"Let's Groove" is a song by American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released as the first single from their eleventh studio album, Raise! (1981). It is written by Maurice White and Wayne Vaughn, and produced by White. The song was a commercial success, and was the band's highest-charting single in various territories. It peaked inside the top 20 in countries including the United States, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Canada and other component charts in America. In 1979 and the early 1980s, there was a severe backlash against disco music. In spite of this, the band decided to revive the disco sound that was included on their previous works and later records. Musically, "Let's Groove" is post-disco, pop and funk which includes instrumentation of synthesizers and keyboards along with live electric guitars.
Overview "Let's Groove" was produced by Maurice White for Kalimba Productions. With a duration of five minutes and thirty nine seconds, the song has a tempo of 126 beats per minute.
Critical reception Ken Tucker of Rolling Stone described Let's Groove as "city music" where "the horn section screams like a car running a red light." Record World praised the "deep, brawny bass line." Ed Hogan from AllMusic noted that White "brought in guitarist Roland Bautista and began co-writing, with Emotions member Wanda Vaughn and her husband Wayne Vaughn, a song that reflected the then-emerging electronic sound of the '80s. Not to be confused with the same-named hit by Archie Bell & the Drells, "Let's Groove" certainly was a change. Starting off with a robotic-sounding vocoder riff, it served up a more gritty-sounding EWF for the 1980s, laced with Brecker Brothers-supplied horn blasts that rival those of EWF's 1976 gold single 'Getaway'." People though said that the album's "biggest disappointment is Let's Groove, yet another gotta-boogie tune." Jordan Bartel of The Baltimore Sun noted that the song was "quite possibly the funkiest thing to come out of the early 1980s". Richard Williams of The Times wrote "Let's Groove, the bass-heavy new single, is a reliable pointer". Whitney Pastorek of Entertainment Weekly declared that "I actually love this song, especially the little computer voice in the background, like Pac-Man has come to life to boogie just for me!"
NME placed "Let's Groove" at number 16 on their Singles of the Year list of 1981. "Let's Groove" was also Grammy nominated in the category of Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group.
Commercial performance The song peaked at number three in the US, becoming their 7th and last top 10 hit. It also spent eight weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart in late 1981 and early 1982 and was the second R&B song of 1982 on the year-end charts.
The single sold over a million copies in the US and has been certified gold by the RIAA as until the RIAA lowered the sales levels for certified singles in 1989, a gold single equalled 1 million units sold. "Let's Groove" was also certified platinum in the UK by the British Phonographic Industry.
Music video The accompanying music video of "Let's Groove" was the first ever to be played on Video Soul on BET. Heavy with vintage electronic effects, the video was directed and created by Ron Hays using the Scanimate analog computer system at Image West, Ltd.
The style of the music video influenced that of Bruno Mars' "Treasure".
Personnel Writing – Maurice White, Wayne Vaughn Producer – Maurice White Assistant producer – Larry Dunn, Verdine White Programmer – Larry Dunn String, horn arrangement – Billy Meyers
Engineers Assistant engineer – Tom Perry Mixing engineer – Mick Guzauski, Tom Perry Recording engineer – Ken Fowler, Mick Guzauski, Ron Pendragon
Performers Saxophone – Tom Saviano Alto saxophone – Don Myrick Tenor saxophone – Andrew Woolfolk, Don Myrick Bass – Verdine White Cello – Frederick Seykora, Jerome Kessler, Larry Corbett, Marie Louise Zeyen, Paula Hochhalter, Selene Burford Concertmaster – Assa Drori, James Getzoff Drums – Fred White Guitar – Beloyd Taylor, Johnny Graham, Roland Bautista Keyboards – Billy Meyers, David Foster, Wayne Vaughn Percussion – Fred White, Maurice White, Philip Bailey, Ralph Johnson Piano – Larry Dunn Synthesizer – Larry Dunn, Michael Boddiker Trombone – Bill Reichenbach, Charles Loper, Dick Hyde, George Bohanon, Lew McCreary, Louis Satterfield Trumpet – Chuck Findley, Gary Grant, Jerry Hey, Larry Hall, Michael Harris, Oscar Brashear, Rahmlee Michael Davis Viola – Alan Deveritch, Allan Harshman, Gareth Nuttycombe, Pamela Hochhalter, Virginia Majewski Violin – Anton Sen, Arkady Shindelman, Arnold Belnick, Betty Lamagna, Brian Leonard, Denyse Buffum, Endre Granat, Haim Shtrum, Henry Ferber, Irving Geller, Jerome Reisler, John Wittenbert, Mari Tsumura Botnick, Marvin Limonick, Myra Kestenbaum, Nathan Ross, Norman Leonard, Reginald Hill, Ronald Folsom, Sheldon Sanov, Thomas Buffum, William Hymanson, William Kurasch Vocal – Beloyd Taylor, Maurice White, Ms. Pluto, Philip Bailey, Ralph Johnson Background vocals – Maurice White, Philip Bailey
Accolades YearPublicationCountryAccoladeRank1981NMEUKSingles of the Year16
Charts
Weekly charts Chart (1981–1982)PeakpositionAustralia (Kent Music Report)15Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)6France (IFOP)2South Africa (Springbok Radio)8Spain (AFYVE)10US Billboard Hot 1003US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)3US Hot Soul Singles (Billboard)1US Cash Box Top 1003US Record World Singles4
Chart (2012)Peakposition Chart (2013)Peakposition
Year-end charts Chart (1981)PositionNetherlands (Dutch Top 40)67Netherlands (Single Top 100)54US Cash Box Top 10017
Chart (1982)PositionAustralia (Kent Music Report)100Canada Top Singles (RPM)50US Billboard Hot 10033US Dance/Disco Top 80 (Billboard)36US Hot Black Singles (Billboard)2
Certifications
Sampling Because "Let's Groove" was interpolated, Wayne Vaughn and Maurice White were credited as songwriters in "Feels" by Calvin Harris featuring Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry and Big Sean.ACE Repertory CDB version
In 1995, "Let's Groove" was covered by the Australian R&B/pop boy band CDB. In Australia, the song reached number 2 and was certified platinum for shipments of over 70,000 units. In New Zealand, it peaked at number 1 for three weeks and also received a platinum certification, indicating sales exceeding 10,000 copies. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1996, "Let's Groove" won the Highest Selling Single category.
Track listing CD single "Let's Groove" – 4:17 "You Will Be Mine" – 4:07 "Let's Groove" (Summer Groove) – 5:05 "Let's Groove" (instrumental) – 4:19
Charts Weekly charts Chart (1995–1996)Peakposition
Year-end charts Chart (1995)PositionAustralia (ARIA)8 Chart (1996)PositionAustralia (ARIA)80New Zealand (RIANZ)14
Certifications
Release history RegionDateFormat(s)Label(s)AustraliaOctober 16, 1995EpicJapanJuly 24, 1996CD
Asia's Got Talent judges version
"Let's Groove" was covered by the Asia's Got Talent judges—David Foster, Anggun, Melanie C and Vanness Wu—and released as a promotional single on May 14, 2015, by Universal. It was released as a charity single for the May 2015 Nepal earthquake and all money raised was donated to the victims. This version was produced by David Foster.
Promotion On May 14, 2015, the four artists performed the song in the final of first season of Asia's Got Talent. On June 4, the Asia's Got Talent released the behind the scenes video of the recording.
Release history CountryDateFormatLabelHong KongMay 14, 2015Digital downloadUniversalIndonesiaMalaysiaSingaporeVietnam
See also List of number-one R&B singles of 1981 (U.S.) List of number-one singles from the 1990s (New Zealand)
References