Boyz II Men Archives - Ramblin' with Roger

The #1 hits of 1994

Motown

The #1 hits of 1994 are what a bad typist likes: a concise list! I will acknowledge that I own the Boyz II Men and All-4-One albums from which these hits derived.

All the songs went platinum except Stay, which “only” went gold.

I’ll Make Love To You -Boyz II Men (Motown), 14 weeks at #1 pop, three weeks at #1 AC, nine weeks at #1 RB. Now that’s crossover power.

I Swear – All-4-One (Blitzz/Atlantic), 11 weeks at #1 pop, #3 AC, #13 RB. This song was a #1 CW and #42 pop hit for John Michael Montgomery in the same year.

The Sign – Ace Of Bass (Arista), six weeks at #1 pop, #2 AC

On Bended Knee – Boyz II Men (Motown), six weeks at #1 pop, #8 AC, #2 for two weeks RB

The Power Of Love – Celine Dion (550 Music/Epic), four weeks at #1 pop and AC

Bump N’ Grind – R. Kelly (Jive), four weeks at #1 pop, 12 weeks at #1 RB

Stay (I Missed You) – Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories (RCA), three weeks at #1 pop, #5 AC. From the movie Reality Bites, starring Winona Ryder and Ben Stiller. I never saw the movie, yet I have the soundtrack on CD. Ethan Hawke, also in the movie, directed the Loeb video.

All For Love -Bryan Adams/Rod Stewart/Sting (A&M), three weeks at #1 pop, eight weeks at #1 AC. From the movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves starring Kevin Costner, which I saw on TV in 2023.

Here Comes The Hotstepper – Ini Kamoze (Columbia), two weeks at #1 pop, #2 for four weeks RB. The song samples Hot Pants-I’m Coming by Bobby Byrd and Heartbeat by Taana Gardner. It incorporates Land of 1000 Dances. The song was later incorporated into the movie Ready To Wear (Pret-A-Porter), starring Julia Roberts. Ini Kamoze means “mountain of the true God.” I don’t think I ever heard this song before.

CHQ: Boyz II Men

Motownphilly

Our daughter didn’t go with us to Chautauqua Institution, but if she had, she would have attended the Boyz II Men concert. She’s really into 1990s soul, and the group broke into the charts early in that decade.

CHQ has had other popular music acts this season, such as Martina McBride and the Beach Boys. Still, I wondered if Chautauquans knew of these singers. While some were familiar, others were not so much. “But they were huge!” I noted.

From Wikipedia: “The group first saw commercial success in 1991 with the release of their singles ‘Motownphilly’ and “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday,” both of which peaked within the top five of the Billboard Hot 100. Their 1992 single, ‘End of the Road’ peaked atop the chart and set a then-record for spending 13 weeks at the position. Boyz II Men later broke this record twice more with the singles ‘I’ll Make Love to You’ and ‘One Sweet Day’ (with Mariah Carey), which, at 14 and 16 weeks, respectively, set records for most weeks at number one. When ‘On Bended Knee’ took the number one spot away from ‘I’ll Make Love to You,’ Boyz II Men became the third musical act, after the Beatles and Elvis Presley, to replace themselves atop the Billboard Hot 100.”

Formed in 1985, they were a quartet: baritone Nathan Morris, tenors Wanyá Morris (no relation) and Shawn Stockman, and bass singer Michael McCary. McCary left the group in 2003 for what turned out to be multiple sclerosis. Since then, the group has persevered as a trio.

Songs

Here are some of the songs they performed:

Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough (Michael Jackson song)

Water Runs Dry

One More Try

On Bended Knee

More Than You’ll Ever Know

Cooley High Harmony

Uhh ahh

4 Seasons of Loneliness

A Change Is Gonna Come (Sam Cooke song)

At this point, nothing shocked me. But then they got much louder than I would have expected and did it well, including Are You Going My Way (Lenny Kravitz song), American Woman (Lenny Kravitz version of a Guess Who song), and Come Together (Beatles song).

Say Goodbye To Yesterday

One Sweet Day – the audience was asked to provide the Mariah Carey part

I’ll Make Love To You

End Of The Road

Motownphilly—of course, Motownphilly. How else could one end the show but with the song that namechecks them? Here are some more videos.

There was no encore. I suspect that was a CHQ requirement since the workers had to refigure the stage for the next morning’s activities. The one song I wanted to hear they didn’t perform, Thank You, blasted from the speakers as the audience departed.

CHQ pricing

I should explain the pricing at the Chautauqua institution. There is a parking fee. Room and board varied depending on the location and how early one books. An access pass allowed you to see most of the shows for free.

People not staying at Chautauqua did, in fact, see some of the programs and got preferential seating. But they paid $69-$129. The CSO concerts of Phil Collins’ music, Dvorak 8, and the Chautauqua Opera Co.’s “Hansel and Gretel” all started at $49 each.

Music Throwback Saturday: Thank You

Back in 2010, I listed and linked to three Thank You songs for the Thanksgiving weekend. I figure if it was good enough for six years ago, it’s good enough for now. I have all songs in my collection.

Thank the Lord for the Night Time – Neil Diamond, #13 in 1967

While some of his later work I thought was too middle of the road for my tastes, I LOVED early Neil Diamond: Cherry Cherry, Kentucky Woman, Solitary Man, Holly Holy. This was far from the biggest hit for the singer/songwriter, though I wonder if it did better regionally because I heard this a lot in the day. This is probably my favorite of his songs; it is very soulful.

Listen HERE or HERE

Thank God I’m a Country Boy – John Denver, #1 on both the pop and country charts, in 1975; also #1 in Canada.

Written by John Martin Sommers, a guitar/banjo/fiddle/mandolin player in Denver’s backup band, “the song was originally included on Denver’s 1974 album Back Home Again. A version recorded live on August 26, 1974 at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles was included on his 1975 album An Evening with John Denver.”

It’s the live version that was the hit, one of four pop songs, and one of three country tuns to top the charts. This and I’m Sorry/Calypso topped both.

Listen HERE

Thank You – Boyz II Men, #21 pop, #17 soul, in 1995

The third single from Boyz II Men’s second studio album, II, this new jack swing song was co-written and co-produced by Dallas Austin and the group. It is almost certainly my favorite song by the quartet, now operating as a trio.

The group had three hits that hit #1 for weeks in double digits on the pop charts: End Of the Road (13 in 1992), I’ll Make Love To You (14 in 1994) and, with Mariah Carey, One Sweet Day (16 in 1995), which was the second question on the first JEOPARDY! game I played.

LISTEN HERE (single version) or HERE (a capella album cut)