B-side Remix Recorded 1990 Length 4:06 | Released November 18, 1990 Genre Dance-pop, hip house | |
Format CD single, CD maxi, 7" single,
12" maxi | ||
"Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" is a hit song by American dance group C+C Music Factory. It was released in late 1990 as the lead single from the album, Gonna Make You Sweat. The song charted internationally and achieved great success in the United States, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland where it reached number one on the charts.
Contents
Background and writing
The rap was performed by Freedom Williams and the vocal "Everybody Dance Now" by disco/house music artist Martha Wash.
The official music video features Zelma Davis lip-synching to the actual Martha Wash vocal parts.
In 1994, Martha Wash and C+C Music Factory producers Clivillés and Cole reached an out-of-court settlement in two lawsuits filed by Wash, over being uncredited in the C+C album that featured "Gonna Make You Sweat" and being excluded from the music video. As a result of the settlement, Sony made an unprecedented request to MTV to add a disclaimer that credited Wash for vocals and Davis for "visualization" to the "Gonna Make You Sweat" music video.
Reception
When it was first released, "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" was met by widespread commercial recognition, initiating the early 90s dance music scene. Topping charts in several countries, the song dominated the airwaves while its accompanying music video received constant rotation on MTV. Music critics praised "Gonna Make You Sweat" for Freedom Williams' Ice-T-like rap delivery in conjunction with Martha Wash's powerful, exuberant, post-disco vocals and deemed the song as a bona fide classic. However, over the years, the song came to be used and/or referenced an innumerable amount of times by the entertainment industry, to the point that it became something of a musical, pop culture cliché. By 2007, the song was criticized by Allmusic as "the lazy Hollywood 'go-to' song for supposed laugh-filled, irony-fueled dance numbers."
Chart performances
The song held the top spot in the Billboard Magazine list of popular dance club tunes for five weeks in December 1990, and topped Billboard Hot 100 Singles list for two weeks in 1991 (February 9 and February 16.) It reached #3 in the UK in January, a full month before its American pop success. It even found success in the urban contemporary music world as it crossed over to the R&B charts where it reached number-one for a week.
In popular culture
The song was played in many films, including The Super, Sister Act, Man of the House (1995), Man of the House (2005), Space Jam, Something's Gotta Give, Robots, Jarhead, Chicken Little, A Fairly Odd Summer, Old School, Evan Almighty, Detention and Pain and Gain. Also played movie trailers, including Superstar, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Flushed Away and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.
It was also used in TV series, such as in the episode "Alpha" of The Flash (1990-1991), the episodes "The Big Four-Oh" and "Banks Shot" of The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, "Meet By-Product" in King of Queens, in an episode of So You Think You Can Dance, in a 2010 episode and the 2011 season premiere of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, in an episode of The Office, “Cafe Disco” in which both Andy and Kelly had a dance off, in an episode of American Dad! entitled When a Stan Loves a Woman, in the 30 Rock episode "Retreat to Move Forward", and was played twice during a 1997 episode of The Simpsons, “Homer's Phobia”, as Bart and Homer leave a steel mill that turns out to be operated by homosexuals, and during the end credits, as well as "Love Is a Many Strangled Thing" where the Simpsons are at a football game and the video screen implores the audience to make fools of themselves to the rhythmic beats of the song. It was used in "The Amanda Show" at the end of the Judge Trudy segments when Judge Trudy orders the dancing lobsters to be brought into the courtroom. The song is also sung by King Julien in the movie, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted. A cover of the song played in the background of the season four episode of Bob's Burgers, A River Runs Through Bob.
This song also appeared in the videogame Dance Central 2 via DLC. This song appears in Just Dance 3.
It appears in a 2016 TV commercial for Applebee's.
The song and video has been parodied in the 1994 hip-hop mockumentary film and on its soundtrack album, Fear of a Black Hat as a solo single for rapper Ice Cold (Rusty Cundieff) as "Come and Pet the P.U.S.S.Y.", including his C+C Music Factory-like group formation as The Ice Plant and its controversy surrounding the lip-synched vocal credit regarding Martha Wash over band member Zelda Davis.
According to the 2017 "Ken's New Intern" episode of Dr. Ken, the character Damona Watkins sang the vocal "Everybody Dance Now".
Music video
The video was directed by Marcus Nispel and featured dancers performing in front of a white back drop. Zelma Davis lip-synchs to the recorded vocals of Martha Wash. A short clip of Double Dutch is shown near the end.
Track listings
CD single
- "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" (radio version) – 4:06
- "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" (in your face mix instrumental) – 4:54
7" single
- "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" (radio version) – 4:06
- "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" (in your face mix instrumental) – 4:54
12" maxi
- "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" (the slammin' vocal club mix) – 6:50
- "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" (Clivillés & Cole DJ's choice mix) – 5:00
- "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" (the master mix instrumental) – 4:54