Don't Look Any Further

"Don't Look Any Further"
Single by Dennis Edwards featuring Siedah Garrett
from the album Don't Look Any Further
Released	April 3, 1984
Genre	R&B
Label	Motown Records
Writer(s)	Franne Golde, Dennis Lambert, Duane Hitchings
Producer	Dennis Edwards
Dennis Edwards singles chronology
- "Don't Look Any Further" (1984) "(You're My) Aphrodisiac" (1984)

"Don't Look Any Further" is a 1984 single by former Temptations lead singer Dennis Edwards, featuring Siedah Garrett. The single was written by Franne Golde, Dennis Lambert and Duane Hitchings. It peaked at #2 on the Billboard Black Singles chart and peaked at #72 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Track listing

US 7" Vinyl

1. a. "Don't Look Any Further"
2. b. "I Thought I Could Handle It"

Preceded by "Thinking of You" by Earth, Wind & Fire

U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number-one single April 2, 1988

Succeeded by "Pink Cadillac" by Natalie Cole

M People version

"Don't Look Any Further"
Single by M People
from the album Elegant Slumming
B-side	Remixes, La Vida Loca
Released	29 November 1993
Format	7" single, 12" maxi CD single, cassette
Genre	Pop/Soul
Length	3:26
Label	Deconstruction
Producer	M People
M People singles chronology
"Moving on Up" (1993) "Don't Look Any Further" (1993) "Renaissance" (1994)

"Don't Look Any Further" is the eighth single from British band M People. It was the third single from their second album Elegant Slumming (1993). The song is a cover version. Produced by M People. It was released on 29 November 1993. The song peaked at number nine on the UK Singles Chart.

Composition

Heather sings the lead of the duet the song which was originally sung by Dennis Edwards and Mark Bell sings the female part (originally sung by Siedah Garrett). Heather slightly alters the third line of the first verse: "What you need is a lover, someone to take over. Oh babe, don’t look any further." instead of singing: "What you need is lover, a man to take over. Oh girl, don’t look any further."

The M People, version stayed very faithful to the original, incorporating the much sampled baseline, with a trademark deeper moog sound, programmed drumming sticking to the same familiar base drum beat. However, instead of the guitar in the middle eight, they used a saxophone in its place and just one set of keys with progressive and chords plays throughout with splices of percussive drumming at junctions between verses and choruses.

Finally, the backing vocals were provided by critically acclaimed British R&B Gospel Group Nu Colours.

Chart Performance

Don't Look Any Further received very positive reception from critics. The single became the fourth consecutive top 10 hit for the band and their third consecutive Top 10 from the Elegant Slumming album. It charted and peaked at number 9, spending five weeks in the Top 20 with weekly sales starting at 82,000 copies and it continued to sell over 60,000 copies in each of the following four weeks as it moved from 9 to 11 to 12 to 14 to 19. In its sixth week there was a minor a surge in sales to climb two places to 17 to 27 to 44 to 52 to 70.

The Dennis Edwards original only charted as high as number 45 in the UK.

The song spent a total of 10 weeks on the chart, leaving in early February 1994, so "Don't Look Any Further" had the second longest chart sojourn of any M People single, after the 11 weeks of both predecessor singles. Elsewhere, they secured their second consecutive Top 5 hit in New Zealand where it peaked at number 4 and stayed in the chart for 18 weeks. In Switzerland it took the single seven weeks to peak at number 23, but stayed in the Swiss Top 40 for 18 weeks in total.

Airplay

With the two airplay successes of "Moving on Up" and "One Night in Heaven", radio was quick to follow on their popularity after the single was serviced to radio at the end of October 1993. It entered the chart at number 68 to and steadily climbed to 41 to 21 to 12 the week before release and then it climbed to 6 and then peaked at 4 where it stayed for one week before falling to 5 in it seventh week on the chart. It then fell one place for the following three weeks which meant it was a firm Christmas airplay single as well. It stayed on the airplay chart for a total of 14 weeks and left in mid-February 1994 whilst "Renaissance", the next single, was already making steady progress up the chart in the other direction.

Music Video

The video was filmed over two days in Germany’s capital city of Berlin on 26 and 27 October 1993 while the band was still promoting "Moving On Up"’s success around Europe. Great landmarks including the Brandenburg Gate, The Berlin Wall, Berliner Dom, the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church and the Fernsehturm (the TV Tower in Alexanderplatz) are all featured within the video adding to atmospheric backdrop seen in a misty haze.

As only the second M People music video to be filmed abroad, the external shots show Heather walking around the cold city centre as is also Mark Bell who is never seen singing with Heather but they seem to pass each other at various points without realising while walking around town. Mike, Paul and Shovell are also seen chatting to each other under bridges, whilst Heather seems oblivious to their existence.

Other internal shots show both Heather and Mark leaning up against separate opposing walls and later are seen in a split-screen effect singing their duet but, again, never directly to each other. During the final chorus, Heather is seated in a quiet German pub alone on a table at the fore and in the background Mike, Paul and Shovell are seated around another table and they join in to sing the chorus. In this final scene, the camera continues to pan horizontally from right to left and back repeatedly as the four main members of the band all sing together.

Live Performances

During both legs of the Elegant Slumming tours, Mark Bell would continue to duet the song with Heather. But on subsequent tours, the male lead would change: on the Bizarre Fruit Tours, Heather would duet with backing vocalist Paul Johnson. On the Fresco Tour she’d sing with the late Lynden David Hall, who was also supporting them and Nate James would duet on the 2005 Re-union Tour, as he was supporting them. Other duets have been sung with backing vocalist Tommy Blaize after 2007.

Remixes

The two mixes were provided by British House Music Producer (Dancing) Danny D (aka D Mob) who gave a funkier interpretation with additional backing vocals on the chorus whereas, the similar sounding "Strip to the Bone" mix (also by Danny D) gave the song a funkier version with an additional rap ad-lib of "the drum, the bass" to bridge the verse and chorus.

Artwork

One of the four sofas as seen on the Elegant Slumming album cover is featured on the cover of this single on its own. It is this particular pink sofa that Heather was sat on on the cover of the parent album and her not being there incorporates the idea of "look(ing) no further" and finding no one there, in total contrast to the previous single Moving On Up when it was just a side profile of Heather that made up the artwork.

Track listings

7” Mini

1. "Don't Look Any Further" (M People Master Edit) 3:25
2. "La Vida Loca" 4:31

12" Maxi

1. "Don't Look Any Further" (M People Master Mix) 5.28
2. "Don't Look Any Further" (Strip to the Bone Mix) 5:26
3. "Don't Look Any Further" (Danny D Mix) 5.38
4. "La Vida Loca" 4:31

CD Maxi

1. "Don't Look Any Further" (M People Master Edit) 3:25
2. "Don't Look Any Further" (Strip to the Bone Mix) 5:26
3. "Don't Look Any Further" (Danny D Mix) 5.38
4. "La Vida Loca" 4:31

Chart positions

Chart (1993)	Peak Position
German Singles Chart	29
UK Singles Charts	9
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart[1]	4
Austrian Singles Chart[1]	25
Swiss Singles Chart[1]	23
Swedish Singles Chart[1]	29

Other use in sampling

In 1988, British, blue-eyed, soul group, The Kane Gang, took their version to number fifty-two on the UK singles chart, and number sixty-four on the Hot 100. The Kane Gang's rendition of "Don't Look Any Further", was number one on the dance charts for one week, and was their sole entry on the chart.

The most well-known sample of the song's distinctive bass-line is Eric B. & Rakim's 1987 single "Paid in Full."

2Pac's song "Hit Em Up," from his 1998 compilation album Greatest Hits, also sampled "Don't Look Any Further."

The "Don't Look Any Further Remix" of the song "Unpretty" by R&B girl group TLC heavily samples the song.

The Notorious B.I.G. and Junior Mafia also sampled "Don't Look Any Further" for their song "Gettin' Money (Remix)."

Australian Hip Hop group The Herd also sampled the bass line on their song "77%".

Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock also sampled the bass-line in their song "Make It Hot"

Lil Wayne sampled "Don't Look Any Further" on his 2002 single "Way of Life". It featured Big Tymers and TQ and it was released from his album 500 Degreez.

Houston rapper Z-Ro sampled the song in "Mo City Don (Freestyle)" off his album Let the Truth Be Told.

In popular culture

"Don't Look Any Further" played a prominent role in the plot of The X-Files episode "Orison," as a high school memory trigger/divine warning for Dana Scully.

The instrumental also been used as an underscore in several first season episodes of Everybody Hates Chris

It also appears in episode 4 of HBO's How to Make It in America.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} ""Moving on Up", in various singles charts" (in French). Lescharts. http://lescharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=M+People&titel=Moving+On+Up&cat=s. Retrieved 28 March 2009. 

• "Joel Whitburn's, Presents, Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004", 2004
• "Joel Whitburn's, Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003", 2004