We have another first this week on Friday Night Jukebox--this week's artist is the first to have an apostrophe in the middle of their name. How exciting!
Des'ree (original name: Desiree Annette Weekes) was born in London, England in 1968, and at the ripe old age of 22 had her first record contract (her boyfriend had sent a demo to a record label). Her first album was released just a few short weeks after her signing, and wound up a top thirty hit in the U.K. She had the bulk of her success in the nineties, though she did release her first album in sixteen years in 2019. Des'ree has won a Brit Award. I have to admit to being a bit surprised that this week's tune didn't grab at least one Grammy nod--must have been a good year for female R & B. For her career, Des'ree has released five studio albums, two compilations, and 18 singles. While she has taken a couple of hiatuses through the years (once to train as a nutritionist and once to take care of her ailing mother), she does continue to make music.
Fun Fact: Des'ree and 600,000 British schoolchildren became the world record holders for "most people simultaneously singing the same song" when she led them in a rendition of "You Gotta Be" in 2008. Which, come to think of it, is a pretty cool record to hold.
"You Gotta Be" was originally released as a single in 1994 from her album I Ain't Movin. The song reached #5 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album reached #27 on the Billboard 200. The single was released twice more, in 1995 and 1999 (the latter after it was used in a Ford Focus commercial). Oddly, the 1999 release charted higher than the original in her native U.K., peaking at #10 versus #20 for the original.
Every now and again, a song comes out of nowhere and becomes a pleasant surprise in providing listening pleasure, which "You Gotta Be" has now done for me for the better part of twenty-six years. Des'ree flashes her power of positive thinking vibe throughout, and even for an "expect the worst, hope for the best" kind of guy like me it works perfectly. Amazingly enough, the music is upbeat throughout, with a catchy as all hell chorus that can even make the hopelessly rhythm challenged into good dancers (I'm proof posi...well "good" might be stretching it). Des'ree nails the vocal with a soulful sweetness that shoots straight from her lungs and right on out through her heart. Hell, when I watch the music video, it's as if Des'ree is a high priestess guiding us all up into clouds filled with peace, love, and happiness--and when a song can make you feel like you're in another world, you know that that's one fine piece of music.
Lyric Sheet: "You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm, you gotta stay together/All I know, all I know, love will save the day..."
Enjoy:
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Peace,
emaycee
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