"Baby Baby" is a song by Italian band Corona, released in February 1995 by ZYX Music as the second single from their debut album, The Rhythm of the Night (1995). The song is written by Francesco Bontempi and Antonia Bottari and performed by British singer Sandy Chambers. The song was originally a hit in 1991 for Italian project Joy & Joyce as "Babe Babe". Both tracks were produced by Bontempi under his Lee Marrow guise. "Baby Baby" was successful on the singles charts around the world, peaking at number one for five weeks in Italy as well as on the Canadian RPM Dance/Urban chart. In the UK, it peaked at number five for two weeks. Two different music videos were produced for the song.
In 2007, the Swedish dance group Sunblock made a cover of the song, which peaked at number one in Spain and number four in Finland.
Critical reception AllMusic editor Jose F. Promis described the song as the "aggressive" follow-up to "The Rhythm of the Night", naming it one of the standout tracks on the album. Upon the release, Larry Flick from Billboard magazine stated that the song "steamrolls down a similar Euro-NRG dance/pop path." He wrote, "Although the airwaves are now flooded with similarly giddy fare, this jampacks a chorus that is insistently contagious—and it is voiced with a fullthrottle diva energy. To that end, both radio and club tastemakers should climb aboard early." Swedish Expressen complimented it as "at least as good" as their first single.Expressen. 17 March 1995.
Dave Sholin from the San Francisco-based Gavin Report said, "It took awhile for some to come to the party on 'The Rhythm of the Night', but they were happy with the results. This pumpin', thumpin' follow-up will keep 'em dancing and create the same excitement." Alan Jones from Music Week described "Baby Baby" as "a storming house/Nu-NRG track that has already soared to the apex of RMs On a Pop Tip chart. If it charts lower than top five, I'll be very surprised." Thessa Mooij from Music & Media praised it as "an uptempo dance track which mixes a synthi Europop sound and Corona's powerful R&B voice." James Hamilton from the RM Dance Update declared it as "more squawking simple Italo catchiness" in his weekly dance column.
Chart performance "Baby Baby" peaked at number one in Italy for five weeks in April and May 1995,"Baby Baby" spent 5 weeks at number one on the Italian Musica e dischi singles chart in April and May 1995, Week 1: Week 2: Week 3: Week 4: Week 5: as well as becoming a top-10 hit in Australia, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.Irish Singles Chart Irishcharts.ie (Retrieved 12 February 2008) In the UK, it peaked at number five during its second and third weeks on the UK Singles Chart, after having debuted at number seven. On the UK Dance Chart, the song reached number four, while peaking at number one on the UK Pop Tip Club Chart. On the Eurochart Hot 100, "Baby Baby" became a top-five hit, peaking at number five after four weeks on the chart, on 22 April, while on the European Dance Radio Chart, it peaked at number one, becoming the most-played dance song on European radio that week.
In Europe, the single was also a top-20 hit in Austria, France, Germany and Switzerland. Outside Europe, it reached number one on the Canadian RPM Dance chart. In Israel, "Baby Baby" peaked at number four on 25 April 1995 and spent four weeks in the top 10. Search "Baby Baby" for Israeli chart history. In Australia, it peaked at number seven and stayed for 19 weeks inside the ARIA singles chart, with six weeks in the top 10. In neighboring New Zealand, the single reached number 22. In the United States, "Baby Baby" peaked at numbers 39 and 57 on the Cash Box Top 100 and Billboard Hot 100 charts, respectively. On the Billboard Dance Club Play chart, the song reached number five.
Music videos Two different music videos were produced for "Baby Baby": a European version and an US version. The latter version was directed by Mark Humphrey and produced by FilmMaster Clip, featuring Corona's frontwoman Olga de Souza attending a party in the disused Aldwych tube station in London. In the European video, which has a sepia tone, an overweight man is watching TV and switching from one channel to another with a remote control. Suddenly de Souza appears on the screen, and when the music starts, the man finds himself lying on a big bed with her. It has a headboard shaped as giant lips and she crawls on the bed, singing to him. Apparently frightened by this, he looks for an exit and tries to escape, but is surprised by two women behind a door. He is then placed in a chair, while the women are teasing and seducing him. In the end, the man is seen smiling, with lipstick kiss-marks all over his head. A re-edited version of this video omits all footage of the man.
Legacy On Attitudes list of "The Top 10 Dance Tunes of the '90s" in 2016, "Baby Baby" was ranked number six.
Track listings
Corona version CD single "Baby Baby" (Lee Marrow Radio Mix) (3:45) "Baby Baby" (Robyx Piano Remix Short Edit) (3:55)
CD-maxi "Baby Baby" (Lee Marrow Radio Mix) (3:45) "Baby Baby" (Robyx Piano Remix Short Edit) (3:55) "Baby Baby" (Dancing Divaz Club Mix) (6:07) "Baby Baby" (Lee Marrow Extended Mix) (5:55) "Baby Baby" (Robyx Piano Remix) (5:39) "Baby Baby" (Dancing Divaz Rhythm Mix) (5:45)
7-inch single "Baby Baby" (Lee Marrow Radio Mix) (3:45) "Baby Baby" (Robyx Piano Remix Short Edit) (3:55)
7-inch maxi "Baby Baby" (Lee Marrow Extended Mix) (5:55) "Baby Baby" (Robyx Piano Remix) (5:39) "Baby Baby" (Dancing Divaz Club Mix) (6:07) "Baby Baby" (Dancing Divaz Rhythm Mix) (5:45)
Joy & Joyce version CD single & 12-inch single "Babe Babe" (Extended Version) (6:18) "Babe Babe" (Club Version) (6:18) "Babe Babe" (Radio Edit) (3:53)
Sunblock version CD-maxi "Baby Baby" (Radio Edit) "Baby Baby" (Extended Version) "Baby Baby" (The Audiophiles Remix) "Baby Baby" (Ian Carey Remix) "Baby Baby" (DJ DLG Remix) "Baby Baby" (Friday Night Posse Remix) "Baby Baby" (Frisco Remix) "Baby Baby" (Audiophiles Remix)
Personnel Written by Francesco Bontempi and Antonia Bottari Lead and Backing vocals by Sandy Chambers Published by Many Edizioni Musicali - B. Mikulski Publ. - SFR Music Created, arranged and produced by Checco and Maurizio Silvestri ITA & Soul Train for a Lee Marrow production Engineered by Francesco Alberti at Casablanca Recordings (Italy) 'Lee Marrow Radio Mix' and 'Lee Marrow Extended Mix' : Additional editing by Robyx 'Robyx Piano Remix Short Edit' and 'Robyx Piano Remix' : Remixed and reconstructed by Robyx 'Dancing Divaz Club Mix' and 'Dancing Divaz Rhythm Mix' Remix and additional editing by production by Dancing Divaz Additional keyboards by Colin Thorpe
Charts
Weekly charts Corona version Chart (1995)PeakpositionDenmark (IFPI) 4Europe (Eurochart Hot 100) 5Europe (European Dance Radio)"European Dance Radio". Music & Media. 15 April 1995. 1Europe (European Hit Radio) 6Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)Finnish peak for "Baby Baby" 6Germany (Media Control) 41Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40) 10Ireland (IRMA) 8Israel (Israeli Singles Chart) 4Italy (Musica e dischi) 1Scotland (OCC)Scottish Single Chart. 18 April 1995. Official Charts Company. 3Spain (AFYVE)2UK Singles (OCC) 5UK Dance (OCC) 4UK Airplay (Music Week) 11UK Club Chart (Music Week) 29UK Pop Tip Club Chart (Music Week) 1US Cash Box Top 100 39
Sunblock version Chart (2007)PeakpositionFinland (Suomen virallinen lista)"Baby Baby" (Sunblock version), in various singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved 12 February 2008) 4Netherlands (Mega Top 100) 99Spain (Promusicae) 1Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) 13UK Singles (OCC) 16
Year-end charts Corona version Chart (1995)PositionAustralia (ARIA) 44Canada Dance/Urban (RPM) 3Europe (Eurochart Hot 100) 46France (SNEP) 77Israel (Israeli Singles Chart) 41Italy (Musica e dischi) 9Latvia (Latvijas Top 50) 88Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) 165Sweden (Topplistan) 100Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) 33UK Singles (OCC) 84UK Pop Tip Club Chart (Music Week) 2
Certifications
References