*** Welcome to piglix ***

Too Close (Blue song)

"Too Close"
Next - Too Close.jpg
Single by Next
from the album Rated Next
Released September 30, 1997
Format CD single
Recorded 1997
Genre Contemporary R&B
Length 4:20
Label Arista
Songwriter(s) Kay Gee, Terry Brown, Robert Huggar, Raphael Brown
Producer(s) Kay Gee
Next singles chronology
"Butta Love"
(1997)
"Too Close"
(1997)
"I Still Love You"
(1998)
"Butta Love"
(1997)
"Too Close"
(1997)
"I Still Love You"
(1998)
Music video
"Too Close" on YouTube
"Too Close"
Blue close.jpg
Single by Blue
from the album All Rise
Released 27 August 2001
Format CD single, cassette
Recorded 2001
Genre R&B
Length 3:47
Label Virgin, Innocent
Songwriter(s) Kier Gist, Darren Lighty, Robert Huggar, Raphael Brown, Robert Ford Jr., Denzil Miller, James B. Moore, Kurtis Walker, Larry Smith
Producer(s) Ray Ruffin, Cutfather & Joe
Blue singles chronology
"All Rise"
(2001)
"Too Close"
(2001)
"If You Come Back"
(2001)
"All Rise"
(2001)
"Too Close"
(2001)
"If You Come Back"
(2001)

"Too Close" is a song by American R&B group Next, featuring uncredited vocals from Vee of Koffee Brown. It was released in September 1997 as the second single from their debut album Rated Next (1997).

The song reached number one on the US Hot 100 and R&B charts and has gone Platinum making it their biggest and best known hit. In the 1998 US Billboard End-Year chart, the song reached number one. It contains a sample of "Christmas Rappin'" by Kurtis Blow. "Too Close" was a massive hit on Urban Contemporary radio stations by its fourth month of airplay in January 1998 and still the most played single by Next.

According to Billboard, on the song "R.L, Terry and Raphael moan and groan about their female dance partner's grindin' and shakin' -- and their respective bulges as a result -- atop a Chicago-style step dance production."

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

In 2001, English boy band Blue released a cover version of the song as the second single from their debut studio album All Rise (2001). The track was released on 24 August 2001 and became their first number one UK single produced by multi-platinum producer Ray Ruffin. It also reached number five in Australia and number 17 in Ireland, and number one in New Zealand, where the Next version had also been a number-one hit. The song has received a silver sales status certification for sales of over 200,000 copies in the UK.

The band traveled to New York City to film the music video, and whilst there, they witnessed the attacks on the World Trade Center. The following month, Blue were being interviewed by British newspaper The Sun and Ryan commented that "This New York thing is being blown out of proportion" and asked "What about whales? They are ignoring animals that are more important. Animals need saving and that's more important." The other members of the band tried to silence Ryan, but he went on. This caused a huge media backlash that resulted in Blue losing a record deal in the United States and campaigns to sack Ryan from the group.


...
Wikipedia

...