Car Wash (song)
Encyclopedia
"Car Wash" is a 1976 soul music
single by Rose Royce
for MCA Records
, the group's debut single and one of the most notable successes of the disco
era. Written and produced by the band's main producer Norman Whitfield
, "Car Wash", the theme of the 1976 film Car Wash, was Rose Royce's most successful hit single and the lead single from their first album, the Car Wash soundtrack
. Reaching number one in the United States on the Billboard
pop and R&B charts, "Car Wash" also peaked at number three on the disco charts. The song was later covered in 2004 by Christina Aguilera
and Missy Elliott
, who released their version as the single for the Shark Tale
soundtrack.
, had been commissioned to record the soundtrack album for Car Wash by director Michael Schultz
. Although Whitfield did not want to assume the project, he did so because of both financial incentives, and the chance to give Rose Royce, a disco
/funk
backing band that Whitfield signed to his own label in 1975, the exposure they needed to become mainstream. Unable to develop a theme song for the film, inspiration finally struck Whitfield while playing a game of basketball
, and he allegedly wrote his first draft of "Car Wash" on a paper bag from a fried chicken eatery.
The resulting song set the mood and tone for the blaxploitation
comedy film
it was commissioned for. Rose Royce lead singer Rose Norwalt (Gwen Dickey), with brief assistance from guitarist Kenji Brown, describes a fun and easy-going car wash
ing business, where everything is "always cool/and the boss don't mind sometimes if you act a fool."
Car Wash's soundtrack, a double album
, was Rose Royce's debut LP, and the title track was their debut single. "Car Wash" sold two million copies, and was a number one success on both the Billboard popular and R&B charts in the United States
and a top ten success in the United Kingdom
. The song held the number-one spot on the Billboard Hot 100
for one week, from January 22, 1977 to January 29, replacing "I Wish
" by Stevie Wonder
, and replaced by "Torn Between Two Lovers" by Mary MacGregor
. The Car Wash soundtrack album, entirely recorded by Rose Royce and Whitfield, spawned two more successful singles: "I Wanna Get Next to You" and "I'm Going Down" (later covered in 1994 by Mary J. Blige
).
The original Rose Royce version of "Car Wash" is one of the most sampled
songs in history, not for its main instrumentation, but for its introductory section. The song opens with a series of hand claps, which have been sampled many times for both hip hop
and R&B songs from the 1980s on. It was also re-released as a double A-side single with "Is It Love You're After?" in 1988 in the UK
, peaking at #20.
featuring rapper-singer Missy Elliott
recorded a cover version of "Car Wash", giving the disco song a more modern pop feel and adding rapped verses from Elliott. In an interview Aguilera said, "...we had to change the key to be a little bit higher for my range. So we couldn't take the exact samples, but we brought in all these live instruments to recreate kind of this old, old classic, soulful feel and sound...."
"Car Wash" was the only single from the soundtrack to DreamWorks
' computer animated film Shark Tale
. Aguilera and Elliott's cover of "Car Wash" missed the U.S. Billboard Top 40, peaking at number sixty-three, while becoming a top five hit in the United Kingdom and became the 48th best selling single in the United Kingdom of 2004 with sales of over 100,000 copies.
In this context, the "car wash" the song refers to would be the place where Oscar (the main protagonist, voiced by Will Smith
) works, where large sea animals who behave like cars are washed in the same manner.
The single has sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide.
Music video
The music video to Aguilera's version shows her and Elliott as animated fish similar to those in the film, combined with scenes of Aguilera and Elliott recording the song in a recording studio. The video also includes scenes of Shark Tale
. The scenes of Aguilera and Elliott recording the song in the studio were shot by Rich Newey, while the scenes of both Aguilera and Elliott as animated fish were edited by Peter Lonsdale and John Venzon, who also edited Shark Tale.
Track listing
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
single by Rose Royce
Rose Royce
Rose Royce is an American soul and R&B band. The group is best known for several hit singles including "Car Wash," "I Wanna Get Next to You," "Wishing on a Star", "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" and "I'm Going Down".-Career:...
for MCA Records
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
, the group's debut single and one of the most notable successes of the disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
era. Written and produced by the band's main producer Norman Whitfield
Norman Whitfield
Norman Jesse Whitfield was an American songwriter and producer, best known for his work with Berry Gordy's Motown label during the 1960s...
, "Car Wash", the theme of the 1976 film Car Wash, was Rose Royce's most successful hit single and the lead single from their first album, the Car Wash soundtrack
Car Wash: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Car Wash is a soundtrack double album by the Funk band Rose Royce. It is the soundtrack/film score to the 1976 hit comedy Car Wash starring Richard Pryor and George Carlin and also the debut album for Rose Royce...
. Reaching number one in the United States on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
pop and R&B charts, "Car Wash" also peaked at number three on the disco charts. The song was later covered in 2004 by Christina Aguilera
Christina Aguilera
Christina María Aguilera is an American recording artist and actress. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993–1994...
and Missy Elliott
Missy Elliott
Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott , is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, and actressA five-time Grammy Award winner, Elliott, with record sales of over seven million in the United States, is the only female rapper to have five albums certified platinum by the RIAA, including one...
, who released their version as the single for the Shark Tale
Shark Tale
Shark Tale is a 2004 American computer-animated comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation. In the story, a young fish named Oscar falsely claims to have killed the son of a shark mob boss to win favour with the mob boss' enemies and advance his own community standing...
soundtrack.
Song information
Norman Whitfield, a former producer for Motown RecordsMotown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...
, had been commissioned to record the soundtrack album for Car Wash by director Michael Schultz
Michael Schultz
Michael Schultz is an American director and producer of film and television.-Life and career:Schultz was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the son of Katherine Frances , a factory worker, and Leo Schultz, an insurance salesman...
. Although Whitfield did not want to assume the project, he did so because of both financial incentives, and the chance to give Rose Royce, a disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
/funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
backing band that Whitfield signed to his own label in 1975, the exposure they needed to become mainstream. Unable to develop a theme song for the film, inspiration finally struck Whitfield while playing a game of basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, and he allegedly wrote his first draft of "Car Wash" on a paper bag from a fried chicken eatery.
The resulting song set the mood and tone for the blaxploitation
Blaxploitation
Blaxploitation or blacksploitation is a film genre which emerged in the United States circa 1970. It is considered an ethnic sub-genre of the general category of exploitation films. Blaxploitation films were originally made specifically for an urban black audience, although the genre's audience...
comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
it was commissioned for. Rose Royce lead singer Rose Norwalt (Gwen Dickey), with brief assistance from guitarist Kenji Brown, describes a fun and easy-going car wash
Car wash
A car wash or auto wash is a facility used to clean the exterior and, in some cases, the interior of motor vehicles.- Categories :...
ing business, where everything is "always cool/and the boss don't mind sometimes if you act a fool."
Car Wash's soundtrack, a double album
Double album
A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....
, was Rose Royce's debut LP, and the title track was their debut single. "Car Wash" sold two million copies, and was a number one success on both the Billboard popular and R&B charts in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and a top ten success in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The song held the number-one spot on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
for one week, from January 22, 1977 to January 29, replacing "I Wish
I Wish (Stevie Wonder song)
"I Wish" is a hit song by Stevie Wonder. It was released in 1976 as a single and included on the album Songs in the Key of Life. Written and produced by Wonder, the song focuses on his childhood...
" by Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
, and replaced by "Torn Between Two Lovers" by Mary MacGregor
Mary MacGregor
Mary MacGregor is an American singer, best known for singing the 1976 song "Torn Between Two Lovers", which topped the Billboard charts for two weeks.-Career:...
. The Car Wash soundtrack album, entirely recorded by Rose Royce and Whitfield, spawned two more successful singles: "I Wanna Get Next to You" and "I'm Going Down" (later covered in 1994 by Mary J. Blige
Mary J. Blige
Mary Jane Blige is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and occasional actress. She is a recipient of nine Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards, and has recorded eight multi-platinum albums. She is the only artist with Grammy Award wins in Pop, Rap, Gospel, and R&B. Blige has...
).
The original Rose Royce version of "Car Wash" is one of the most sampled
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
songs in history, not for its main instrumentation, but for its introductory section. The song opens with a series of hand claps, which have been sampled many times for both hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
and R&B songs from the 1980s on. It was also re-released as a double A-side single with "Is It Love You're After?" in 1988 in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, peaking at #20.
Charts
| Chart (1977) | Position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles | 1 |
| UK Singles Chart | 9 |
| Australian Singles Chart | 12 |
Chart procession and succession
Christina Aguilera and Missy Elliott version
In 2004, pop singer Christina AguileraChristina Aguilera
Christina María Aguilera is an American recording artist and actress. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993–1994...
featuring rapper-singer Missy Elliott
Missy Elliott
Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott , is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, and actressA five-time Grammy Award winner, Elliott, with record sales of over seven million in the United States, is the only female rapper to have five albums certified platinum by the RIAA, including one...
recorded a cover version of "Car Wash", giving the disco song a more modern pop feel and adding rapped verses from Elliott. In an interview Aguilera said, "...we had to change the key to be a little bit higher for my range. So we couldn't take the exact samples, but we brought in all these live instruments to recreate kind of this old, old classic, soulful feel and sound...."
"Car Wash" was the only single from the soundtrack to DreamWorks
DreamWorks
DreamWorks Pictures, also known as DreamWorks, LLC, DreamWorks SKG, DreamWorks II Distribution Co., LLC, DreamWorks Studios or DW Studios, LLC, is an American film studio which develops, produces, and distributes films, video games and television programming...
' computer animated film Shark Tale
Shark Tale
Shark Tale is a 2004 American computer-animated comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation. In the story, a young fish named Oscar falsely claims to have killed the son of a shark mob boss to win favour with the mob boss' enemies and advance his own community standing...
. Aguilera and Elliott's cover of "Car Wash" missed the U.S. Billboard Top 40, peaking at number sixty-three, while becoming a top five hit in the United Kingdom and became the 48th best selling single in the United Kingdom of 2004 with sales of over 100,000 copies.
In this context, the "car wash" the song refers to would be the place where Oscar (the main protagonist, voiced by Will Smith
Will Smith
Willard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. , also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood...
) works, where large sea animals who behave like cars are washed in the same manner.
The single has sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide.
Music video
The music video to Aguilera's version shows her and Elliott as animated fish similar to those in the film, combined with scenes of Aguilera and Elliott recording the song in a recording studio. The video also includes scenes of Shark Tale
Shark Tale
Shark Tale is a 2004 American computer-animated comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation. In the story, a young fish named Oscar falsely claims to have killed the son of a shark mob boss to win favour with the mob boss' enemies and advance his own community standing...
. The scenes of Aguilera and Elliott recording the song in the studio were shot by Rich Newey, while the scenes of both Aguilera and Elliott as animated fish were edited by Peter Lonsdale and John Venzon, who also edited Shark Tale.
Track listing
- Car Wash
- Car Wash
- Can't Wait (Performed by AvantAvantMyron Avant , better known as Avant is an American R&B singer-songwriter. He is best known for hits such as "Separated" , "My First Love," which one version features KeKe Wyatt, and "Read Your Mind"...
) - Digits (Performed by Fan 3)
- Car Wash (Enhanced Video)
Charts
| Charts (2004–05) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Greece (IFPI Greece IFPI Greece International Federation of the Phonographic Industry Greece or IFPI Greece is the Greek branch of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and is the official charts provider and recording sales certification body for Greece. Currently two charts are compiled, one for sales of... ) |
21 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (2004) | Rank |
|---|---|
| Australia | 48 |
| Netherlands | 62 |
| Switzerland | 68 |
| UK | 48 |
| Chart (2005) | Rank |
| Switzerland | 73 |