"Mama Used to Say" is the debut single release by the British R&B recording artist Junior, taken from his debut studio album, ''Ji''.

Formats and track listings

;12" vinyl #"Mama Used to Say" – 6:40 #"Mama Used to Say" (Instrumental) – 6:05 #"Mama Used to Say" (English Party Mix) – 4:56 ;7" vinyl #"Mama Used to Say" (American Remix) – 3:35 #"Mama Used to Say" (American Instrumental Mix) – 4:35

Charts

"Mama Used to Say" was released in April 1982 and peaked inside the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

top 10 in June 1982, where it remained at number seven for two weeks. "Mama Used to Say" was also a

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "conte ...

Pop hit and Top 5 R&B hit in the United States, earning him a "Best Newcomer" award from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine. The song was ranked at number 6 among the top ten "Tracks of the Year" for 1981 by ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

''.

Weekly charts

Beverley Knight version

British singer-songwriter

Beverley Knight Beverley Knight (born Beverley Anne Smith, 22 March 1973) is an English recording artist and musical theatre actress. She released her first album, '' The B-Funk'', in 1995. Heavily influenced by American soul music icons such as Sam Cooke and ...

released "Mama Used to Say" on 27 June 2011 as the first single release from her seventh studio album, '' Soul UK'', a tribute to UK soul artists.

Background

Knight said of the song, "I think this was everyone's favourite track at the time and is still played on every "club classics" radio show in the country. It's still so fresh and just brings a smile whenever I sing it. It was an obvious choice for the album and a no-brainer for the choice of first single."

Track listing

;Digital download # "Mama Used to Say" (Radio Version) – 3:01 # "Mama Used to Say" (Album Version) – 3:51 # "Mama Used to Say" (Dave Doyle Extended Club Mix) – 7:42 # "Mama Used to Say" (Cool Million's Boogie Down 12 Mix) – 5:36 # "Mama Used to Say" (Cool Million's Boogie Down Mix) – 4:09 # "Mama Used to Say" (Live) – 4:36

Music video

The music video for "Mama Used to Say" premiered on Knight's YouTube page on 23 May 2011. The video features both performance and behind the scenes footage from her April 2011 album launch show at London's

Porchester Hall The Porchester Centre is a Grade II* listed building at the junction of Queensway and Porchester Road in Bayswater, London W2. History It was built in 1923–25 by the local architect Herbert Shepherd, and was originally called Porchester H ...

, soundtracked to the album version of the song. The video features cameos from Junior himself,

Jaki Graham Jacqueline Graham (born 15 September 1956) is a British singer-songwriter. Following her hit version of " Could It Be I'm Falling in Love" with David Grant in 1985, Graham scored a further five UK top 20 hits over a two-year period. In 1994, he ...

Rod Temperton Rodney Lynn Temperton (9 October 1949 – 25 September 2016) was an English songwriter, producer and musician. Temperton was the keyboardist and main songwriter for the 1970s pop music, disco and funk band Heatwave, writing songs including " ...

and

Jazzie B Trevor Beresford Romeo OBE, (born 26 January 1963) better known as Jazzie B, is a British DJ and music producer. He is the founder of Soul II Soul. Life and career Jazzie was born in London UK to parents of Antiguan descent in Hornsey, London ...

amongst others.

Release history

Other uses

*British comedian and rapper

Richard Blackwood Richard Clifford Blackwood (born 15 May 1972) is a British actor, presenter and rapper. Between 2015 and 2018, he played Vincent Hubbard in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders''. In 2020, he began portraying the role of Felix Westwood in the Cha ...

(Junior's nephew) sampled "Mama Used to Say" on his debut single "Mama – Who Da Man", which was produced by

Lucas Secon Lucas Secon, (born 3 November 1970) also known by the stage name Lucas, is a record producer, songwriter and rapper. He has written and produced for artists including the Pussycat Dolls, Alesso, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Kylie Minog ...

and Mickey P and peaked at number 3 on the

in 2000. *The song's guitar intro was also sampled for Positive K's hit, " I Got a Man". *Rapper

Mac Mac or MAC most commonly refers to: * Mac (computer), a family of personal computers made by Apple Inc. * Mackintosh, a raincoat made of rubberized cloth * A variant of the word macaroni, mostly used in the name of the dish mac and cheese * Mac, ...

sampled the song on "Slow Ya Roll" from his album ''

Shell Shocked Shell shock is a term coined in World War I by the British psychologist Charles Samuel Myers to describe the type of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) many soldiers were afflicted with during the war (before PTSD was termed). It is a react ...

''. *Rapper Heavy D of

Heavy D & the Boyz Dwight Arrington MyersCuda, Heidi Sigmund Keeping it reel. ''Vibe'' ("born Dwight Arrington Myers")Samuels, Anita M. (January 12' 1996)Heavy D, the C.E.O. ''New York Times'' (May 24, 1967 – November 8, 2011), known professionally as Heav ...

sampled "Mama Used to Say" for the song "Is It Good to You" from the album ''

Peaceful Journey ''Peaceful Journey'' is the third album by rap group Heavy D & the Boyz. Reception The album was released on July 2, 1991, for Uptown Records and was produced by Pete Rock, DJ Eddie F, Teddy Riley, Marley Marl and Howie Tee. This marked the gr ...

''. *Rapper Warren G sampled the song for his "Do You See" single from his "Regulate... G Funk Era" album released in late 1994. *The rap group Bone Thugs N Harmony sampled the song for their single "

Thuggish Ruggish Bone "Thuggish Ruggish Bone" is the debut single by American hip hop group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, from their debut EP ''Creepin on ah Come Up''. It features local Cleveland singer Shatasha Williams. The song reached #20 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. ...

" from their 1994 debut EP '' Creepin on ah Come Up''. *The song is also featured in the video-game ''

NBA 2K15 ''NBA 2K15'' is a 2014 basketball simulation video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Sports. It is the sixteenth installment in the ''NBA 2K'' franchise and the successor to '' NBA 2K14''. It was released in October 2014 for ...

''. *The original Junior Giscombe version was recorded at RAK Studio One. Bob Carter played Moog Bass, Guitar and Keyboards. Andy Duncan played drums. Chris Hunter played tenor saxophone. Recording engineered by

Phil Thornalley Philip Thornalley (born 5 January 1960) is an English songwriter-producer who has worked in the music industry since 1978. He is perhaps best known for co-writing (with Scott Cutler and Anne Preven) the song "Torn" (made famous by Natalie Imb ...

. The signature explosive handclap sound was recorded in the marble tiled reception entrance to RAK studios.

References

{{authority control 1982 debut singles Junior Giscombe songs 2011 singles Beverley Knight songs 1981 songs Mercury Records singles