song for inclusion on his album '' The Ballad of John Henry''. *It was covered by Norwegian singer Ane Brun in 2005, whom released a version (as a duet with Liv Widell) on her album ''

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 ...

''. *It was covered by Icelandic singer

Hafdís Huld Hafdís Huld Þrastardóttir (; born 22 May 1979), known simply as Hafdís Huld, is an Icelandic singer and actress. She began her musical career as a member of the electronic band GusGus in 1995 and left the group in 1999. Hafdís made her sol ...

, whom recorded an

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

version which was used for a pan-European TV commercial for

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...

in the summer of 2008. A fully instrumented version was released as a single in Iceland on 24 October 2008 with a full iTunes release on 24 November via Red Grape. *It was covered by Vietnamese singer

Mỹ Tâm Phan Thị Mỹ Tâm (born 16 January 1981, in Da Nang), whose stage name is Mỹ Tâm, is a Vietnamese singer-songwriter. Her best-known songs are "Hoạ Mi Tóc Nâu" (Brown-Haired Hwamei) She is the most successful Vietnamese singer o ...

on her album ''10 Years Anniversary Liveshow 2011: Mỹ Tâm Melodies of time'' *It was covered by

Paul Dempsey Paul Anthony Dempsey (born 25 May 1976) is an Australian musician. He is best known as the lead singer, guitarist and principal lyricist of rock group Something for Kate. Dempsey released his debut solo album, '' Everything Is True'', on 20 A ...

, frontman of the Australian group

Something for Kate Something for Kate are an Australian alternative rock band, which formed in 1994 with Paul Dempsey on lead vocals and guitar, and Clint Hyndman on drums. They were joined in 1998 by Stephanie Ashworth on bass guitar and backing vocals. The gr ...

, as a bonus track on the deluxe version of the band's 2012 album ''

Leave Your Soul to Science ''Leave Your Soul to Science'' is the sixth studio album by Melbourne band Something for Kate, released on 28 September 2012. The album debuted at No.5 on the ARIA Charts. The album was produced by John Congleton, whose previous credits includ ...

''. *It was covered by Italian singer Andrea Faustini in week 7 of the live show on ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

'' 2014 after ending up in the bottom two with Stevi Ritchie. *It was covered by Four of Diamonds in the six chair challenge on ''The X Factor'' 2016. *It was covered by Nikita Dzhigurda in the voice of Whitney Houston on "Pikabu" 2019 specially for Makhmud.

References

{{Authority control 1980s ballads 1988 songs 1988 singles 2004 singles A&M Records singles Blue-eyed soul songs Contemporary R&B ballads Dutch Top 40 number-one singles Jamelia songs Number-one singles in Iceland Number-one singles in Norway Parlophone singles Sam Brown (singer) songs Songs written by Gregg Sutton Soul ballads Ultratop 50 Singles (Flanders) number-one singles Songs written by Sam Brown (singer)