I Wanna Get Next to You
{{Infobox song
| name = I Wanna Get Next To You
| cover = I_Wanna_Get_Next_to_You_-_Rose_Royce.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Rose Royce
| album = Car Wash: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
| B-side = {{ubl|"Sunrise" (US)|"Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is" (International)}}
| released = December 1976
| recorded = 1976
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Soul
| length = 3:56
| label = MCA/Whitfield
| writer = Norman Whitfield
| producer = Norman Whitfield
| prev_title = Car Wash
| prev_year = 1976
| next_title = I'm Going Down
| next_year = 1977
}}
"I Wanna Get Next to You" is a 1976 soul single written, composed and produced by American songwriter and producer Norman Whitfield, and most famously sung by American R&B band Rose Royce. It is the third official single from the Car Wash soundtrack. The song has also become a staple on oldies radio and on adult contemporary stations. It was the groups second and final top ten hit on the pop charts.
Background
The song talks about how a narrator pleads love for a beautiful woman, except that the young woman is unkind, and does not understand his affection for her, as he wastes his own money calling her, but she does not respond, regardless, he still wants to "get next to" her. This theme is expressed clearly and concisely in the lyrics of the song's first verse:
Sitting here in this chair, waiting on you / oh, baby to see things my way.Unlike most Rose Royce songs, "I Wanna Get Next to You" does not feature typical lead vocalist Gwen Dickey; rather, it showcases male lead vocals from one of the band's trumpeters, Kenny Copeland.[https://soultraincruise.com/news/come-on-yall-and-sing-it-for-me "Come on Y'all and Sing it for Me" Soul Train Cruise, 19 February 2020.] Retrieved 13 May 2024.[https://www.allmusic.com/song/i-wanna-get-next-to-you-mt0004909379 "I Wanna Get Next to You" - Rose Royce (song review)] @AllMusic. Retrieved 13 May 2024.But not a word do you say. / You won't even look my way, yeah
Girl I'm spending my dimes, / wasting my time
Talking 'til I'm black and blue. / Oh, can't you see I wanna get next to you? {{Cite journal |date=July 1977 |title=Soul Songs: I Wanna Get Next to You |journal=Song Hits |volume=41 |issue=137 |pages=23}}
Chart performance
"I Wanna Get Next to You" became Rose Royce's second top 10 single on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #10; it peaked at #3 on Billboard's Hot Soul Singles chart and at #9 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart. The song peaked at #10 on the Cashbox Top 100 Singles chart, spending two weeks in the top 10.{{Cite journal |date=May 14, 1977 |title=Cashbox Top 100 Singles Chart |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1977/CB-1977-05-14.pdf |journal=Cashbox |volume=38 |issue=52 |pages=4 |via=World Radio History}} The song's strongest showing was on Record World magazine's Top Singles Chart which had it peaking at #8 on May 7, 1977, and spending four weeks in the top 10.{{Cite journal |date=May 7, 1977 |title=Top Singles Chart |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/70s/77/Record-World-1977-05-07.pdf |journal=Record World |volume=33 |issue=1557 |pages=29 |via=World Radio History}}
The song was also successful worldwide, becoming their second top 40 hit in the United Kingdom, peaking at #14 on the UK Singles Chart.{{Cite journal |date=May 7, 1977 |title=Hits of the World |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/70s/1977/Billboard%201977-05-07.pdf |journal=Billboard Magazine |volume=89 |issue=18 |pages=75 |via=World Radio History}} Billboard's Hits of the World international listings showed "I Wanna Get Next to You" reaching #8 in New Zealand on July 3, 1977 while Rose Royce's first hit single "Car Wash" was still in the top 10.{{Cite journal |date=July 16, 1977 |title=Billboard's Hits of the World |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/70s/1977/Billboard%201977-07-16.pdf |journal=Billboard Magazine |volume=89 |issue=28 |pages=81 |via=World Radio History}}
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