Released June 16, 1998 Recorded April 1998 Length 3:19 | Format CD single, CD maxi Genre Pop Label Hollywood | |
"Crush" is a pop song recorded by American singer Jennifer Paige. The song was written by Andy Goldmark, Mark Mueller, Berny Cosgrove and Kevin Clark. It was released as the first single from her debut album, Jennifer Paige (see 1998 in music). The music video for "Crush" was produced by Kati Haberstok and directed by David Hogan.
Contents
"Crush" topped the charts in six countries in 1998 and peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it stayed for four consecutive weeks (from September 5 through September 26), behind songs including Monica's "The First Night", Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", and Barenaked Ladies' "One Week". "Crush" spent an additional four weeks at #4. It was in the Top 10 for 17 weeks (from August 8 through November 28) and stayed in Hot 100 for a total of 25 weeks. "Crush" also peaked at #2 on the R&R CHR Radio Airplay Chart. In the UK, “Crush” reached #1 on the airplay chart and #4 on the BPI singles chart, where it spent 3 weeks in the Top 10: http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/19980920/7501/
"Crush" peaked at #1 on the United World Chart: United World Chart where it held the top position for 2 weeks in November 1998, after spending 7 weeks at #2 behind Aerosmith's I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing. It was in the Top 10 for 17 weeks and was 1998's #8 song on the website's year-end chart, between Natalie Imbruglia's Torn and Cher's Believe.
Background
After Paige recorded "Crush" in April 1998, producer Andy Goldmark immediately took a copy of "Crush" to legendary Los Angeles radio station KIIS-FM. During the first week of May, KIIS-FM became the first radio station to begin playing "Crush". "We had no pictures, photography, gotten it mastered, mass-produced it, nothing...", Paige said. Edel made an initial press run of 20,000 copies of "Crush" which sold very quickly, and "Crush" became KIIS-FM's most requested song.
Critical reception
In the next few weeks, other major radio stations nationwide added "Crush" to their daily rotation. By this time, many music labels had expressed interest in signing Paige. In early June 1998, she signed a contract with Hollywood Records, and many more stations began to play "Crush." Once "Crush" began its rotation on other radio stations, critics gave a positive review: "Paige is excellent, almost impossible to be meaningful without resorting to typical cries" - declared Billboard.
On July 9, Paige made her first on-air appearance at KIIS-FM with Rick Dees. She also performed "Crush" for the first time live that day, and on July 24, "Crush" cracked the Top 10.
Blender put "Crush" at 189th place on their list of 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born. They described the song as "...an unusually supple and sophisticated teen-pop hit informed by the level-headed sass of great R&B... swept along by a breathy chorus, pulsing groove and Paige's exquisite multilayered vocals."
"Crush" was featured in the made-for-TV movie, Sabrina Goes to Rome.
Live performances and cover versions
On May 5, 1999, Paige performed "Crush" at the 1999 World Music Awards.
Washington, D.C.-based indie rock band The Dismemberment Plan recorded a downtempo version of "Crush" for a 2001 split EP with Juno.
Emperor Entertainment Group of Hong Kong bought a license of the melody, and made a Cantonese version sung by Cantopop singer Joey Yung called "Unknown", which is included on her debut album, EP/JOEY, and compilation album, Love Joey 2. It won "Best Performance of Cover Song award". This becomes Yung's first big hit in the Hong Kong music industry, achieving charting success with 3 number-ones (out of 4 charts in Hong Kong).
Lea Michele recorded the song for the November 18, 2009 episode of Glee. It is also featured on the second soundtrack album which went Gold in the US and UK, 2xPlatinum in Ireland, and Platinum in Canada and Australia.
Jai Paul covered "Crush" on a collection of leaked demos, released on April 14, 2013.
In 2015, the song was covered by the French girlband "When We Were Young" from their album "Made in '90s".
Also in 2015, the song was covered by the band Campsite Dream on the album Crush. It is a downtempo version.
In 2016, "Crush" returned to the Billboard Top 10 the week of May 21, 2016 when it reached #8 on the magazine's Smooth Jazz Airplay chart in a cover by jazz keyboardist John Novello. His version features R&B saxophone artist Gerald Albright on the chorus. As of the June 18, 2016 Chart, it had spent a total of 19 weeks in the Top 30. "Crush" peaked at #5 on the America's Music Chart Smooth Jazz chart the week of May 24, 2016. This cover version reached #2 on America's Smooth Jazz Top 20 airplay chart the week of May 28, 2016: http://www.smoothjazztop20.com
Chart performances
"Crush" became an international hit. It peaked at No. 3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, was certified Gold by the RIAA, and sold 700,000 by the end of 1998. It went to number one in Spain, Denmark, New Zealand, South Africa, Russia, Australia, where it was certified 2x Platinum, and Canada, where it spent five weeks at number one on the Canadian RPM singles chart. "Crush" also reached the Top 5 in the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Hungary, and No. 6 in Ireland, The Netherlands and Norway.