"I Gotcha" is a song by
Joe Tex
Yusuf Hazziez (born Joseph Arrington Jr.; August 8, 1935 – August 13, 1982), known professionally as Joe Tex, was an American singer and musician who gained success in the 1960s and 1970s with his brand of Southern soul, which mixed the style ...
. Originally intended for
King Floyd, instead Tex recorded it himself in the late 1960s, but did not release it at that time. He decided to re-record it in late 1971 and released it as the B-side of "A Mother's Prayer", the first single from his 1972 album "I Gotcha". Mostly spoken in the form of an early rap song, with few singing passages, "I Gotcha" has the singer admonishing a woman for playing with his affections: "You never shouldn't have promised if you weren't gonna do it".
Radio DJs ended up playing this B-side song more than the A-side. This would result in Tex having his first major hit in five years as "I Gotcha" eventually peaked at Number 1 on the
R&B chart
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 ...
and Number 2 on the
Pop chart
A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include re ...
for two weeks, behind "
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" is a 1957 folk song written by British political singer-songwriter Ewan MacColl for Peggy Seeger, who later became his third wife. At that time, MacColl was still married to his second wife, Jean Newlove. ...
" by
Roberta Flack
Roberta Cleopatra Flack (February 10, 1937 – February 24, 2025) was an American singer and pianist known for her emotive, genre-blending ballads that spanned R&B, jazz, Folk music, folk, and pop and contributed to the birth of the quiet storm ...
and would sell around three million copies. ''Billboard'' ranked it as the Number 6 song of 1972. In Canada, the song reached Number 22. Tex would later re-record "I Gotcha" in a ballad-style for his 1978 album ''Rub Down''.
Like other Tex songs, "I Gotcha" has been sampled in various hip hop and R&B songs over the years.
Liza Minnelli
Liza May Minnelli ( ; born March 12, 1946) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto singing voice, Minnelli has received numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, ...
performed the number for her 1972 television concert ''
Liza with a Z
''Liza with a "Z"'' is a 1972 concert film made for television, starring Liza Minnelli, produced by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse. Fosse also directed and choreographed the concert, and Ebb wrote and arranged the music with his song-writing partner Jo ...
''. It is also featured on the soundtrack to the 1992
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American filmmaker, actor, and author. Quentin Tarantino filmography, His films are characterized by graphic violence, extended dialogue often featuring much profanity, and references to ...
film ''
Reservoir Dogs
''Reservoir Dogs'' is a 1992 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino in his feature-length directorial debut. It stars Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawrence Tierney, Michael Madsen, Tarant ...
''. A shorter version of the song appears in trailers for ''
Kermit's Swamp Years
''Kermit's Swamp Years'' is a 2002 American direct-to-video buddy road adventure film directed by David Gumpel and featuring The Muppets. The plot recounts the early life of Kermit the Frog, offering a prequel to the 1979 ''Muppet Movie''.
...
''.
Later uses
"I Gotcha" was sampled in the 1973 break-in record, "
Super Fly Meets Shaft" (US #31).
Jimmy Barnes version
In 1991,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
n
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
singer
Jimmy Barnes
James Dixon Barnes ( Swan; born 28 April 1956) is an Australian rock singer. His career, both as a solo performer and as the lead vocalist with the rock band Cold Chisel, has made him one of the most popular and best-selling Australian music a ...
recorded and released "I Gotcha" as the first single from his fifth studio album, ''
Soul Deep''. It peaked at Number 6 in Australia and Number 27 in New Zealand.
;Track listing
CD single (D11045)
# "I Gotcha"
# "I Gotcha"
(Tex Mex 12" Mix)
;Charts
;Certifications
See also
*
List of number-one R&B singles of 1972 (U.S.)
References
External links
* "I Gotcha" song review [] on AllMusic
*
1972 singles
1991 singles
Joe Tex songs
Song recordings produced by Buddy Killen
Songs written by Joe Tex
Jimmy Barnes songs
{{1970s-R&B-song-stub