Released March 1989 Label Virgin | Recorded 1988 | |
Format 7" single, 12" maxi single, cassette , CD Genre Electronica, soul, R&B, new jack swing Length 6:02 (Album Version)
3:38 (7" Edit) | ||
"Keep On Movin'" is a song by British soul/R&B band Soul II Soul. It was the second single released from their debut album Club Classics Vol. One, (Keep On Movin' in the United States) after "Fairplay". It is one of two songs on the album that features British R&B singer Caron Wheeler (the other being "Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)") and it became one of Soul II Soul's most successful songs. It reached number five on the UK Singles Chart upon its release in March 1989 and number 11 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and was even more successful on Billboard's R&B charts, where it hit number one.
Contents
In October 1996, the song re-entered the UK Singles Chart at number 31, minus the sleeve credit to Caron Wheeler, after its use in an episode of the highly popular series of Papa & Nicole commercials for the Renault Clio car on British television.
In October 2004, "Keep On Movin'" appeared in the popular video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, playing on fictional new jack swing radio station CSR 103.9.
Impact and legacy
"Keep on Movin'" is mentioned in the first chapter of Paul Gilroy's book The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness (1993). Gilroy uses this particular song because he considers the song emblematic of a black transatlantic conversation. The song is notable for its expansion across nation-states, being produced in England by a group of people with Caribbean ancestry but having also been remixed into a Jamaican dub format in the United States. Gilroy describes the song as an expression of “the restlessness of spirit which makes the diaspora culture vital.” "Keep On Movin" made reference to racialized issues experienced by groups within the Diaspora. The song is sung by Caron Wheeler; and it was remixed into a dub format in the United States by Teddy Riley
Mixmag ranked the song number 87 in its 100 Greatest Dance Singles Of All Time list in 1996, adding:
"Keep On Movin' was clearly a classic as soon as it came out in the early summer of 1989. The old soul vibe was glued on to the electronic swing and suddenly if you were British you could still be funky."
In BBC Radio’s 2008 listeners & DJs poll The Greatest Ever Dance Record, "Keep On Movin'" came in at #6 after Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean", James Brown's "Sex Machine", Donna Summer's "I Feel Love", Derrick May's "Strings of Life" and Alison Limerick's "Where Love Lives".
The Daily Telegraph ranked "Keep On Movin'" #33 in their Top 50 Dance Songs list in 2015.
Track listing
A-side
- Keep On Movin' (Club Mix Ft. Caron Wheeler) 5:46
- Keep On Movin' (Big Beat A Capella) 3:32
- Keep On Movin' (Nellee Hooper 7") 3:38
B-side
- Keep On Movin' (Teddy Riley's Rubba Dub) 5:59
- Keep On Movin' (The First Movement) 6:03
- Keep On Movin' (Teddy Riley's Bonus Beats) 5:54