Dub Be Good to Me

"Dub Be Good to Me" is a song by British dub group Beats International featuring singer Lindy Layton, released on 24 January 1990 as the first single from their debut album, Let Them Eat Bingo (1990). It was written by frontman Norman Cook and interprets the SOS Band's 1983 hit "Just Be Good to Me", which it is named after. It also samples the songs "The Guns of Brixton" by the Clash, the Once Upon a Time in the West theme by Ennio Morricone, and "Jam Hot" by Johnny Dynell.

"Dub Be Good to Me"
Single by Beats International
from the album Let Them Eat Bingo
Released24 January 1990 (1990-01-24)[1]
GenreDub
Length3:59
LabelGo! Beat
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Norman Cook
Beats International singles chronology
"Dub Be Good to Me"
(1990)		 "Won't Talk About It"
(1990)
Music video
"Dub Be Good to Me" on YouTube

"Dub Be Good to Me" was a number-one hit in the United Kingdom and Israel and also reached number one on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. MTV Dance ranked the song at number 59 on their list of "The 100 Biggest 90's Dance Anthems of All Time" in 2011.[2]

Production

Written by Norman Cook (aka Fatboy Slim), "Dub Be Good to Me" was the sole number one single for Cook's outfit Beats International.

The track started out as an instrumental with the title "The Invasion of the Estate Agents". While also included as the B-side to this single, it originally appeared as the B-side to Cook's 1989 single "For Spacious Lies". This instrumental track is heavily based on the bassline from The Clash's "Guns of Brixton", with a sample of the distinctive "harmonica" theme from the epic western film Once Upon a Time in the West, written by Ennio Morricone. This instrumental, in slightly remixed form, had vocals added from The SOS Band's "Just Be Good to Me" (as re-recorded by Lindy Layton) to form "Dub Be Good to Me". Cook told in an interview:

It was Lindy's idea to do a cover of the S.O.S. Band's 1984 hit 'Just Be Good To Me'. I knew it would go well with other beats because I'd tried it as a DJ. I used the bassline from The Clash song 'Guns Of Brixton', which was me tipping my hat to The Clash as I was such a big fan. I also wanted to do something slower than the current house music, yet something funky you could get into.[3]

The song features the distinctive vocals of David John-Baptiste, more commonly known as DJ Deejay or just DJ. The opening and closing line "tank fly boss walk jam nitty gritty you're listening to the boy from the big bad city, this is jam hot, this is jam hot" was from Johnny Dynell's 1983 hit "Jam Hot", and the drum track is a loop of the oft-sampled break from "God Make Me Funky" by The Headhunters.

Chart performance

The song spent four weeks at number-one on the UK Singles Chart in March 1990.[4] It was the seventh best-selling single of 1990 in the UK.[5] The single also made it to the top 10 in Austria (number two), Belgium, Greece (number two), Ireland, the Netherlands (number two), Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and West Germany. Additionally, it was a top-20 hit in France, and top-30 hit in Italy. On the Eurochart Hot 100, "Dub Be Good to Me" reached number three in March 1990. In the US, it peaked at number-one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart and number 76 on the Billboard Hot 100. In Israel, the single reached number one, while in New Zealand and Australia, it reached numbers six and 12, respectively.

Critical reception

Bill Coleman from Billboard described the song as a "reggae-fied, Soul II Soul-tinged reworking", adding that "big on import, stateside release sports the new remixes. Only misgiving is absence of fab original."[6] Ernest Heardy from Cash Box wrote that this brainchild of Norman Cook "revamps" "Just Be Good to Me" "into a shoulderswaying, hip-swinging groove that never lets up."[7] Dave Sholin from the Gavin Report noted that Cook from the Housemartins takes this 1983 track by the SOS Band, "beats and mixes well, and what emerges is a fresh delicacy for now tastes." He concluded, "Charts #1 in England and there's no reason to doubt it'll have a real good run in the States, too."[8] Simon Reynolds from Melody Maker remarked that "the heartquake synths of the original [are] replaced by sonar bleeps, ocean bed alarums, lugubrious horns and a lonesome, Midnight Cowboy harmonica. Just fine."[9]

Upon the album release, another editor, Andrew Smith, wrote, "Out of this was fashioned a languid, smirking, gem of a tune, which we're probably all sick of by now. It nevertheless constitutes one of the finest shagging records ever made, proving once again that Norman Cook is a clever chap who knows a good bassline and how to filch it."[10] Pan-European magazine Music & Media described it as an "appealing mixture of house and reggae", complimenting "good vocals by Lindy and some tasteful blues harmonica."[11] David Giles from Music Week stated, "Possibly Norman Cook's finest moment since leaving the Housemartins."[12] Frank Owen from Spin declared it as "an exquisite cover", adding further "Beats International has the distinctive languid air of lovers rock. A classy and pertinent fusion, "Dub Be Good to Me" is similar in execution to the recent British import "Wishing on a Star" by Fresh Four, featuring Lizz E. That bombed in this country, and so will this probably."[13]

Retrospective response and legacy

AllMusic editor Rick Anderson noted that on "Dub Be Good to Me", the bassline from "Guns of Brixton" is "churning underneath an otherwise relatively faithful rendition" of the SOS Band's "Just Be Good to Me".[14] Writing in Freaky Trigger in 1999, Tom Ewing ranked the song as the 97th best single of the 1990s, and described it as "the Wild Bunch/Massive Attack dub-dance Bristol sound, commercialised before it had even come close to breaking through."[15] Revisiting the single in 2010, he noted "the latent cheekiness of the track – its lifts so flagrant, its components so random – gives it a warmth, a sense of reassurance that despite Layton's desperation everything in Beats International's world is going to be alright."[16] The Smith & Mighty Remix was included in Pitchfork Media's 2010 list of "twenty-five great remixes" of the 1990s.[17] The same year, Professor Green and Lily Allen used the song as a basis for their track "Just Be Good to Green".[18]

Accolades
Year Publisher Country Accolade Rank
1990 Melody Maker United Kingdom "End of Year Critic Lists: Singles"[19] 11
2011 Max Australia "1000 Greatest Songs of All Time"[20] 372
2011 MTV Dance United Kingdom "The 100 Biggest 90's Dance Anthems of All Time"[21] 59
2015 Robert Dimery United States "1,001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die, and 10,001 You Must Download (2015 Update)"[22] *
2019 Max Australia "1000 Greatest Songs of All Time"[23] 630

(*) indicates the list is unordered.

Track listings
  • 7-inch single
  1. "Dub Be Good to Me" (edit)
  2. "Invasion of the Estate Agents"
  • 12-inch single
  1. "Dub Be Good to Me" (featuring Lindy Layton) (full length)
  2. "Just Be Good To Me (a cappella)"
  3. "Invasion of the Freestyle: Discuss" (featuring RPM)
  4. "Invasion of the Estate Agents"

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[57] Gold 35,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[1] Gold 400,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

References
  1. "British single certifications – Beats International – Dub Be Good to Me". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  2. MTV Dance. 27 December 2011.
  3. Kutner, Jon; Leigh, Spencer (26 May 2010). 1,000 UK Number One Hits. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-360-2.
  4. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  5. "1990s Singles Chart Archive". everyHit.com. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  6. Coleman, Bill (31 March 1990). "Single Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. p. 78. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  7. Hardy, Ernest (7 April 1990). "On the dancefloor" (PDF). Cash Box. p. 14. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  8. Sholin, Dave (16 March 1990). "Gavin Picks > Singles" (PDF). Gavin Report. No. 1798. p. 56. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  9. Reynolds, Simon (3 February 1990). "Singles". Melody Maker. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  10. Smith, Andrew (31 March 1990). "Albums". Melody Maker. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  11. "Previews" (PDF). Music & Media. 3 March 1990. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  12. Giles, David (3 February 1990). "Singles" (PDF). Music Week. p. 25. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  13. Owen, Frank (May 1990). "Singles". Spin. p. 84. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  14. Anderson, Rick. "Beats International - Let Them Eat Bingo". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  15. Ewing, Tom (20 August 1999). "97. Beats International – "Dub Be Good To Me"". Freaky Trigger. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  16. Ewing, Tom (2 November 2010). "Beats International ft Lindy Layton – "Dub Be Good To Me"". Freaky Trigger. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  17. "Staff Lists". Pitchfork.
  18. "Professor Green releasing single with Lily Allen after 'Facebook chat' - NME". NME. 10 May 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  19. "Rocklist.net...Melody Maker End of year Lists - the '90's".
  20. "TOP 1000 GREATEST SONGS OF ALL TIME – 2011". Max. 2011. Archived from the original on 25 April 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  21. MTV Dance. 27 December 2011.
  22. "Beats International - Dub B Good to Me". Acclaimedmusic. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  23. "The 2019 Results: 1000 Greatest Songs Of All Time". Max. 2 November 2019. Archived from the original on 28 September 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  24. "Beats International – Dub Be Good to Me". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  25. "Beats International – Dub Be Good to Me" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  26. "Beats International – Dub Be Good to Me" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  27. "Top RPM Dance/Urban: Issue 7930." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  28. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 7, no. 9. 3 March 1990. p. IV. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  29. "Beats International – Dub Be Good to Me" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  30. "Top 3 Singles in Europe" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 7, no. 19. 12 May 1990. p. VII. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  31. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Dub Be Good to Me". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  32. 25 March 1990
  33. "Classifiche". Musica e dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 30 May 2022. Set "Tipo" on "Singoli". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Beats International".
  34. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 16, 1990" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  35. "Beats International – Dub Be Good to Me" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  36. "Beats International – Dub Be Good to Me". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  37. "Beats International – Dub Be Good to Me". VG-lista. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  38. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  39. "Beats International – Dub Be Good to Me". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  40. "Beats International – Dub Be Good to Me". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  41. "Top Dance Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 17 February 1990. p. 29. Retrieved 31 August 2023 – via World Radio History.
  42. "Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. 28 April 1990. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  43. "Hot Dance Music: 12-inch Singles Sales". Billboard. Vol. 102, no. 22. 2 June 1990. p. 30.
  44. "Hot Dance Music: Club Play". Billboard. Vol. 102, no. 23. 9 June 1990. p. 34.
  45. "Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs". Billboard. 5 May 1990. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  46. "Offiziellecharts.de – Beats International – Dub Be Good to Me" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  47. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
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  49. "Jaaroverzichten 1990" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  50. "Top 50 Dance Tracks of 1990". RPM. Retrieved 10 February 2021 – via Library and Archives Canada.
  51. "Eurochart Hot 100 of 1990" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 7, no. 51. 22 December 1990. p. 60. OCLC 29800226. Retrieved 15 January 2020 – via World Radio History.
  52. "Top 100 Single–Jahrescharts 1990" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  53. "Top 100–Jaaroverzicht van 1990". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  54. "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1990" (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  55. "End of Year Charts 1990". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  56. "1990 Top 100 Singles". Music Week. London, England: Spotlight Publications. 2 March 1991. p. 41.
  57. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1990 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
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