Don't Stop the Music (Yarbrough and Peoples song)

{{Infobox song

| name = Don't Stop the Music

| cover = YPSTOP.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Yarbrough and Peoples

| album = The Two of Us

| B-side = You're My Song

| released = 19 December 1980 (UK){{Cite web|url=https://www.45cat.com/record/76085|title = Yarbrough and Peoples - Don't Stop the Music}}

| recorded = 1980

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = R&B, boogie

| length = {{flatlist|

  • 7:49
  • 4:08 (7")

}}

| label = Mercury

| writer = {{flatlist|

  • Jonah Ellis
  • Alisa Peoples
  • Cavin Yarbrough}}

| producer = {{flatlist|

| prev_title =

| prev_year =

| next_title = Don't Waste Your Time

| next_year = 1984

| misc = {{External music video|header=Official audio|{{YouTube|aK2-L2y25Bg|"Don't Stop the Music "}}}}

}}

"Don't Stop the Music" is a song by Yarbrough and Peoples, from the duo's 1980 debut album, The Two of Us. It was released as a single on Mercury Records in 1980.

Chart performance

The song reached number 26 on the dance charts, number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100, and fared even better on the US R&B chart, where it hit number one,{{cite book |title=Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004 |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2005 |publisher=Record Research |page=85}} Outside the US, "Don't Stop the Music" went to number 7 in the UK. The song's success helped to earn a gold record for the duo.

Radio promotion for the record was handled in Los Angeles by independent marketing firm Dudley-Gorov,{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GCUEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT18 |page=18 |title=Dudley-Gorov Niche: Mass Appeal |date=July 25, 1981 |author=Cary Darling |magazine=Billboard}} while a young Russell Simmons shopped the record to New York club DJs as one of his early jobs.{{cite book |title=Super Rich: A Guide to Having It All |page=49 |author=Russell Simmons |author-link=Russell Simmons |publisher=Penguin |date=2011 |isbn=9781101445983}}

Chart history

class="wikitable sortable"

!align="left"|Chart (1981)

!align="left"|Peak
position

Australia (Kent Music Report){{cite book|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|publisher=Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W |year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6}}

|align="center"|73

{{singlechart|Flanders|4|artist=Yarbrough and Peoples|song=Don't Stop The Music}}
Canada RPM Top Singles

|align="center"|40

{{singlechart|Ireland2|18|song=Don't Stop the Music|accessdate=March 18, 2019}}
Netherlands {{Cite web|url=https://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Yarbrough+&+Peoples&titel=Don't+Stop+The+Music&cat=s|title = Dutch Charts - dutchcharts.nl}}

|align="center"|2

UK Singles Chart{{cite book |title=British Hit Singles & Albums |last=Roberts |first=David |year=2006 |publisher=Guinness}}

|align="center"|7

align="left"|US Billboard Hot 100{{cite book |title=Top Pop Singles: 1955-2006 |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |year=2007 |publisher=Record Research}}

|align="center"|19

US R&B Singles{{cite book |title=Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004 |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2005 |publisher=Record Research |page=85}}

|align="center"|1

align="left"|Dance/Club Play Singles[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r52990|pure_url=yes}} allmusic]

|align="center"|26

US Cash Box Top 100{{Cite web |url=http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/80s_files/19810425.html |title=Cash Box Top 100 Singles, April 25, 1981 |access-date=March 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150603141606/http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/80s_files/19810425.html |archive-date=June 3, 2015 |url-status=dead }}

|align="center"|17

Music video

The music video for the song featured hand puppets singing "You don't really wanna stop? No!" The duo also used them for many of their live performances.

Samples and covers

"Don't Stop the Music" has been heavily sampled by other artists, primarily in the hip hop genre, on songs including “Tops Drop” by Fat Pat, “Can’t Stop The Southland” by Brownside, "Gangsta Lovin'" by Eve, "All Night Long" by Common, "Let It Go" by Keyshia Cole, and "Crazy in Love" (Rockwilder Remix) by Beyoncé and "Let's Do It Again" by TLC.

References