Dub Be Good to Me

"Dub Be Good to Me" is a 1990 single by British dub group Beats International featuring singer Lindy Layton, released on 29 January 1990. It was a #1 hit in the United Kingdom, and hit #1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play in the United States. It is generally considered the band's signature song.

"Dub Be Good to Me"
Single by Beats International
from the album Let Them Eat Bingo
Released29 January 1990
Recorded1989
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 written by Beats International frontman Norman Cook. It interprets The SOS Band's "Just Be Good to Me" (1983), 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 the song "Jam Hot" by Johnny Dynell.

In November 2011 MTV Dance ranked "Dub Be Good to Me" at No. 59 in their list of "The 100 Biggest 90's Dance Anthems Of All Time".[1]

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.[2]

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.

Critical reception

AllMusic editor Rick Anderson wrote that the bassline from "Guns of Brixton" is "churning underneath an otherwise relatively faithful rendition of the SOS Band's "Just Be Good to Me"".[3] Bill Coleman from Billboard described the song as a "reggae-fled, Soul II Soul-tinged reworking", noting it as "big on import, stateside release sports the new remixes. Only misgiving is absence of fab original."[4] Cash Box wrote that "this brainchild of Norman Cook revamps the old S.O.S. Band hit into a shoulderswaying, hip-swinging groove that never lets up."[5] 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."[6] 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."[7] Dave Sholin from the Gavin Report commented, "Chef Norman Cook from The Housemartins takes this 1983 SOS Band track, beats and mixes well, and what emerges is a fresh delicacy for now tastes. Charts #1 in England and there's no reason to doubt it'll have a real good run in the States, too."[8] Music & Media described it as an "appealing mixture of house and reggae" and complimented "good vocals by Lindy and some tasteful blues harmonica."[9] David Giles from Music Week stated, "Possibly Norman Cook's finest moment since leaving the Housemartins."[10] The Smith & Mighty Remix was included in Pitchfork Media's 2010 list of "twenty-five great remixes" of the 1990s.[11]

Chart performance

The song was very successful on the charts in Europe, spending four weeks at number-one on the UK Singles Chart in March 1990.[12] It was the seventh best-selling single of 1990 in the UK.[13] The single managed to climb into the Top 10 also in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. 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 3. In the U.S., it peaked at number-one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart and number 76 on the Billboard Hot 100. In New Zealand, the single went to number 6, while reaching number 12 in Australia.

Accolades
Year Publisher Country Accolade Rank
1990 Melody Maker United Kingdom "End Of Year Critic Lists: Singles"[14] 11
2011 Max Australia "1000 Greatest Songs of All Time"[15] 372
2011 MTV Dance United Kingdom "The 100 Biggest 90's Dance Anthems of All Time"[16] 59
2015 Robert Dimery United States "1,001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die, and 10,001 You Must Download (2015 Update)"[17] *
2019 Max Australia "1000 Greatest Songs Of All Time"[18] 630

(*) indicates the list is unordered.

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

Charts

Cover versions

"Dub Be Good to Me" was covered in 2002 by Faithless and Dido for the album NME & Warchild Presents 1 Love.

Jack Peñate covered "Dub Be Good to Me" as a B-side to his re-released single "Second, Minute or Hour" in September 2007.

Rapper Professor Green and Lily Allen released their version of the song, titled "Just Be Good to Green".[39]

British band The Ting Tings covered "Dub Be Good to Me" on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge.

British Urban duo MK1 performed the song during the judges' houses stage of the ninth series of The X Factor.

See also

References
  1. MTV Dance - Tuesday 27.12.2011
  2. Kutner, Jon; Leigh, Spencer (26 May 2010). 1,000 UK Number One Hits. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-360-2.
  3. "Beats International - Let Them Eat Bingo". AllMusic. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
  4. "Billboard: Single Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. March 31, 1990. p. 78. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  5. "On the dancefloor" (PDF). Cash Box. April 7, 1990. p. 14. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  6. Ewing, Tom (20 August 1999). "97. BEATS INTERNATIONAL – "Dub Be Good To Me"". Freaky Trigger. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  7. Ewing, Tom (2 November 2010). "BEATS INTERNATIONAL ft LINDY LAYTON – "Dub Be Good To Me"". Freaky Trigger. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  8. Sholin, Dave (March 16, 1990). "Gavin Picks > Singles" (PDF). Gavin Report. No. 1798. p. 56. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
  9. "Music & Media: Previews" (PDF). Music & Media. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  10. Giles, David (February 3, 1990). "Singles" (PDF). Music Week. p. 25. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  11. "Staff Lists". Pitchfork.
  12. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 511–2. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  13. "1990s Singles Chart Archive". everyHit.com. Retrieved 2014-03-30.
  14. http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/mmlists_p2.htm
  15. "TOP 1000 GREATEST SONGS OF ALL TIME – 2011". Max. 2011. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
  16. MTV Dance. December 27, 2011.
  17. "Beats International - Dub B Good to Me". Acclaimedmusic. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  18. "The 2019 Results: 1000 Greatest Songs Of All Time". Max. November 2, 2019.
  19. "Dub Be Good to Me", in various singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved March 28, 2008)
  20. "Ultratop.be – Beats International – Dub Be Good to Me" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  21. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. March 3, 1990. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  22. "Top 3 Greece" (PDF). Music & Media. May 12, 1990. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  23. Irish Single Chart Irishcharts.ie Archived 2009-06-03 at WebCite (Retrieved March 28, 2008)
  24. Israel Top-30 25.03.1990
  25. "Indice per Interprete: B". Hit Parade Italia. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  26. "Single top 100 over 1990" (PDF) (in Dutch). Top40. Retrieved April 12, 2010.
  27. "Dutchcharts.nl – Beats International – Dub Be Good to Me" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  28. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  29. "Dub Be Good to Me", UK Singles Chart Official Charts Company (Retrieved March 28, 2008)
  30. Billboard Allmusic.com (Retrieved August 1, 2008)
  31. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  32. 1990 Austrian Singles Chart Austriancharts.at (Retrieved August 1, 2008)
  33. "Jaaroverzichten 1990". Ultratop. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  34. "Eurochart Hot 100 of 1990" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 7 no. 51. 22 December 1990. p. 60. OCLC 29800226. Retrieved 15 January 2020 – via American Radio History.
  35. "Top 100 Single-Jahrescharts". GfK Entertainment (in German). offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  36. "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1990". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  37. "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1990" (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  38. "End of Year Charts 1990". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  39. "Professor Green releasing single with Lily Allen after 'Facebook chat' - NME". NME. 2010-05-10. Retrieved 2018-06-27.
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