"Too Hot" is a

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 ...

- pop and

new jack swing New jack swing, new jack, or swingbeat is a fusion genre of the rhythms and production techniques of hip hop and dance-pop, and the urban contemporary sound of R&B. Spearheaded by producers Teddy Riley and Bernard Belle, new jack swing was mos ...

song co-written by

Alanis Morissette Alanis Nadine Morissette ( ; born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, Morissette began her career in Canada in the early 1990s with tw ...

and Leslie Howe, and produced by Howe for Morissette's debut album, '' Alanis'' (1991). It was released as the album's first

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

in May 1991 (see

1991 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1991. Specific locations * 1991 in British music * 1991 in Norwegian music Specific genres * 1991 in country music * 1991 in heavy metal music * 1991 in hip hop music * ...

Content and history

The song is driven by drum machines,

electronic keyboard An electronic keyboard, portable keyboard, or digital keyboard is an electronic musical instrument, an electronic derivative of keyboard instruments. Electronic keyboards include synthesizers, digital pianos, stage pianos, electronic organs an ...

s and a

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 ...

, and Morissette's brothers Chad and Wade provided some of the backing vocals. In the chorus the song's protagonist tells a boy aspiring towards a goal that he's "Always too hot" and "never too cold", adding that his "best shot" is "too hot to hold"; with this in mind, she urges him to "go for

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

". The fifth chorus is sung almost

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 ...

. Morissette performs the first part of each verse as a

rap Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

, with lyrics describing the consequences of her "baby" achieving his goal. After the first chorus a man's voice says "I know you gonna dig this ... Ch-check this out", and more men's voices (one of whom addresses the "party people in the house") appear during the song's

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

, in which the backing singers shout for the listener to nonchalantly wave their arms around in the air. Purposeful arm-waving in an uncaring fashion can be seen by some as paradoxical, or even

ironic Irony (), in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what on the surface appears to be the case and what is actually the case or to be expected; it is an important rhetorical device and literary technique. Irony can be categorized into ...

. Morissette had independently released a single, "Fate Stay with Me", in 1985, but "Too Hot" became her mainstream breakthrough in Canada; it reached number 14 on the country's singles chart, peaked within the top ten on

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...

and contributed to the success of the album ''Alanis'', which was certified

during the same period."Alanis Morissette - Biography"
. ''The Canadian Pop Encyclopedia''. Retrieved August 20, 2006. It is her most popular

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

release, and was her biggest hit in Canada until the singles from her international debut album ''

Jagged Little Pill ''Jagged Little Pill'' is the third studio album by Canadian singer Alanis Morissette, released on June 13, 1995, through Maverick. It was her first album to be released worldwide. It marked a stylistic departure from the dance-pop sound of her ...

'' (1995). It was not released elsewhere. At the 1992

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

s "Too Hot" received a nomination for " Single of the Year", and the song's "Hott Shot"

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

was nominated in the category of "

Best Dance Recording The Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Recording (formerly known as Best Dance Recording) is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists f ...

". CBC called the song "

Paula Abdul Paula Julie Abdul (born June 19, 1962) is an American singer, dancer, choreographer, actress, and television personality. She began her career as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers at the age of 18 and later became the head choreograph ...

-inspired", and the ''

Arizona Daily Wildcat The ''Arizona Daily Wildcat'' is a student newspaper serving the University of Arizona. It was founded in 1899 as the ''Sage Green and Silver.'' Previous names include ''Arizona Weekly Life'', ''University Life'', ''Arizona Life'' and ''Arizona ...

'' described it as "cheesy" and "poppy"."'Acoustic' album 10 years in the remaking"
''

''. August 8, 2005. Retrieved August 20, 2006. "Too Hot", along with " Feel Your Love" (another song from ''Alanis'') and "

An Emotion Away "An Emotion Away" is a pop- dance song co-written by Alanis Morissette, Leslie Howe and Serge Côté, and produced by Howe for Morissette's second album '' Now Is the Time'' (1992). Its protagonist tells someone who "completely took erheart by ...

" (from Morissette's 1992 second album ''

Now Is the Time ''Now Is the Time'' is the second studio album by Alanis Morissette, released only in Canada on October 20, 1992. It was her final album for MCA Records Canada. Morissette recorded the album with Leslie Howe, who produced her debut album, '' ...

''), was used on the soundtrack of the 1993 film ''

Just One of the Girls ''Anything for Love'' is a 1993 direct-to-video teen comedy film directed by Michael Keusch and starring Corey Haim and Nicole Eggert. It was aired on television in the United States as ''Just One of the Girls''. Plot Summer is over and 16-year ...

'', in which Morissette appeared. She performed an acoustic version of the song during her 2005 ''

Jagged Little Pill Acoustic ''Jagged Little Pill Acoustic'' is a studio album by Alanis Morissette. It is a largely acoustic retrospective version of her highly successful third album, ''Jagged Little Pill'' (1995); the songs are stripped-down versions of the originals, tho ...

'' concert tour, introducing the song with the statement "For those 16-year-old days".

Music video

The single's

video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...

intercuts scenes featuring Morissette and others dancing at night with

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

footage of her loitering, flirting, streetwalking and dancing with friends during the day. The ''

Toronto Sun The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid format, tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices is located at Pos ...

'' noted Morissette's "

big hair Big hair is a hairstyle that emphasizes large volume or largely styled hair, especially when those styles make the hair occupy a large amount of space above and around the head. The label "big hair" for such styles originated in the late 1970s, wh ...

" in the video.Stevenson, Jane
"Acoustic Little Pill goes down easy"
. ''

''. June 7, 2005. Retrieved August 20, 2006.

Track listings

Cassette single *Side A: #"Too Hot" (album version) - 3:58 #Album sampler: " Feel Your Love"/" Walk Away"/"Plastic" *Side B: #"Too Hot" (Hott Shot mix) - 4:54 12-inch promo #"Too Hot" (Hott Shot mix) - 4:54 #"Too Hot" (instrumental) - 3:58 CD promo #"Too Hot" (album version) - 3:58 #"Too Hot" (Hott Shot mix) - 4:54

Personnel

* Produced, engineered and mixed by Leslie Howe for Ghetto Records *

Keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

s by Serge Côté * Drum programming,

and additional keyboards by Leslie "Bud" Howe * Keyboard solo by Frank "Fish" Levin * Lead vocals by Alanis Morissette * Back-up vocals by Chad & Wade Morissette,

Tyley Ross Tyley Ross is a Grammy nominated recording artist, the co-founder of the Universal Records recording act The East Village Opera Company, and a Dora Award winning musical theater actor. He is based in New York City. Biography Ross began his care ...

, John & Peter (The "Burn Bros."), Tom "Sloppy" Saidak, Kevin "Iceman" Little, Dan "Capt. Pin", Deane Josh Lovejoy, Sean Daley, Jenny "Frank #1" Parlier, Mr. Fish, Sal, Rick "Slick" Kumar * Recorded at Distortion Studios in

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Charts

References

"Alanis Morissette Discography - Too Hot"

GeoCities Yahoo! GeoCities was a web hosting service that allowed users to create and publish websites for free and to browse user-created websites by their theme or interest. GeoCities was started in November 1994 by David Bohnett and John Rezner, and w ...

: alanisdisco. Retrieved August 20, 2006.
"Early Releases"
Vip portal. Retrieved August 20, 2006. *''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'
searchable database
*Unknown (1991). In ''Alanis''

D liner notes D, or d, is the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''dee'' (pronounced ), plural ''dees''. History The ...

Canada:

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...

. {{Authority control 1991 debut singles 1991 songs Alanis Morissette songs Dance-pop songs New jack swing songs Songs written by Alanis Morissette Songs written by Leslie Howe