"Joanna" is a song by Kool & the Gang from their 1983 album In the Heart. It was released as a single in November 1983.
Background A romantic ballad similar to many of Kool & The Gang's later releases, the song features as its main subject the eponymous lady named Joanna. In the group's music video, Joanna is portrayed as the current owner of a small, roadside café named Joanna's Diner. The video was filmed at the Colonial Diner in Lyndhurst, New Jersey, and the Colonial sign can be seen briefly outside in the opening seconds of the video. Throughout the video, she serves the band members as both cook and waitress as they serenade her, and the video occasionally flashes to her younger days as a dancer at the Cotton Club in Harlem who is in love with the character portrayed by James "J.T." Taylor, the group's lead singer.
Chart performance The song was an immediate hit, peaking at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for one week, behind Culture Club's "Karma Chameleon". Additionally, the track reached No.2 in the UK as well as No.1 on the U.S. R&B chart.
Weekly charts Chart (1983–1984) Peakposition Australia 45 Canada (RPM Top Singles)15 Canada (RPM Adult Contemporary)1 New Zealand (RMNZ)7 South Africa (Springbok)21 UK Singles Chart 2Uruguay (UPI)4 US Billboard Hot 1002 US Billboard Adult Contemporary2 US Billboard Hot Black Singles1 US Cash Box Top 1003Venezuela (UPI)2
Year-end charts Chart (1984) RankUK Singles 23US Billboard Hot 10024US Cash Box Top 10036
Certifications
Cover versions In 1989, Japanese singing duo Wink covered the song in the Japanese language with custom lyrics focusing on friendship.
See also List of Hot Black Singles number ones of 1984
References