Footsteps in the Dark
| "Footsteps in the Dark" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song by The Isley Brothers from the album Go for Your Guns | ||||
| Released | 1977 | |||
| A-side | "Groove with You" | |||
| Genre | Rhythm and blues | |||
| Length | 5:06 | |||
| Label | T-Neck | |||
| Writer(s) | Ernie Isley, Marvin Isley, O'Kelly Isley, Ronald Isley, Rudolph Isley, Chris Jasper | |||
| Producer(s) | The Isley Brothers | |||
| Go for Your Guns track listing | ||||
| ||||
"Footsteps in the Dark" is a 1977 slow jam recorded by The Isley Brothers as an album track featured on the group's double-platinum album, Go For Your Guns.[1][2][3][4] It was the B-side to "Groove with You", which reached #16 on the R&B singles chart. While the song didn't chart on either the pop or R&B singles chart, it still garnered popularity initially for its laid-back grooves and the solemn lyrics (the song discussed infidelity) and later would be the basis of a sample years later first by rap group Compton's Most Wanted on their album Straight Checkn 'Em on the track "Can I Kill It?" and rapper Ice Cube, who used the musical instrumental of the song for his breakthrough hit, "It Was a Good Day".[5]
The song was covered by the R&B group Body in 1990 and reworked again by Black Milk on Slum Village's self-titled album on the track "Call Me feat. Dwele", and producer J Dilla reworked it into "Won't Do" on his posthumous album The Shining. Singer k-os used a sped-up sample from the song for his 2002 single "Heaven Only Knows".
Although lesser known, the song was also sampled by Usher on his second album My Way in the song "One Day You'll Be Mine." The song is also sampled on the Rhymefest song "All Girls Cheat", although the portion of the song used is sung by Mario, and not a sample of the original recording. Alicia Keys heavily sampled on her song "A Woman's Worth", which appeared on her live album Unplugged, released in the fall of 2005. The song was also sampled by Raheem DeVaughn on "Until", a song from his debut album, The Love Experience. Thundercat's "Them Changes" from his 2015 record The Beyond / Where the Giants Roam also samples the song.[6]
Credits
- Written, arranged, produced and composed by The Isley Brothers and Chris Jasper
- Ronald Isley: lead and background vocals
- Rudolph Isley and O'Kelly Isley, Jr.: background vocals
- Ernie Isley: guitar; drums
- Marvin Isley: bass
- Chris Jasper: piano, synthesizers and clavinet
References
- ↑ Pareles, Jon (January 1, 2002). "POP REVIEW; Two Brothers Who Are Carrying On the Family Act". The New York Times.
- ↑ Lipsitz, George (2007). Footsteps in the Dark: The Hidden Histories of Popular Music. University of Minnesota Press. p. 27.
- ↑ Sumney, Moses (November 2, 2012). "Alex Isley Has Her Own Thing". LA Weekly.
- ↑ Coker, Cheo Hodari (May 6, 1997). "A Playful Encounter With the Isley Brothers". Los Angeles Times.
- ↑ Hyden, Steven (October 25, 2011). "Ice Cube, "It Was A Good Day"". The A.V. Club.
- ↑ Hirway, Hrishikesh (July 30, 2015). "Episode 45: Thundercat". Song Exploder.