"Who's Zoomin' Who" is a song performed by American singer

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

. It was written by Franklin,

Preston Glass Preston Glass (born January 9, 1960) is an American musician, songwriter and producer. Glass is the winner of six BMI Awards. He has also worked with several famous artists such as Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Diana Ross, Kenny G, Natalie ...

, and

Narada Michael Walden Narada Michael Walden ( ; Michael Walden; born April 23, 1952) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He acquired the nickname Narada from Sri Chinmoy. He began his career as a drummer, working primarily in the jazz ...

for her thirtieth studio album of the same name (1985), with production overseen by Walden. The hit song was released as the album's second single on August 27, 1985, by

Arista Records Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...

. It served as the follow-up single to Franklin's chart-topping smash "

Freeway of Love "Freeway of Love" is a song by American singer Aretha Franklin. It was written by Jeffrey Cohen and Narada Michael Walden and produced by the latter for Franklin's thirtieth studio album, '' Who's Zoomin' Who?'' (1985). The song features a notab ...

", reaching number 7 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart that same year, and at the same time spending four weeks at the number-two spot on the

Hot Black Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 po ...

chart (behind "

Part-Time Lover "Part-Time Lover" is a song by American R&B singer and songwriter Stevie Wonder, released as the first single from his twentieth studio album, '' In Square Circle'' (1985). The song reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, R&B, dance, ...

" by

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

and "

Caravan of Love "Caravan of Love" is a 1985 song originally recorded by American R&B group Isley-Jasper-Isley, the second half of the Isley Brothers' ''3 + 3'' lineup of the 1970s. A cover version by the British band the Housemartins became an international ...

" by

Isley-Jasper-Isley Isley-Jasper-Isley was a splinter group of the Isley Brothers The Isley Brothers ( ) are an American soul group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of the brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ro ...

). Elsewhere, the

dance pop Dance-pop is a genre of electronic dance music 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. Developi ...

song entered the top twenty in Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Reception

Armond White Armond Allen White (born 1953) is an American film and music critic who writes for ''National Review'' and ''Out''. He was previously the editor of '' CityArts'' (2011–2014), the lead film critic for the alternative weekly '' New York Press ...

of ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' wrote the song, "may lack the weight of Aretha's golden hits, but at least acknowledge that love is not smooth. The confectionary style of the song allows Aretha to pitch this message directly to the young audience who want a relevant, modern sound from her."

Personnel

– lead vocals * Walter "Baby Love" Afanasieff – keyboards * Corrado Rustici – guitar * Randy "The King" Jackson – synth bass, backing vocals *

– drums, acoustic piano * Preston "Tiger Head" Glass,

Carolyn Franklin Carolyn Ann Franklin (May 13, 1944 – April 25, 1988) was an American singer-songwriter. Biography Franklin was born in Memphis, Tennessee, to Barbara Siggers Franklin and C. L. Franklin. The youngest of six children, they moved to Buffalo, ...

Jim Gilstrap James Gilstrap is an American singer and session musician. He is best known for his 1975 solo hit single " Swing Your Daddy", as well as singing co-lead to the theme from the TV series ''Good Times''. Career Gilstrap was born November 10, 1946 ...

Vicki Randle Vicki Randle (born December 11, 1954)Hillgirlz, the les ...

Sylvester Sylvester or Silvester is a name derived from the Latin adjective ''silvestris'' meaning "wooded" or "wild", which derives from the noun ''silva'' meaning "woodland". Classical Latin spells this with ''i''. In Classical Latin, ''y'' represented a ...

, Jeanie Tracy, Laundon Von Hendricks – backing vocals

Charts

References

1985 singles Aretha Franklin songs Songs written by Aretha Franklin Songs written by Narada Michael Walden Song recordings produced by Narada Michael Walden Songs written by Preston Glass Dance-pop songs 1985 songs Arista Records singles {{1980s-single-stub