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This Groove

"This Groove"
Single by Victoria Beckham
A-side"Let Your Head Go"
Released29 December 2003 (2003-12-29)
GenreR&B
Length3:36
LabelTelstar
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Victoria Beckham singles chronology
"A Mind of Its Own"
(2002) 		"This Groove" / "Let Your Head Go"
(2003)

"This Groove" is a song by British singer Victoria Beckham, recorded for her unreleased second studio album. It was written by Alisha Brooks, David Conley, David Frank, Everett "Jam" Benton and Mic Murphy, with Damon Dash, Conley and Frank serving as producers. Telstar Records released the song on 29 December 2003 in the United Kingdom as a double A-side with "Let Your Head Go". In 2004, it was included on the video album The 'Réal' Beckhams, after her record company went bankrupt before it surfaced. The song is Beckham's last single released to date. "This Groove" is an R&B and hip hop song which samples The System's "Don't Disturb This Groove"; lyrically it deals with phone sex.

"This Groove" received positive reviews from music critics, with one of them labeling it as one of the finest moments of Beckham's solo career. Following heavy promotion with many televised appearances in the United Kingdom, the release entered the UK Singles Chart at number three, after facing a chart battle with Sophie Ellis Bextor's "I Won't Change You", with whom Beckham was previously involved in a much publicised chart battle years prior. It became the 88th best selling single of 2004 in the region, and also reached the top three in Scotland and charted within the top 20 in Ireland. An accompanying music video was directed by Andy Hylton, and depicts Beckham alone rolling around on a bed.

Background and composition

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In 2002, after leaving Virgin Records, Beckham signed a contract with Telstar Records and 19 Entertainment, run by Simon Fuller, who also managed the Spice Girls, of which Beckham was a member;[1][2] the contract was reportedly worth £1.5 million.[3] The singer then began working on her second solo studio album. Upon meeting American urban producer Damon Dash, she opted to explore a more urban sound, recording hip hop-influenced tracks.[1][4] At the time, Dash declared: "If we can make Victoria hot, we can make anyone hot".[1] They also had plans to release the recorded material in the United States.[5] However, Fuller did not think hip hop music would suit Beckham's style, and wanted her to stick with formulaic pop music.[6]

Beckham's first release with Telstar was the double A-side single "This Groove"/"Let Your Head Go", which was released in the United Kingdom on 29 December 2003, following heavy promotion and many TV appearances across the Christmas period.[4][7] The two tracks were released as a double A-side single as Fuller and Beckham did not agree on which direction the album should take. The disagreement would be first mediated by viewers of Top of the Pops, who would be allowed to watch the videos to both songs and vote for their favorite, and Beckham would perform the winner song on the following week on the show; "This Groove" received more votes, becoming the winner.[6] With the media describing her solo music career a failure, Beckham's second solo studio album was shelved and never released.[8] She was eventually dismissed from Telstar when the company became bankrupt, and gave up music to focus on her fashion career.[9] "This Groove"/"Let Your Head Go" remains Beckham's last single release to date.[10] The songs were eventually included on the video album The 'Réal' Beckhams (2004).[11]

"This Groove" was written by Alisha Brooks, David Conley, David Frank, Everett "Jam" Benton and Mic Murphy, with Dash, Conley and Frank serving as producers.[12] The song samples and interpolates the melody of The System's "Don't Disturb This Groove" (1987), for which Frank and Murphy also received songwriting credits. It features backing vocals by Beckham, Alesha "China" Jones and M'jestie. Aziatic provided drum programming, while Benton also played keyboards, bass, and percussion on the song. Conley, Geoff Allen and Larry Phillabaum recorded and engineered "This Groove" at 9601 Music Factory in Newport News, Virginia, as well as at Sony Music Studios and The Hit Factory in New York City, with the assistance by M'jestie, Baby Girl, Brandon Brown, Frantz Verna, Geoff Rice, Jason Dale, Patrick Woodward and Sebastien Nicolat. It was mixed by Tony "Magic" Maserati at The Hit Factory, with Woodward and Nicolet serving as assistant engineers, and Walter Coelho mastered it at Masterpiece.[12] Musically, "This Groove" is a mid-tempo R&B and hip hop song.[10][13][14] Lyrically, it deals with phone sex, with Beckham stating, "Hi. It's me. You wouldn't believe what I'm doing. What are you doing?"; the subject gets more evident as she sings, "I want you to come and listen to my body sing. Ya wanna hear my bell ring?."[15]

Reception

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In the United Kingdom, "This Groove"/"Let Your Head Go" became the highest-charting single by a Spice Girls member since Geri Halliwell's "It's Raining Men" (2001)

"This Groove" received positive reviews from music critics. Jon O'Brien from Billboard called it one of Beckham's "finest solo moments" which "briefly suggested that partnering with producer Damon Dash may not have been such an incongruous choice after all"; he also noted that it was "also one of the few times that Beckham looked and sounded entirely at ease going it alone".[13] David Sinclair in the book Spice Girls Revisited: How The Spice Girls Reinvented Pop described the track as a "cool, somewhat smutty R&B number".[6] Heart staff pointed out that it was a "slick R&B slow-jam",[14] while The Independent's Andy White saw it as "dreamy".[16] Music Week staff described both "This Groove" and "Let Your Head Go" as "inoffensive pop/dance/R&B hybrids, treated to an ultra-sleek production that makes the most of her vocal proficiency."[17]

In the United Kingdom, "This Groove"/"Let Your Head Go" faced a chart battle with Sophie Ellis Bextor's "I Won't Change You"; they were previously involved in a much publicised chart battle in 2000, when their singles were also released in the same week.[a][10][19] Beckham's single entered the UK Singles Chart at number three on the week ending on 4 January 2004, behind Michael Andrews and Gary Jules' "Mad World", and Ozzy and Kelly Osbourne's "Changes", despite weeks of intense publicity prior to its release;[20][21] Ellis-Bextor's song entered at number nine.[22] It became the highest chart position for a solo Spice Girl single since Geri Halliwell's "It's Raining Men" topped the chart in 2001 and remained on the charts for eight weeks, becoming the 88th best-selling single of 2004 in the region.[6][23][24] In April 2014, the Official Charts Company revealed that the single was Beckham's third biggest selling solo single in the region, out of four singles, with a total of 69,000 copies sold.[18] In other parts of Europe, the release experienced mixed success, reaching number three in Scotland,[25] and number 17 in Ireland.[26] It also reached number 91 in Romania.[27] Across the pan-Eurochart Hot 100 Singles, it peaked at number 10.[28]

Music video

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An accompanying music video was directed by Andy Hylton.[11] It was filmed in two days, back-to-back with the video for "Let Your Head Go"; Beckham explained that the visuals were attached to one another, with the "This Groove" clip described as being serious, while the one for "Let Your Head Go" was a "piss-taker".[11] She elaborated saying they wanted to have a real sort of boudoir kind of feel in the video, as well as a "fashion but not so fashionable" look. The song was sped up during filming to give a sexier look when slowed down during post production.[11] The video shows Beckham alone rolling around on a bed, wearing "sexy nightie, fishnet stockings and stilettos".[6][29] It was later included on the video album The 'Réal' Beckhams (2004).[11]

Track listings

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Credits and personnel

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Credits and personnel adapted from the CD single's liner notes.[12]

  • Victoria Beckham – main and backing vocals
  • Alisha Brooks – songwriting
  • David Conley – songwriter, producer, recorded
  • David Frank – songwriter, additional producer
  • Everett "Jam" Benton – songwriting, co-production, keyboards, bass, percussion
  • Mic Murphy – songwriter
  • Damon Dash – producer
  • Alesha "China" Jones – backing vocals
  • M'jestie – backing vocals, co-producer, assistant engineer
  • Aziatic – co-producer, drum programming
  • Jason QS Lockley – co-producer
  • Tony "Magic" Maserati – mixing
  • Patrick Woodward – assistant engineer
  • Sebastien Nicolet – assistant engineer
  • Baby Girl – assistant engineer
  • Brandon Brown – assistant engineer
  • Frantz Verna – assistant engineer
  • Geoff Rice – assistant engineer
  • Jason Dale – assistant engineer
  • Geoff Allen – recording engineer
  • Larry Phillabaum – recording engineer
  • Walter Coelho – mastering

Charts

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All entries charted with "Let Your Head Go".

References

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Notes

  1. ^ In August 2000, Beckham's single "Out of Your Mind" faced a chart battle with Ellis-Bextor's "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)", being dubbed "Posh vs. Posher" by the tabloids; Ellis-Bextor eventually kept Beckham off the top spot at the time.[18]

Citations

  1. ^ a b c "Beckham producer slights her talent". BBC News. 23 September 2003. Retrieved 19 December 2007.
  2. ^ "Fuller signs Beckham deal". BBC News. 24 July 2003. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  3. ^ "Posh could be new Pop Idol judge". Irish Examiner. 10 December 2002. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Beckham misses out on number one". BBC News. 4 January 2005. Retrieved 19 December 2007.
  5. ^ "MTV News Round-Up 25 May 2004". MTV UK. 25 May 2004. Archived from the original on 10 December 2007. Retrieved 18 December 2007.
  6. ^ a b c d e Sinclair, David (2008). Spice Girls Revisited (2nd ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-1-84609-068-4.
  7. ^ "New Releases: Singles 29.12.03". Music Week. 20 December 2003. p. 27.
  8. ^ "Beckham's Rapping Ridiculed". Contactmusic.com. 15 January 2004. Archived from the original on 8 December 2004. Retrieved 28 December 2007.
  9. ^ Sherwin, Adam (26 July 2004). "Posh Spice has finally done something to improve pop music". The Times. London. Retrieved 24 June 2023. (subscription required)
  10. ^ a b c Myers, Justin (10 January 2014). "Official Charts Flashback 2004: Victoria Beckham – Let Your Head Go/This Groove". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  11. ^ a b c d e The 'Réal' Beckhams (UK DVD liner notes). Victoria Beckham. Telstar Records. 2003. DVDVB2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  12. ^ a b c d Victoria Beckham (2003). Let Your Head Go / This Groove (UK CD maxi-single liner notes). Telstar Records. CXVB1.
  13. ^ a b O'Brien, Jon (14 September 2018). "The Spice Girls' 20 Best Solo Singles, Ranked". Billboard. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  14. ^ a b "Victoria Beckham's biggest solo hits: Out Of Your Mind, Not Such an Innocent Girl and This Groove". Heart. 7 November 2018. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  15. ^ Manger, Warren (30 January 2016). "No rhyme or reason; Weird and woeful lyrics that made a fortune for the stars". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 24 June 2023 – via The Free Library.
  16. ^ White, Andy (7 July 2021). "UK garage, diamantes and Dane Bowers: Why Posh Spice's short-lived solo pop career deserves a second chance". The Independent. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  17. ^ "Reviews: Singles - Records released between 29.12.03 and 19.01.04". Music Week. 27 December 2003. ProQuest 232235621. Retrieved 24 June 2023 – via ProQuest.
  18. ^ a b "Victoria Beckham at 40: Her biggest selling solo singles revealed!". Official Charts Company. 17 April 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  19. ^ "In brief". The Guardian. 5 January 2004. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  20. ^ "Posh misses the top spot yet again". The Independent on Sunday. 4 January 2004. ProQuest 324771095. Retrieved 24 June 2023 – via ProQuest.
  21. ^ Eyre, Hermione (4 January 2004). "Agenda: this week's big issues: a little number for Posh? She's unlikely to top the charts, but if her single bombs, it could be all over for Mrs Beckham". The Belfast News Letter. ProQuest 336916722. Retrieved 24 June 2023 – via ProQuest.
  22. ^ a b "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  23. ^ "Victoria Beckham". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  24. ^ a b "The Official UK Singles Chart 2004" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  25. ^ a b "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  26. ^ a b "The Irish Charts – Search Results – This Groove / Let Your Head Go". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  27. ^ a b "Arhiva romanian top 100 – Editia 5, saptamina 2.02 – 8.02, 2004" (in Romanian). Romanian Top 100. Archived from the original on 20 February 2005. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  28. ^ a b "Hits of the World – Eurocharts" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 116, no. 3. 17 January 2004. p. 43. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  29. ^ Borrows, Bill; Raymond, Clare (3 December 2003). "Sexy housework?; as Posh dresses up we debate whether doing chores is raunchy: [3 star edition]". Daily Mirror. ProQuest 339174974. Retrieved 24 June 2023 – via ProQuest.
  30. ^ Victoria Beckham (2003). This Groove / Let Your Head Go (UK CD maxi-single liner notes). Telstar Records. CDVB1.