September (Earth, Wind & Fire song)
| "September" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| B-side | "Love's Holiday", "Can't Hide Love" |
"September" is a song by Earth, Wind & Fire which was written by Maurice White, Al McKay and Allee Willis. It was recorded during the I Am sessions and released as a single in 1978. Featured on the band's album The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1, "September" reached number one on the U.S. R&B chart, number eight on the Billboard Hot 100,[1] and number three on the UK singles chart.[2]
Reception
The song was one of their top three most famous in the UK, next to "Boogie Wonderland" and "Let's Groove" and has been certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry. "September" sold over a million copies and it has been certified gold in the U.S. as up until the RIAA lowered the sales levels for certified singles in 1989, a Gold single equaled 1 million units sold. "September" was later certified Gold for digital sales by the RIAA.[3][4][5]
Covers and samples
Kirk Franklin does a gospel version of "September" on the Earth, Wind and Fire tribute album Interpretations: Celebrating The Music Of Earth, Wind & Fire. Australian R&B group Past To Present briefly charted with a cover of the song in October 1996. In 1999 the song was remixed by Phats & Small and was titled "September 99" becoming a dance hit. The song was covered by Sisqó and Vitamin C during the credit roll of the movie Get Over It. The song was covered by musical duo, Pomplamoose, on September 30 as a birthday present to Nataly's father. Jazz bassist Brian Bromberg performs a mostly instrumental version of the song on the album 'You Know That Feeling.
Samples of the song are also found in Filipino singer Regine Velasquez's 1997 dance single "Fly" as part of the mashup album Feed the Animals by Girl Talk. Gordon Goodwin arranged the song for his 18-piece big band "Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band" on his album Act Your Age. In the Netherlands, X-Factor's second finalist Richy sung this in one of the broadcasts. The song has been performed three times on American Idol, by Anwar Robinson, Danny Gokey, and Colton Dixon. All were eliminated after except for Gokey. House singer Crystal Waters sampled "September" in her 1997 single "Say... If You Feel Alright."
Italian DJ X-Treme recorded a remix of the song, "September", which appeared on his 1998 album X-Treme[6] and another remix, "September (Rap Mix)", which appeared on the 1999 compilation album Dancemania X1.[7]
Japanese singer Asako Toki covered "September" on her 2004 album "Standards".
Ukrainian child star Assol sings "V Sentjabre" on her first album Alye Parusa (2000).
In mid July 2013 The OMG Girlz covered "September" in their song "Do You Remember".
Appearances in other media
The song has been featured in movies such as The Ringer, Soul Food, Dan in Real Life, Lost & Found, Get Over It and Night at the Museum. The song's remix, "September 1999," is played in the Japanese nightclub in the film Babel.
This song has also been featured in NBC's Chuck.
The song also appears on television shows such as the American Dad episode "Finances with Wolves" when Stan has been tied up by Klaus, who has fooled Stan Smith (American Dad!) into transferring his mind from a fish into the body of an Earth, Wind, and Fire cover band frontman. A montage plays as the new black Klaus walks down the street, visiting various stores preparing to seduce Francine, then focuses to Stan, who, in typical American Dad fashion, wonders how the hell the song got stuck in his head as he is humming it as it starts to fade out. The song also appears on the promo of ABC for their hit shows premiering in the Fall 2008. On December 14, 2007, the song was covered during Fox Television's reality-competition The Next Great American Band by Nashville big-band group Denver and the Mile High Orchestra. September has also been used in video games like the European release of Donkey Konga and in the Xbox 360 game Dance Dance Revolution Universe a remix called "September 1999" is playable. A cover version of the song also appears in the Nintendo DS video game Elite Beat Agents and the Wii game Wii Music. The song is in GuitarFreaks V4 and DrumMania V4. The song also appears in the video game Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore.
Earth, Wind & Fire sang a special TV-related version of the song with The Black Eyed Peas at the 57th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards.
The song served as Al Gore's campaign theme during his 2000 US Presidential campaign.
Ruff Ruffman parodied the song for Season 3 of FETCH! as "The 29th of September".
It was used as the theme song for the 2002 Japanese drama Zoku-Heisei Meotojawan.
The song was used as the entry theme for boxing champion Thomas "Hit Man" Hearns in the late 1970s. Hearns said in an interview he liked the song's reference to September 21, which was the date of one of his early victories as an up-and-coming fighter in the Detroit area and also the birthday of Alexis "Eastland" Cherniak, one of his early mentors.
Earth, Wind & Fire performed this song (as well as Pure Gold) with the Japanese idol group SMAP in a 2006 episode of the group's variety program, SMAP×SMAP.
It is featured at the season finale of The Cleveland Show You're the Best Man, Cleveland Brown.
Japanese comedic performer, Smelly, parodied the song with his promotional video "Suki Suki Smelly".[8]
The song was sampled by Polish musician Norbi in his hit single Kobiety są gorące (Women are hot).
It is also featured on a stereo test disc that came with some 2003 models of the Toyota Avalon.
Pomplamoose released their version of the song on the 2010 album Tribute to Famous People.
The song appeared in the end of the movie, Night at the Museum.
It also has been featured in the French movie Intouchables, in 2011.
The song was featured in a commercial announcing the Subway (restaurant) anniversary in 2012.
The song was also featured in the first episode of Season 11 of Family Guy, showcasing Stewie in a casino scene.
In Apple Stores, the iPad, iPhone, and iPod store samples have a default preloaded music library, which includes this song.
Chart positions
| Chart (1978) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[9] | 19 |
| Canada Top Singles (RPM) | 10 |
| songid field is MANDATORY FOR GERMAN CHARTS | 20 |
| Ireland (IRMA)[10] | 8 |
| Italy (FIMI)[11] | 43 |
| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[12] | 18 |
| New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[13] | 12 |
| Norway (VG-lista)[14] | 6 |
| Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[15] | 13 |
| UK Singles (The Official Charts Company) | 3 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 8 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs | 1 |
| Chart ("September 1999") | Peak position |
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[9] | 32 |
| France (SNEP)[16] | 64 |
| songid field is MANDATORY FOR GERMAN CHARTS | 40 |
| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[12] | 12 |
| Norway (VG-lista)[14] | 15 |
| Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[15] | 48 |
| Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[17] | 33 |
| UK Singles (The Official Charts Company) | 25 |
| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
| France (SNEP)[16] | 29 |
Accolades
The information regarding accolades attributed to September ' is adapted from AcclaimedMusic.net.[18]
| Publication | Country | Accolade | Year | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bruce Pollock | U.S. | The 7,500 Most Important Songs of 1944-2000 | 2005 | * |
| Gary Mulholland | U.K. | This Is Uncool: The 500 Best Singles Since Punk Rock | 2002 | * |
(*) designates lists that are unordered.
References
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 179.
- ^ Dean, Maury (2003). Rock N' Roll Gold Rush. Algora. p. 289. ISBN 0-87586-207-1.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ RIAA Certification for September
- ^ "Rock Music, etc., Terms". spider.georgetowncollege.edu. Retrieved 2009-03-23.
- ^ British Phonographic Industry certification for September
- ^ Discogs, X-Treme (album, 1998)
- ^ Discogs, X-Treme
- ^ "SMELLY" (PHP). Kugelblitz. 2005–2006. Retrieved September 8, 2009.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: date format (link) - ^ a b "Earth, Wind & Fire – September" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Cite error: The named reference "sc_Flanders_Earth, Wind & Fire" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ "Irish Singles Chart – Search for song". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved July 6, 2011.
- ^ "Hit Parade Italia - Indice per Interprete: E". Hit Parade Italia. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
- ^ a b "Nederlandse Top 40 – Earth, Wind & Fire" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
- ^ "Earth, Wind & Fire – September". Top 40 Singles.
- ^ a b "Earth, Wind & Fire – September". VG-lista. Cite error: The named reference "sc_Norway_Earth, Wind & Fire" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ a b "Earth, Wind & Fire – September". Singles Top 100. Cite error: The named reference "sc_Sweden_Earth, Wind & Fire" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ a b "Earth, Wind & Fire – September 99 (Phats & Small Remix)" (in French). Les classement single. Cite error: The named reference "sc_France_Earth, Wind & Fire" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ "Earth, Wind & Fire – September 99 (Phats & Small Remix)". Swiss Singles Chart.
- ^ Acclaimed Music - Shining Star
