Doo Wop (That Thing)
Encyclopedia
"Doo Wop" is the debut single from American R&B
/Hip-Hop
artist Lauryn Hill
. The song is taken from debut album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
. Written and produced by Hill, the song was released as the album's lead single
in October 1998. It was Hill's first and only Billboard Hot 100
number-one, to date. The song won Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
and Best R&B Song
at the 1999 Grammy Awards on February 24, 1999. "Doo Wop (That Thing)" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the tenth song in the chart's history to do so.
and a cover of Frankie Valli
's 1967 song "Can't Take My Eyes Off You
" for Conspiracy Theory
.
"That Thing," released in 1998 as her first solo song from her debut album, was a major success. It became the 10th single to debut at number-one on the Billboard Hot 100
, and stayed there for two weeks in the fall of 1998. It won two Grammy Awards the following February. The successes of "Doo Wop" and the Miseducation album established Hill as a success outside of her group, The Fugees
.
s, and his Timbs
, than his women", are admonished by Hill, who warns them not to allow "that thing" to ruin their lives.
list. At the Grammy Awards of 1999
, the song won two awards: Best R&B Song
and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
. The song's music video
won four 1999 MTV Video Music Awards
for: Best Female Video
, Best R&B Video
, Best Art Direction
, and Video of the Year
.
technique, the video features Hill, who was six months pregnant at the time, performing "Doo Wop" at block parties in two different eras: the mid-1960s and the late-1990s. The video was directed by duo Big TV!. It was filmed in Washington Heights
, Manhattan
.
UK CD2
Australian Single
has covered the song during live performances including Bonnaroo 2006, the Pitchfork Music Festival
and Tim Festival 2006, in Brazil. Amy Winehouse
also incorporated the song into her own "He Can Only Hold Her" at live concerts in 2006, 2007 and 2008. Rihanna
covered the song while on Kanye West
's Glow in the Dark Tour
in 2008. The American avant-rock band Mr. Bungle
often performed an excerpt of the song as an outro for their song Travolta (Quote Unquote) during live shows in the mid- to late nineties, and up to their unofficial demise in 2002.
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
/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...
artist Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Noelle Hill is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress.Early in her career, she established her reputation as a member of the Fugees. In 1998, she launched her solo career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album, The Miseducation of...
. The song is taken from debut album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is the debut solo album by American musician Lauryn Hill, released August 25, 1998, on Columbia Records. Recording sessions for the album took place from late 1997 to June 1998, and were held primarily at Tuff Gong Studios in Jamaica...
. Written and produced by Hill, the song was released as the album's lead single
Lead single
A lead single is usually the first single released by a musician or a band before the release of its home album.During the era of the grammophone record, all music arrived in the marketplace as what is now termed a single, one potential hit song backed by an additional song of generally less...
in October 1998. It was Hill's first and only 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...
number-one, to date. The song won Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to female recording artists for quality R&B songs...
and Best R&B Song
Grammy Award for Best R&B Song
The Grammy Award for Best R&B Song has been awarded since 1959. From 1969 to 2000 it was known as the Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Song, from 1962 to 1968 it was known as Best Rhythm & Blues Recording, and from 1959-1961 as Best Rhythm & Blues Performance...
at the 1999 Grammy Awards on February 24, 1999. "Doo Wop (That Thing)" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the tenth song in the chart's history to do so.
Release and reception
Hill's first solo singles were two 1997 movie soundtracks : "The Sweetest Thing" from Love JonesLove Jones (soundtrack)
Love Jones: The Music is the original soundtrack to the 1997 film Love Jones.-Track listing:#"Brother to the Night - Darius' Poem" — Larenz Tate – 3:18#"Hopeless" — Dionne Farris – 3:53...
and a cover of Frankie Valli
Frankie Valli
Frankie Valli is an American musician, most famous as frontman of The Four Seasons. He is well-known for his unusually powerful falsetto singing voice...
's 1967 song "Can't Take My Eyes Off You
Can't Take My Eyes off You
"Can't Take My Eyes Off You" is a 1967 single by Frankie Valli. The song was among Valli's biggest hits, reaching #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earning a gold record. It was Valli's biggest "solo" hit until he hit #1 in 1975 with "My Eyes Adored You"...
" for Conspiracy Theory
Conspiracy Theory (film)
Conspiracy Theory is a 1997 American action thriller film directed by Richard Donner.The original screenplay by Brian Helgeland centers on an eccentric taxi driver who believes many world events are triggered by government conspiracies, and the U.S...
.
"That Thing," released in 1998 as her first solo song from her debut album, was a major success. It became the 10th single to debut at number-one 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...
, and stayed there for two weeks in the fall of 1998. It won two Grammy Awards the following February. The successes of "Doo Wop" and the Miseducation album established Hill as a success outside of her group, The Fugees
The Fugees
Fugees were a Haitian American hip hop group who rose to fame in the mid-1990s. Their repertoire included elements of Hip hop, soul and Caribbean music, particularly reggae. The members of the group were rapper/singer/producer Wyclef Jean, rapper/singer/producer Lauryn Hill, and rapper Pras Michel...
.
Background
The song is a warning from Hill to African-American men and women caught in "the struggle". Both the women who "try to be a hardrock when they really are a gem", and the men who are "more concerned with his rimHubcap
A hubcap, wheel cover or wheel trim is a decorative disk on an automobile wheel that covers at least a central portion of the wheel. Cars with stamped steel wheels often use a full wheel cover that conceals the entire wheel. Cars with alloy wheels or styled steel wheels generally use smaller...
s, and his Timbs
The Timberland Company
The Timberland Company is an American manufacturer and retailer of outdoors wear with a focus on footwear. Its three key locations are in Stratham, New Hampshire; Danville, Kentucky; and Ontario, California....
, than his women", are admonished by Hill, who warns them not to allow "that thing" to ruin their lives.
Awards and recognition
"Doo Wop (That Thing)" is included as number 359 on the Songs of the CenturySongs of the Century
The "Songs of the Century" list is part of an education project by the Recording Industry Association of America , the National Endowment for the Arts, and Scholastic Inc. that aims to "promote a better understanding of America’s musical and cultural heritage" in American schools...
list. At the Grammy Awards of 1999
Grammy Awards of 1999
The 41st Grammy Awards were held on February 24, 1999. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1998. Lauryn Hill was the nights big winner winning a total of 5 awards including Album of the Year and Best New Artist. Madonna won three awards while country musicians the Dixie...
, the song won two awards: Best R&B Song
Grammy Award for Best R&B Song
The Grammy Award for Best R&B Song has been awarded since 1959. From 1969 to 2000 it was known as the Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Song, from 1962 to 1968 it was known as Best Rhythm & Blues Recording, and from 1959-1961 as Best Rhythm & Blues Performance...
and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to female recording artists for quality R&B songs...
. The song's music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
won four 1999 MTV Video Music Awards
MTV Video Music Awards
An MTV Video Music Award , is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in music videos...
for: Best Female Video
MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video is one of the original general awards that has been handed out every year since the first annual MTV Video Music Awards in 1984. In 2007, however, the award was briefly renamed Female Artist of the Year, and it awarded the artist's whole body of work...
, Best R&B Video
MTV Video Music Award for Best R&B Video
The MTV Video Music Award for Best R&B Video was first awarded in 1993, and was given every year until 2006, as the following year MTV revammped the VMAs and eliminated all of the genre categories. The following year, though, when MTV returned the VIdeo Music Awards to their previous format, Best...
, Best Art Direction
MTV Video Music Award for Best Art Direction
The following is a list of MTV Video Music Award winners for Best Art Direction in a Video. The Red Hot Chili Peppers are the biggest winners in this category with three wins in 1992, 2000, and 2006....
, and Video of the Year
MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year
The MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year is the main award handed out at the yearly MTV Video Music Awards. It was first awarded in , when The Cars won it, and has been given out since. Eminem has been the most nominated solo artist, male solo artist, and act in this category, having been...
.
Music video
The music video for Doo Wop (That Thing) is considered to be a modern classic. It was filmed using a split screenSplit screen (film)
In film and video production, split screen is the visible division of the screen, traditionally in half, but also in several simultaneous images, rupturing the illusion that the screen's frame is a seamless view of reality, similar to that of the human eye...
technique, the video features Hill, who was six months pregnant at the time, performing "Doo Wop" at block parties in two different eras: the mid-1960s and the late-1990s. The video was directed by duo Big TV!. It was filmed in Washington Heights
Washington Heights, Manhattan
Washington Heights is a New York City neighborhood in the northern reaches of the borough of Manhattan. It is named for Fort Washington, a fortification constructed at the highest point on Manhattan island by Continental Army troops during the American Revolutionary War, to defend the area from the...
, Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
.
Tracklisting
UK CD1- "Doo Wop (That Thing)" [Radio Edit] - 4:00
- "Doo Wop (That Thing)" [Instrumental] - 4:00
- "Doo Wop (That Thing)" [Gordon's Dub] - 4:00
UK CD2
- "Doo Wop (That Thing)" [Album Version] - 4:59
- "Lost Ones" [Album Version] - 5:33
- "Forgive Them Father" - 3:05
Australian Single
- "Doo Wop (That Thing)" [Radio Edit] - 4:00
- "Doo Wop (That Thing)" [Gordon's Dub] - 4:00
- "Lost Ones" - 5:33
- "Tell Him" - 4:40
- "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" - 4:03
Covers
Devendra BanhartDevendra Banhart
Devendra Obi Banhart is a singer-songwriter and visual artist. Banhart was born in Houston, Texas and was raised by his mother in Venezuela, until he moved to California as a teenager. He began to study at the San Francisco Art Institute in 1998, but dropped out to perform music in Europe, San...
has covered the song during live performances including Bonnaroo 2006, the Pitchfork Music Festival
Pitchfork Music Festival
The Pitchfork Music Festival is an annual summer music festival organized by Pitchfork Media and held in Union Park in Chicago, IL. The festival, which is normally held over three days in July, focuses primarily on artists and bands from alternative rock, rap & hip-hop, electronica, and dance...
and Tim Festival 2006, in Brazil. Amy Winehouse
Amy Winehouse
Amy Jade Winehouse was an English singer-songwriter known for her powerful deep contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres including R&B, soul and jazz. Winehouse's 2003 debut album, Frank, was critically successful in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize...
also incorporated the song into her own "He Can Only Hold Her" at live concerts in 2006, 2007 and 2008. Rihanna
Rihanna
Robyn Rihanna Fenty , better known as simply Rihanna, is a Barbadian recording artist. Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, Rihanna moved to the United States at the age of 16 to pursue a recording career under the guidance of record producer Evan Rogers...
covered the song while on Kanye West
Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
's Glow in the Dark Tour
Glow in the Dark Tour
The Glow in the Dark Tour is a critically acclaimed world concert tour by Kanye West featuring Rihanna, Lupe Fiasco, N.E.R.D, and Nas. It began on April 16, 2008 in Seattle, Washington and travelled to Latin America, Asia, Europe, New Zealand and Australia through to early December.The tour...
in 2008. The American avant-rock band Mr. Bungle
Mr. Bungle
Mr. Bungle was an experimental band from Northern California. The band was formed in 1985 while the members were still in high school and was named after a children's educational film. Mr. Bungle released four demo tapes in the mid to late 1980s before being signed to Warner Bros. Records and...
often performed an excerpt of the song as an outro for their song Travolta (Quote Unquote) during live shows in the mid- to late nineties, and up to their unofficial demise in 2002.
Sales chart performance
The song charted on several charts in the U.S. upon release.Peak positions
| Chart (1998) | Peak Position |
|---|---|
| U.S. 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... |
1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Rap Singles Hot Rap Tracks Rap Songs is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stations and sales in hip hop-focused or exclusive markets. From 1989 through 2001, it was based on how much the single... |
1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
2 |
| U.S. Billboard Top 40 Tracks Top 40 Tracks Top 40 Tracks is a defunct airplay chart from Billboard Magazine. It was created in 1998, when Billboard Magazine changed the airplay profile of The Hot 100 Airplay to include more R&B, Country, and Rock stations to its profile . To preserve the notion of the former chart, Top 40 Tracks was... |
12 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
3 |
End of year charts
| End of year chart (1998) | Position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 41 |
Certifications
| Country | Certification Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... (sales thresholds) |
Sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States... |
Gold | 500,000 |