Let's Go All the Way (song)
Encyclopedia
"Let's Go All the Way" is a song by American
dance/New Wave
group Sly Fox. Released as a single in 1986 from their debut studio album of the same name
, the record went Top 10 in both the U.S. and the UK.
The song was covered in 1999 by supergroup
The Wondergirls
, and in 2000 by Insane Clown Posse
.
-processed chanting, with the lines "zhum zhum zinny zinny" repeating over a recurrent buzzing until drums and a synth-led riff kick in. The interracial
duo of Gary "Mudbone" Cooper and Michael Camacho's harmonized vocals then come in, punctuated with deadpan
"yeah, yeah, yeah"s and droll, sing-songy "whee"s.
life ("Presidential party/No one wants to dance") and a yearning to perfect the human condition ("We need heaven on earth today/We can make a better way").
received heavy airplay on MTV
and is credited with greatly adding to the "infectious" song's success. The video juxtaposes three distinct modes. First straightforward and color negative studio performance of the duo dancing, emoting, and performing along with the song in a bright pop-art style. This is interspersed with shots of an interracial pair of young boys engaged in various activities, predominantly picking toy weapons of war out of a shopping cart and smashing them with hammers on an anvil
, as news footage is projected on a white backdrop. In other shots they march and stagger about dressed in combat fatigues
and cavorting in sunglasses and surfer jams. The third thread consists of depression-era
black & white clips from slapstick comedies and footage of factory workers. An atomic bomb blast is seen in reverse. The video ends with the two children in normal garb walking up to a large globe, picking the world up and carrying it.
While the song isn't overtly anti-war, recurring themes from the video suggest it has such a theme. The destruction of weapons of war and the reverse-motion nuclear explosion et al can be viewed in the historical context of the time, the penultimate years of the Cold War
; in 1986 the Reagan administration
was ramping up spending on the so-called Star Wars SDI missile defense system
as it officially abandoned the mutually signed but never-ratified SALT II arms-reduction treaty with the Soviet Union
.
earlier in the year. AllMusic notes that "the song's oddball mix of hip-hop, Latin pop, disco, and New Wave, crossed radio formats, from R&B to Top-40 to 'Rock of the ‘80s' stations ruled by the Smiths and the Cure." On the strength of the single's multiformat success, the band's album hit the Top 40 in two formats as well, peaking at number 31 on the Top 200 Albums chart and at number 34 on the Top R&B Albums chart.
s. The song and its video retain their popularity in retro flashback programs and '80s nights at dance clubs.
in a car he'd just purchased that only had a cassette player. At a gas station, he purchased an ’80s Hits tape that contained the Sly Fox song. Bruce liked it and decided to reinterpret it.
Allmusic described Insane Clown Posse's version as "their most blatant attempt at radio play". MTV
aired the band's video for the song, but only once, in the late evening. The group decided to bombard MTV's Total Request Live
(TRL) with requests for the video while on their "Bizaar Bizzar Tour," posting on its website that December 8, 2000, was the day for fans to phone in.
On that day, the band and assorted Psychopathic Records employees and friends drove down to New York City. They were met by nearly 400 Insane Clown Posse fans standing outside in front of the TRL studios with signs supporting the duo. Thirty minutes before the show began, Viacom
security guards and New York City police officers were dispatched to remove them from the sidewalk. When some refused to move on the grounds that it was a public street and no other individuals were asked to move, they allege they were assaulted. All phone requests for the video were ignored, and the band was never mentioned during the show. MTV later informed Island Records that the network chose which bands and videos were eligible to be featured on TRL.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
dance/New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
group Sly Fox. Released as a single in 1986 from their debut studio album of the same name
Let's Go All the Way (album)
Let's Go All the Way is the sole full-length album from the band Sly Fox, released in 1985.It features the 1986 hit song of the same name. The follow-up single, "Stay True" barely cracked the Billboard Hot 100 later in 1986....
, the record went Top 10 in both the U.S. and the UK.
The song was covered in 1999 by supergroup
Supergroup (music)
In the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe "a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups"....
The Wondergirls
The Wondergirls
The Wondergirls were a short-lived rock supergroup and side project formed in 1999. The band featured Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland, Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray, Ian Astbury of The Cult, Shannon Leto of 30 Seconds to Mars, Jay Gordon and Ryan Shuck of Orgy and Julien-k, Doug Ardito of...
, and in 2000 by Insane Clown Posse
Insane Clown Posse
Insane Clown Posse is an American hip hop duo from Detroit, Michigan. The group is composed of Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler, who perform under the respective personas of the "wicked clowns" Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope. Insane Clown Posse performs a style of hardcore hip hop known as horrorcore...
.
Sly Fox original
The track starts out with synthesizerSynthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
-processed chanting, with the lines "zhum zhum zinny zinny" repeating over a recurrent buzzing until drums and a synth-led riff kick in. The interracial
Interracial
Interracial is an adjective related to a supposed racial group. It can have different connotations in different contexts:* Interracial marriage is marriage between two people of different races....
duo of Gary "Mudbone" Cooper and Michael Camacho's harmonized vocals then come in, punctuated with deadpan
Deadpan
Deadpan is a form of comic delivery in which humor is presented without a change in emotion or body language, usually speaking in a casual, monotone, solemn, blunt, disgusted or matter-of-fact voice and expressing an unflappably calm, archly insincere or artificially grave demeanor...
"yeah, yeah, yeah"s and droll, sing-songy "whee"s.
Lyrical content
While the title, repeated in the chorus, is often construed to be about consummating a sexual relationship, the rest of the song's lyrics contain no sexual content, and seem to express disillusionment with various aspects of late-twentieth century Reagan-eraReagan Era
The Reagan Era or Age of Reagan is a periodization of recent American history used by historians and political observers to emphasize that the conservative "Reagan Revolution" led by President Ronald Reagan in domestic and foreign policy had a permanent impact...
life ("Presidential party/No one wants to dance") and a yearning to perfect the human condition ("We need heaven on earth today/We can make a better way").
Music video
A music videoMusic 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...
received heavy airplay on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
and is credited with greatly adding to the "infectious" song's success. The video juxtaposes three distinct modes. First straightforward and color negative studio performance of the duo dancing, emoting, and performing along with the song in a bright pop-art style. This is interspersed with shots of an interracial pair of young boys engaged in various activities, predominantly picking toy weapons of war out of a shopping cart and smashing them with hammers on an anvil
Anvil
An anvil is a basic tool, a block with a hard surface on which another object is struck. The inertia of the anvil allows the energy of the striking tool to be transferred to the work piece. In most cases the anvil is used as a forging tool...
, as news footage is projected on a white backdrop. In other shots they march and stagger about dressed in combat fatigues
Battledress
Battledress, or fatigues in the general sense, is the type of uniform used as combat uniforms, as opposed to 'display' dress or formal uniform worn at parades and functions. It may be either monochrome or in a camouflage pattern...
and cavorting in sunglasses and surfer jams. The third thread consists of depression-era
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
black & white clips from slapstick comedies and footage of factory workers. An atomic bomb blast is seen in reverse. The video ends with the two children in normal garb walking up to a large globe, picking the world up and carrying it.
While the song isn't overtly anti-war, recurring themes from the video suggest it has such a theme. The destruction of weapons of war and the reverse-motion nuclear explosion et al can be viewed in the historical context of the time, the penultimate years of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
; in 1986 the Reagan administration
Reagan Administration
The United States presidency of Ronald Reagan, also known as the Reagan administration, was a Republican administration headed by Ronald Reagan from January 20, 1981, to January 20, 1989....
was ramping up spending on the so-called Star Wars SDI missile defense system
Strategic Defense Initiative
The Strategic Defense Initiative was proposed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan on March 23, 1983 to use ground and space-based systems to protect the United States from attack by strategic nuclear ballistic missiles. The initiative focused on strategic defense rather than the prior strategic...
as it officially abandoned the mutually signed but never-ratified SALT II arms-reduction treaty with the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
Chart success
When released, the song was a top 10 hit in the US, peaking at number seven, after reaching number three in the UK Singles ChartUK 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 ...
earlier in the year. AllMusic notes that "the song's oddball mix of hip-hop, Latin pop, disco, and New Wave, crossed radio formats, from R&B to Top-40 to 'Rock of the ‘80s' stations ruled by the Smiths and the Cure." On the strength of the single's multiformat success, the band's album hit the Top 40 in two formats as well, peaking at number 31 on the Top 200 Albums chart and at number 34 on the Top R&B Albums chart.
"One-hit wonder"
The band released two follow-up singles from the album, both of which charted. Latin freestyle track "Como Tu Te Llama" was a Dance Music/Club Play hit, spending 9 weeks on that chart and reaching number 13. "Stay True" managed to dent the Hot 100, at #94. But "Let's Go All The Way" proved to be their only lasting international mainstream success, branding them as one-hit wonderOne-hit wonder
A one-hit wonder is a person or act known mainly for only a single success. The term is most often used to describe music performers with only one hit single.-Characteristics:...
s. The song and its video retain their popularity in retro flashback programs and '80s nights at dance clubs.
Insane Clown Posse cover
Insane Clown Posse member Joseph Bruce was driving home to Detroit from Cleveland, OhioCleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
in a car he'd just purchased that only had a cassette player. At a gas station, he purchased an ’80s Hits tape that contained the Sly Fox song. Bruce liked it and decided to reinterpret it.
Allmusic described Insane Clown Posse's version as "their most blatant attempt at radio play". MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
aired the band's video for the song, but only once, in the late evening. The group decided to bombard MTV's Total Request Live
Total Request Live
Total Request Live is a television series on MTV that featured popular music videos. TRL was MTV's prime outlet for music videos as the network continues to concentrate on reality-based programming. In addition to music videos, TRL featured daily guests...
(TRL) with requests for the video while on their "Bizaar Bizzar Tour," posting on its website that December 8, 2000, was the day for fans to phone in.
On that day, the band and assorted Psychopathic Records employees and friends drove down to New York City. They were met by nearly 400 Insane Clown Posse fans standing outside in front of the TRL studios with signs supporting the duo. Thirty minutes before the show began, Viacom
Viacom
Viacom Inc. , short for "Video & Audio Communications", is an American media conglomerate with interests primarily in, but not limited to, cinema and cable television...
security guards and New York City police officers were dispatched to remove them from the sidewalk. When some refused to move on the grounds that it was a public street and no other individuals were asked to move, they allege they were assaulted. All phone requests for the video were ignored, and the band was never mentioned during the show. MTV later informed Island Records that the network chose which bands and videos were eligible to be featured on TRL.