I need help identiifying a song

[daviddesper]

You guys know everything so someone will come through on this!

I was at a high school basketball game and while the teams were warming up, they were playing this very high energy song with a driving, thumping beat that somewhat reminded me of Hot Chocolate's "You Sexy Thing," which I know shows my age!

But as near as I could tell, the vocalist was a female and for the chorus of the song, the beat would stop abruptly and I think she would say "You're Unbelievable." So I would assume the song is titled either that or maybe just "Unbelievable."

Any ideas as to what this song might be? I have no idea if it is current or older. I hardly listen to current music anymore so it could be number one in the country right now and I wouldn't know it but yet I liked what I heard. Thanks.

[soulster]

I guess you haven't listened to current music in 24 years! That song is "Unbelievable" by EMF. It came out in 1991. That singer is a guy.

[splanky]

Everybody will miss some artists music sometime over the years, soulster. I constantly
come across things from earlier years and wonder " how the heck did I miss that?" I don't
know if this is the song David heard, don't really care because I know I've never heard it before myself either. Not my thing. Still I remember being quite surprised by you saying you
only knew one or two songs from New Birth; quite a shock from a guy who likes to sound as if he's heard everything. Check your mirror,bro...

[soulster]

Everybody will miss some artists music sometime over the years, soulster. I constantly
come across things from earlier years and wonder " how the heck did I miss that?" I don't
know if this is the song David heard, don't really care because I know I've never heard it before myself either. Not my thing. Still I remember being quite surprised by you saying you
only knew one or two songs from New Birth; quite a shock from a guy who likes to sound as if he's heard everything. Check your mirror,bro...

I wasn't criticizing him for not knowing or having heard the song. I was simply responding to when he said he said that he had no idea is it was newer or older. The truth it that it came out in the early 90s. I was in my mid-twenties in 1991, and still watched MTV, so I heard the song. All I said was that he hadn't listened to top 40 music in 24 years. I think that is strange for anyone. Is he alone? No. I meet people all the time who have no clue as to what is popular. I personally find it strange for a music lover, but it is what it is. In this case, it was top 40, not R&B, which does have a smaller overall chance for exposure.

See, I have always kept an ear out for top 40 pop music. But, like anyone, I of course miss stuff. But, I certainly have an idea of what era a song may have been popular.

The New Birth? They were not pop top 40. They were R&B. Where I lived, unless it was on Soul Train, or I took a trip to a major city, I just didn't hear it. That's what you get when you live out here in Arizona in the 70s. I recently went back and discovered a shitload of R&B music from the late 70s that I had never heard of until now, courtesy of YouTube! Why? It was soul music + Arizona. They do not mix. The Black population out here is like 2%. The only reason I ever even heard of a band called The New Birth is because when my father retired from the Army in 1973 and moved from the Chicago area, he gave me his old record collection, and there was a 45 by that band in it. Soul music in the 70s had a very small footprint. I'm not even talking about the crossover stuff that made it big.

Go easy with that looking in the mirror stuff. I think you overreacted.

[daviddesper]

Thanks for the input and especially for providing the video as opposed to just giving me the name of the song. That definitely helped prove that it was indeed the same song. Now that I have seen it in the context of the video, it reminds me more of George Michael, either before or after his Wham! days. But at least we were able to communicate well enough for you to identify it for me and again I thank you.

As for what music I have or have not listened to, you are entirely correct that I have not listened to much pop music in the last 20 years or so. One of the reasons for that is that music has changed so much in that time period to the point that I just don't enjoy it as much anymore. But a second and more logical reason in my case is that the CD re-issue era has just been a godsend to children of the 60s and 70s such as myself.

So once these companies out there started re-issuing all the music I grew up with and never dreamed I could have on CD, my personal focus shifted to buying all my old favorites all over again, and as a result, the brand new stuff that was coming out just didn't catch my attention any more. Also, there was this trend that seemed to start about 25-30 years ago in which music is overproduced to the point that the artist's vocal talent is either minimized or in some cases covered up completely by background "noise" and yet it still sells millions.

So for me personally, I will take my old favorites any day of the week over most of what is out there today, which is why the Motown re-issues, etc. that we discuss on here are so exciting to me. Thanks again!

[soulster]

Thanks for the input and especially for providing the video as opposed to just giving me the name of the song. That definitely helped prove that it was indeed the same song. Now that I have seen it in the context of the video, it reminds me more of George Michael, either before or after his Wham! days. But at least we were able to communicate well enough for you to identify it for me and again I thank you.

You're welcome, man! I could have just done without the chastising. I seem to get it from people around here just because I am not like everybody else.

As for what music I have or have not listened to, you are entirely correct that I have not listened to much pop music in the last 20 years or so. One of the reasons for that is that music has changed so much in that time period to the point that I just don't enjoy it as much anymore. But a second and more logical reason in my case is that the CD re-issue era has just been a godsend to children of the 60s and 70s such as myself.

It looks like you and I are about the same age range, then [[early 50s). I don't know why you stopped listening. maybe you were off into another type of music, maybe you were in the military, maybe you were starting a career...I don't know. But, I always kept up with what was going on. But, also, where you live, and what you are exposed to makes a huge difference. But, unlike the lot of you, I am into many types and eras of music. Most people I see here are only into one or two types of music. It may be a Motown-centric forum, but Ralph isn't disallowing discussion of other music.

So once these companies out there started re-issuing all the music I grew up with and never dreamed I could have on CD, my personal focus shifted to buying all my old favorites all over again, and as a result, the brand new stuff that was coming out just didn't catch my attention any more.

I also love the CD era because, for the first time, the labels got serious about reissuing all of our childhood favorites. I don't know about you, but I bought tons of CDs, especially in the 90s! I used to drop as much as $200 a week on CD reissues and comps. But, I still kept up[ with, and bought new music, too. If you like pop music from the 60s, 70s, and 80s, i'll bet our collections are probably similar. Sounds like a new thread idea, too.

Also, there was this trend that seemed to start about 25-30 years ago in which music is overproduced to the point that the artist's vocal talent is either minimized or in some cases covered up completely by background "noise" and yet it still sells millions.

Well, IMO, music of the 60s, 70s, and 80 were also over-produced [[not that there's anything wrong with that, because lord knows Motown music was over-produced, too. I like lots of production.).

So for me personally, I will take my old favorites any day of the week over most of what is out there today, which is why the Motown re-issues, etc. that we discuss on here are so exciting to me. Thanks again!

If I ever find a way to cheaply host a soul music forum that isn't built around a specific record label or location, y'all are invited to join. But, i'll have forum rules.

[splanky]

I don't find anything strange about anyone not listening to top 40 music not only for 24 years
but for the rest of their lives,btw...

[roger]

That "Unbelievable" track by EMF is one I'm very familiar with, as it often gets played on pub Juke Boxes etc. here in merry olde England, but I would have been hard pressed to say who it was by until I read this thread. It seems that it got to #1 on the Billboard Hot-100 whereas here in the UK it got to #3 back in 1991. The group were actually from Gloucestershire, England and to me it is fairly typical of the Indie Rock/Dance music that was being made at the time.

So how come I wouldn't know who it was by?

I think a lot of that is down to the radio stations I listen to. Back when I was a pre-teen and a teenager I would be listening to the radio a lot, and the only stations that I habitually listened to were what could loosely be based as "Chart-Based"/"Top 40" .. Radio Caroline [[North and South), Radio London and 270 in the mid-60s "Offshore Pirate" era, Radio Luxembourg [[at night) then BBC Radio One and RNI in the early '70s, plus American Forces Radio [[at night). This meant that I was familiar with most of the songs that made the U.K. Top 30 [[even the ones I loathed) and a lot of U.S. hits via the AFN radio station.

Then in 1974/5/6 a number of new commercial radio stations came on-air in the U.K. which tended to play a higher proportion of Soul/Funk/Disco than BBC Radio One and I started to listen to them. I quickly found that I started to get out of touch with what was in the U.K. Top 30 [[particularly the more gimmicky tunes) as the stations I was listening to tended to ignore them.

Then in 1988 I moved down to the London area where there were a lot of "pirate" radio stations playing nothing but Soul/Funk/Dance/Reggae and I started to lose touch entirely with what was charting. This became compounded in the early 1990s when a number of officially licensed "Specialist" stations went on air in London that I started to listen to .. Jazz FM [[Jazz and Soul), Choice FM [[R&B/Hip-Hop) and Kiss FM [[Dance and R&B). From that moment on I doubt if I have listened to Top 40 radio for more than an hour or so in any given week and I am totally out-of-touch with what is in the Top 40 [[UK or US).



Roger

[smark21]

Maybe another reason why the band is not well known now is because Unbelievable was their only hit. They were a one hit wonder group, whose song became more lasting than they did. Happens fairly often.

[mark speck]

I pretty much gave up on Top 40 around 1990, but there are certain songs since then that I love...and "Unbelievable" is definitely one of them!

Best,

Mark

[roger]

Maybe another reason why the band is not well known now is because Unbelievable was their only hit. They were a one hit wonder group, whose song became more lasting than they did. Happens fairly often.

It seems that here in Britain they had 8 hits ... this was their follow up to "Unbelievable", a #6 hit called "I Believe" ..



Another hit was called "Lies"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlUidR6Fkhw

[[I'm starting to sense a pattern here )

Roger

[soulster]

I don't find anything strange about anyone not listening to top 40 music not only for 24 years
but for the rest of their lives,btw...

I do if they grew up in the U.S. and are, under, say, 60.