"Float On" is a 1977 song by the
R&B/
soul
The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...
group
the Floaters
The Floaters were an American Rhythm and blues, R&B vocal group, from the Sojourner Truth Project, Sojourner Truth housing projects in Detroit, Michigan, that formed in 1976. The group are best known for their 1977 song "Float On (The Floaters s ...
.
The spoken verses combine two popular trends from the time,
star signs and
video and phone dating, in lines such as ''Aquarius and my name is Ralph / Now I like a woman who loves her freedom'' and ''Cancer and my name is Larry / And I like a woman that loves everything and everybody''. The song was co-written by James Mitchell of
The Detroit Emeralds
The Detroit Emeralds are an American Rhythm and blues, R&B/soul vocal group, best known in the early 1970s. They enjoyed a run of successful records in the decade including their 1973 transatlantic hit single, "Feel the Need in Me".
Career
"The ...
.
Released from their
self-titled debut album, it became one of the biggest
singles
Singles are people not in a committed relationship.
Singles may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series
* ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe
* ''Singles'' ...
of the year, spending six weeks at
number one on the
U.S.
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...
Hot Soul Singles
The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 po ...
chart
A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...
. "Float On" was also a crossover hit, peaking at number two on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 behind
Andy Gibb
Andrew Roy Gibb (5 March 1958 – 10 March 1988) was an English singer and songwriter. He was the younger brother of Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin, and Maurice Gibb, musicians who had formed the Bee Gees during the late 1950s. Andy G ...
's "
I Just Want to Be Your Everything
"I Just Want to Be Your Everything" is a song recorded by Andy Gibb, initially released in April 1977 by RSO Records as the first single from his debut album ''Flowing Rivers'' (1977). The song was written by Gibb's older brother Barry, and produ ...
" and
The Emotions
The Emotions are an American soul/ R&B vocal group from Chicago. The group started out in gospel music but transitioned into R&B and disco music. The Emotions were named by VH1 as one of the 18 most influential girl groups of all time.
Hist ...
' "
Best of My Love", but with no other Hot 100 hits, the Floaters became a
one-hit wonder
A one-hit wonder is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music performers with ...
on that chart. "Float On" also reached number one on the
UK Singles Chart,
and number five on the
Irish Singles Chart
The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are ...
.
Stetsasonic
Stetsasonic is an American hip hop band. Formed in 1981 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, Stetsasonic was one of the first hip hop acts to perform with a full band and use live instrumentation in their recordings, paving the way for future ...
covered the song on its album ''
In Full Gear
''In Full Gear'' is the second studio album by American hip hop band Stetsasonic, released in 1988 by Tommy Boy Records.
Music and lyrics
''In Full Gear'' is a double album that draws on various influences in its hip hop style, including R&B, ...
'' (1988). The song was adapted in 1989-1990 to advertise
Cadbury's Crème Eggs. A song from
Dream Warriors' 1996 album ''
The Master Plan'', also titled "Float On", sampled multiple elements of the 1977 song.
Full Force
Full Force is an American music group of hip hop and R&B singers, songwriters and producers from Brooklyn, New York.
Members
*B-Fine (Brian George) – drums and drum programming, backing vocals
*Shy Shy (Hugh Junior Clark) – bass guita ...
released their own version in 2001.
Parodies
The track became a source of parody. Artists who recorded a spoof include:
* English comedy band
The Barron Knights
The Barron Knights are a British humorous pop rock group, originally formed in 1959 in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire,Colin Larkin, ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music'', (Muze UK Ltd, 1997), ), p. 32 as the Knights of the Round Table.
C ...
on their 1977 UK hit single "Live in Trouble".
*
Cheech & Chong
Cheech & Chong are a comedy duo founded in Vancouver and consisting of American Cheech Marin and Canadian Tommy Chong. The duo found commercial and cultural success in the 1970s and 1980s with their stand-up routines, studio recordings, and fea ...
on their 1977 US hit single "Bloat On".
* ''
Sesame Street
''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...
'' did a style parody of the song in 1977 called "Gimme Five", sung by human characters David (
Northern Calloway
Northern James Calloway (September 10, 1948 – January 9, 1990) was an American actor and singer, best known for playing David on ''Sesame Street'' from 1971 to 1989. He was institutionalized in a psychiatric hospital and died less than eight mo ...
), Bob (
Bob McGrath
Robert Emmett McGrath (June 13, 1932 – December 4, 2022) was an American actor, singer, and children's author best known for playing original human character and music teacher Bob Johnson on the educational television series ''Sesame Street' ...
), Gordon (
Roscoe Orman
Roscoe Hunter Orman (born June 11, 1944) is an American actor, writer, artist and child advocate, best known for playing Gordon Robinson, one of the central human characters on ''Sesame Street''.
Early life and career
While a student at New Yor ...
), and Luis (
Emilio Delgado
Emilio Ernest Delgado (May 8, 1940 – March 10, 2022) was an American actor best known for his role as Luis, the Fix-it Shop owner, on the children's television series ''Sesame Street''. He joined the cast of ''Sesame Street'' in 1971 and remain ...
).
Charts
See also
*
List of number-one R&B singles of 1977 (U.S.)
References
External links
*
Song Review
A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usually ...
on the
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
website
1977 singles
Number-one singles in New Zealand
UK singles chart number-one singles
1977 songs
ABC Records singles
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