Just Be Good to Me

"Just Be Good to Me" is a 1983 single by The S.O.S. Band, written and produced by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis.^[2]

Charts

The single reached number two on the U.S. R&B chart, number 55 on the Billboard Hot 100, and number three on the dance chart that year.^[3] It was more successful in the UK, where it peaked at number 13 in the spring of 1984.^[4]

Covers and samples

The song has subsequently been covered by several artists, including Deborah Cox (whose version reached number eight on the US Hot Dance Club Play chart), Mariah Carey (who performed it live on her 1993 Music Box Tour and 1996 Daydream Tour), Shayne Ward (who recorded it for his 2007 album, Breathless), and Faithless in 2008 in a collaboration with Dido. 2Pac also sampled the track during the making of his 1994 album, Me Against the World, for track number 7, "Heavy in the Game" Ft. Lady Levi and Richie Rich.

Norman Cook (a.k.a. Fatboy Slim) was involved with a very successful UK version with his band Beats International, who took the song to number one as "Dub Be Good to Me", which featured a backing track consisting mainly of a sample of The Clash classic "The Guns of Brixton". The song was also sampled by rapper Silkk the Shocker for his 1998 single "Just Be Straight with Me", which also featured Destiny's Child.

In 2010, Professor Green and Lily Allen released a cover reminiscent of Beats International's version titled "Just Be Good to Green", and Cher Lloyd performed it on series seven of The X Factor. In 2011, the song was performed by Simone Battle on series one of The X Factor (US).

In 2006, the song was remixed by the band Karmah with a mash-up of a sample of "Every Breath You Take" by The Police.

In 2008, Australian artist Seany B released a version of this song, but called it "B Good 2 Me". ^[5]

In 2014, Usher sampled this song for "She Came to Give It to You".

Popular impact

In 2008, the song was featured on Grand Theft Auto IV's fictional Soul/R&B radio station, The Vibe 98.8.

References