"Shake You Down" is a song by American
R&B artist, writer and producer
Gregory Abbott. It was released in August 1986 as the lead single from his
debut album of the same name. It became Abbott's biggest hit and was certified platinum by the
RIAA
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
. The track is also featured in the 2007 film ''
Are We Done Yet?
''Are We Done Yet?'' is a 2007 American family comedy film directed by Steve Carr and starring Ice Cube. The film is the second installment in the ''Are We There Yet?'' franchise, and the sequel to the 2005 movie of the same name. The plot of ...
''
The song went to number one on the
black singles chart in October 1986, and on January 17, 1987, it reached the top spot on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart. ''Billboard'' ranked it as the No. 3 song for 1987. It was a hit across the Atlantic Ocean, as well, peaking at number six in the
UK Singles Chart (spending a total of 13 weeks on that chart from 22 November 1986).
It was not intended as the original single to promote the album, as "I Got the Feeling" was scheduled to be the first single. It was postponed as the follow-up, peaking at #56.
Composition
According to ''
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 ...
'', the song is about sex.
Music video
Dominic Sena
Dominic Sena (born April 26, 1949) is an American film director and music video director. As a film director, he is best known for directing the films ''Kalifornia'' (1993), ''Gone in 60 Seconds (2000 film), Gone in 60 Seconds'' (2000), and ''S ...
of
Propaganda Films came up with the idea of the scrolling effect on the music video. It is recorded as a single image on a photographic film.
There is also another music video recorded in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
, especially for the Brazilian TV show ''
Fantástico
''Fantástico'' (originally known as ''Fantástico: O Show da Vida'', Portuguese for ''Fantastic The Show of Life'') is a Brazilian weekly television news program broadcast on Sunday nights on TV Globo since August 5, 1973, created by José Bon ...
''.
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
References
External links
*
Gregory Abbott at Allmusic
{{Authority control
1986 debut singles
1986 songs
1980s ballads
Gregory Abbott songs
Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
Cashbox number-one singles
Contemporary R&B ballads
Columbia Records singles
Music videos directed by Dominic Sena