Set Adrift on Memory Bliss
{{Short description|1991 single by P.M. Dawn}}
{{about|the P.M. Dawn song|the Backstreet Boys cover|Backstreet Boys (1997 album)#Track listing}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Set Adrift on Memory Bliss
| cover = PM Dawn Set Adrift On Memory Bliss.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = P.M. Dawn
| album = Of the Heart, of the Soul and of the Cross: The Utopian Experience
| B-side = A Watcher's Point of View (Don't 'Cha Think)
| released = {{start date|1991|8|5}}
| recorded =
| studio =
| genre =
- Hip hop
- psychedelic pop{{cite book|first= Lawrence |last= Gabriel|editor1-first= Gary|editor1-last= Graff |editor2-first= Daniel |editor2-last= Durchholz |year= 1998 |title= MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |chapter= PM Dawn |publisher= Visible Ink Press |location= Detroit |pages= 879}}
- dance-rap{{cite web|first= Tom |last= Breihan |title= The Number Ones: P.M. Dawn's "Set Adrift On Memory Bliss|website= Stereogum |date= December 27, 2021 |url= https://www.stereogum.com/2171401/the-number-ones-p-m-dawns-set-adrift-on-memory-bliss/columns/the-number-ones/|accessdate= July 6, 2024|quote=...“Set Adrift On Memory Bliss” is a bright, catchy dance-rap track built on an extremely recognizable sample.}}
| length = 4:10
| label =
| writer =
| producer = P.M. Dawn
| prev_title = A Watcher's Point of View (Don't 'Cha Think)
| prev_year = 1991
| next_title = Paper Doll
| next_year = 1992
}}
"Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" is a song by American hip-hop group P.M. Dawn, released in August 1991 by Gee Street and Island as the second single from their debut album, Of the Heart, of the Soul and of the Cross: The Utopian Experience (1991). It is built around samples of Spandau Ballet's "True", the Soul Searchers' "Ashley's Roachclip", and the Bob James version of Paul Simon's "Take Me to the Mardi Gras", with the remainder of the song written by P.M. Dawn vocalist Attrell "Prince Be" Cordes. Only Prince Be and "True" writer Gary Kemp were credited for writing the track.
The song was P.M. Dawn's only number-one hit on the US Billboard Hot 100, and it was the first number-one song after the debut of the Nielsen SoundScan system, which monitored airplay and sales more closely than before, when Billboard had to rely on manual sales reports and airplay data. According to the test charts of the SoundScan system, "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" was at number one for at least three weeks but officially has a one-week reign at number one. Worldwide, it reached number one in New Zealand, number three in the United Kingdom, and number seven in Australia. Its music video was directed by Mark Pellington. The song was ranked number 81 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop."{{cite web|publisher=MusicRadar|title=Public Enemy top 100 greatest hip-hop songs|author=Porter, Tom|date=25 September 2008|url=https://www.musicradar.com/news/tech/public-enemy-top-100-greatest-hip-hop-songs-175073}} Blender ranked it at number 94 in their list of "Greatest Songs Since You Were Born" in 2005.{{cite web|url=http://www.blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?ID=1771 |title=Blender Magazine: Greatest Songs Since You Were Born |website=Blender |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080214060009/http://www.blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?ID=1771 |access-date=July 29, 2020 |archive-date=February 14, 2008}}
Composition
Attrell "Prince Be" Cordes told in a 1991 Melody Maker interview about the song's conception, "I have to like a song before I can deal with it, the music comes first. I've always liked that Spandau Ballet song, it's so dreamy and trance-like, so when I came to deal with it, I knew I'd be daydreaming along to that one. 'Set Adrift' was so obvious to do: have the Spandau Ballet loop in there and a few other things, and dress it up a bit. That was all that was necessary."{{cite magazine|first=Everett|last=True|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/nothingelseon/52435626109/|title=PM Dawn|magazine=Melody Maker|date=August 31, 1991|page=14|access-date=May 1, 2023|author-link=Everett True}}
Critical reception
In a retrospective review, Justin Chadwick from Albumism called the song "unforgettable" and "pure pop perfection". He added, "Regardless of where you ultimately netted out with respect to your overall opinion of P.M. Dawn, if you're like me, you were hooked the first time you heard the pop-infused brilliance of "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss"."{{cite web|first= Justin |last= Chadwick |title= P.M. Dawn's 'Of the Heart, of the Soul and of the Cross: The Utopian Experience' Turns 25: Anniversary Retrospective |publisher= Albumism |date= August 3, 2016 |access-date= November 16, 2020 |url= https://www.albumism.com/features/tribute-celebrating-25-years-of-pm-dawn-of-the-heart-of-the-soul-and-of-the-cross}} Steve Huey from AllMusic described it as a "shimmering" ballad.{{cite web|first= Steve |last= Huey |title= P.M. Dawn – Of the Heart, Of the Soul and of the Cross: The Utopian Experience |publisher= AllMusic |access-date= November 7, 2020 |url= https://www.allmusic.com/album/of-the-heart-of-the-soul-and-of-the-cross-the-utopian-experience-mw0000265457}} Another AllMusic editor, Hal Horowitz, said it's an "amazingly mature debut tune."{{cite web|first= Hal |last= Horowitz |title= P.M. Dawn – The Best of P.M. Dawn |publisher= AllMusic |access-date= November 7, 2020 |url= https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-best-of-pm-dawn-mw0000066015}} Upon the release, J.D. Considine from The Baltimore Sun felt that "they create entirely new grooves out of half-remembered song-bites, like the slice of Spandau Ballet's "True" that crops up in "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss". A pleasant surprise."Considine, J.D. (1991). "P.M. Dawn – Of the Heart, of the Soul and of the Cross: The Utopian Experience". The Baltimore Sun – via Star Tribune. (December 17, 1991). Dave Sholin from the Gavin Report wrote, "Hypnotic rap from New Jersey brothers Prince Be and DJ Minutemix [...] not only brings back a memory or two, it's sure to create new ones. It has fresh production elements and a chorus with all the relaxing, calming qualities of a nice long massage. A massive hit overseas, it's set to become just as big in North America thanks to early airplay at key crossover outlets."{{cite magazine|first=Dave|last=Sholin|title=Gavin Picks > Singles|magazine=Gavin Report|issue=1874|date=September 20, 1991|page=56|access-date=April 17, 2018|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Gavin-Report/90/91/Gavin-1991-09-20.pdf}} Everett True from Melody Maker said, "I rather like it—its melding of new age hippychick to old age romantic makes for rather a nice laidback groove and a sure-fire smash."{{cite magazine|first=Everett|last=True|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/nothingelseon/52423658885/|title=Singles|magazine=Melody Maker|date=August 17, 1991|page=28|access-date=May 1, 2023|author-link=Everett True}}
Alan Jones of Music Week named it Single of the Week, commenting, "A brilliant soundscape starts with some nice vocal work, followed by the drum track from Dennis Edwards' "Don't Look Any Further" before Spandau Ballet's "True" leads into a mellow rap. A serene summer smash."{{cite magazine|first= Alan |last= Jones |url= https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1991/MW-1991-07-27.pdf |title= Mainstream: Singles - Pick of the Week |magazine= Music Week |date= July 27, 1991 |page= 8 |access-date= October 3, 2020}} A reviewer from Newcastle Evening Chronicle described it as a "dreamy rap song".Newcastle Evening Chronicle. September 7, 1991. p. 28. Johnny Dee from Smash Hits named it Single of the Fortnight, calling it the "dreamiest, most laid-back record ever invented." He added, "Quite what lyrics like "rubber bands expand in a frustrating sigh" mean is a total mystery, but if ever a record could be described as — aherm — like being massaged by a bag of marshmallows, then this is it. Melt city!"{{cite magazine|first= Johnny |last= Dee |title= Review: Singles |magazine= Smash Hits |date= August 7, 1991 |page= 45 |access-date= October 20, 2020 |url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/smashhits90s/31206940208/in/album-72157702019922435/}} While reviewing Of the Heart, of the Soul and of the Cross: The Utopian Experience, the magazine's Gary Kipper stated that the song "is, of course, one of the most summery records ever made".{{cite magazine|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/57779449@N02/46920035931/in/album-72157676039885887/|first=Gary|last=Kipper|title=Reviews: LPs|magazine=Smash Hits|date=September 4, 1991|page=44|access-date=August 23, 2021}} Jonathan Bernstein from Spin wrote, "The hit track, the play track, the ultimate "Huh?" inducer, "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" is a classic of languid lassitude. Deadpan as De La doing "West End Girls", "Memory" opens with a laconically drawled "The camera pans the cocktail glass behind a blind of plastic plants" and just gets better from there."{{cite magazine|first=Jonathan|last=Bernstein|title=Spins|magazine=Spin|date=August 1991|page=95|accessdate=January 25, 2023|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OR4h_dORXcUC}}
Impact and legacy
"Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" was ranked number 19 in NME{{'}}s list of "Singles of the Year" in December 1991.{{cite magazine|first=|last=|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/nothingelseon/52523412699/|title=Singles of the Year|magazine=NME|date=December 21, 1991|page=|access-date=May 2, 2023}} It was awarded one of BMI's Pop Awards in 1993, honoring the songwriters, composers and music publishers of the song.{{cite magazine |title= BMI Congratulates The PRS Writers and Publishers of BMI's Most Performed Works of 1992: Most Performed Pop Songs |magazine= Music Week |page= 2 |date= November 20, 1993 |accessdate= May 13, 2023 |url= https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1993/Music-Week-1993-11-20.pdf}} VH1 ranked it number 81 in their "100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop." In 2005, Blender ranked it at number 94 in their list of "Greatest Songs Since You Were Born". In 2020, Cleveland.com ranked the song at number 27 in their list of the best Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 songs of the 1990s, calling it "one of the most unlikely No. 1 hits on this list and maybe the most complex." They added, "Somehow it all amounts to four minutes of hip hop, well, bliss."{{cite web |url=https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2020/10/every-no-1-song-of-the-1990s-ranked-from-worst-to-best.html|title=Every No. 1 song of the 1990s ranked from worst to best|first=Tony L.|last=Smith|work=Cleveland.com|date=October 21, 2020|access-date=February 5, 2021}}
The song was parodied in the 1993 film Fear of a Black Hat, as performed by Tone Def (Mark Christopher Lawrence)'s post-N.W.H. group New Human Formantics (also a parody of P.M. Dawn) as a mostly scatological-themed song, "I'm Just A Human Being."{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Yjd1hLJSKg|title="I'm Just A Human Being" youtube.com video }}
After Prince Be was incapacitated by a stroke in 2005, his cousin Gregory Lewis Carr II, under the name Doc G, took over the P.M. Dawn trademark and music rights.{{cite web|last=Vaidya|first=Amit|date=December 2, 2021|title=#RSFlashback: P.M. Dawn's 'Set Adrift On Memory Bliss' Turns 30|url=https://rollingstoneindia.com/rsflashback-p-m-dawn-set-adrift-on-memory-bliss-turns-30/|magazine=Rolling Stone India|access-date=February 16, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220704143611/https://rollingstoneindia.com/rsflashback-p-m-dawn-set-adrift-on-memory-bliss-turns-30/|archive-date=July 4, 2022}} In 2013 Doc G re-recorded "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" without Prince Be's or DJ Minutemix's input, and for the following decade it was the only available version on all streaming services. The re-recording was described by Rolling Stone magazine as "atrocious" and "cold, heartless, and just plain terrible."
In March 2024, the original recording of "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" was finally made available on all streaming services.{{cite web|url=http://www.spandauballet.com/news/set-adrift-on-memory-bliss-now-streaming|title='Set Adrift On Memory Bliss' Now Streaming|date=March 28, 2024|website=spandauballet.com}}
Music video
The accompanying music video for the song premiered in August 1991 and was directed by American film director Mark Pellington. Spandau Ballet lead singer Tony Hadley appears toward the end of the video.[http://www.mvdbase.com/video.php?id=22029 mvdbase.com - PM Dawn - "Set adrift on memory bliss"]
Track listings
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
- US 12-inch and maxi-CD single{{cite AV media notes|title=Set Adrift on Memory Bliss|year=1991|type=US 12-inch single vinyl disc|publisher=Gee Street Records, Island Records|id=422-866 095-1}}{{cite AV media notes|title=Set Adrift on Memory Bliss|year=1991|type=US maxi-CD single liner notes|publisher=Gee Street Records, Island Records|id=422-866 095-2}}
- "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" (extended mix) – 6:04
- "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" (radio mix) – 3:57
- "A Watcher's Point of View (Don't 'Cha Think)" (Youth extended mix) – 6:05
- "A Watcher's Point of View (Don't 'Cha Think)" (Youth radio mix) – 3:58
- US and Canadian cassette single{{cite AV media notes|title=Set Adrift on Memory Bliss|year=1991|type=US cassette single sleeve|publisher=Gee Street Records, Island Records|id=422-866 094-4}}{{cite AV media notes|title=Set Adrift on Memory Bliss|year=1991|type=Canadian cassette single sleeve|publisher=Gee Street Records, Island Records|id=866 094-4}}
- "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" (radio mix) – 3:57
- "A Watcher's Point of View (Don't 'Cha Think)" (Youth radio mix) – 3:58
- UK 7-inch and cassette single{{cite AV media notes|title=Set Adrift on Memory Bliss|year=1991|type=UK 7-inch single sleeve|publisher=Gee Street Records, Island Records|id=GEE 33, 868 688-7}}{{cite AV media notes|title=Set Adrift on Memory Bliss|year=1991|type=UK cassette single sleeve|publisher=Gee Street Records, Island Records|id=GEEC 33, 868 688-4}}
- Australian CD and cassette single{{cite AV media notes|title=Set Adrift on Memory Bliss|year=1991|type=Australian CD single liner notes|publisher=Gee Street Records, Island Records|id=868 688-2}}{{cite AV media notes|title=Set Adrift on Memory Bliss|year=1991|type=Australian cassette single sleeve|publisher=Gee Street Records, Island Records|id=868 688-4}}
- Japanese mini-CD single{{cite AV media notes|title=Set Adrift on Memory Bliss|year=1991|type=Japanese mini-CD single liner notes|publisher=Gee Street Records, Island Records, Polystar|id=PSDD-3002}}
- "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" (radio mix)
- "For the Love of Peace"
{{col-2}}
:A1. "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" (extended mix)
:A2. "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" (radio mix)
:B1. "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" (LP version)
:B2. "For the Love of Peace"
- UK and Japanese maxi-CD single{{cite AV media notes|title=Set Adrift on Memory Bliss|year=1991|type=UK CD single liner notes|publisher=Gee Street Records, Island Records|id=GESCD 33, 868 689-2}}{{cite AV media notes|title=Set Adrift on Memory Bliss|year=1991|type=Japanese maxi-CD single liner notes|publisher=Gee Street Records, Island Records, Polystar|id=PSCD-1187}}
- "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" (radio mix)
- "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" (extended mix)
- "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" (LP version)
- "For the Love of Peace"
{{col-end}}
Charts
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
=Weekly charts=
{{col-2}}
=Year-end charts=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
!Chart (1992) !Position |
| scope="row"|US Billboard Hot 100{{cite web|url=http://longboredsurfer.com/charts.php?year=1992|title=Billboard Top 100 – 1992|access-date=July 3, 2010|archive-date=July 8, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090708050630/http://longboredsurfer.com/charts.php?year=1992|url-status=dead}}
|44 |
|---|
| scope="row"|US Maxi-Singles Sales (Billboard){{cite magazine|title=The Year in Music: Hot Dance Music Maxi-Singles Sales|magazine=Billboard|volume=104|issue=52|page=YE-48|date=December 26, 1992}}
|23 |
{{col-end}}
Certifications
{{Certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|type=single|award=Gold|relyear=1991|certyear=1991|certref={{cite Ryan|page=220}}}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=single|artist=P.M. Dawn|title=Set Adrift on Memory Bliss|award=Gold|relyear=1991|certyear=1991|access-date=October 21, 2019|refname="riaa"}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}
Release history
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
!scope="col"|Region !scope="col"|Date !scope="col"|Format(s) !scope="col"|Label(s) !scope="col"|{{abbr|Ref(s).|Reference(s)}} |
| scope="row"|United Kingdom
|August 5, 1991 |{{hlist|7-inch vinyl|12-inch vinyl|CD|cassette}} |rowspan="2"|{{hlist|Gee Street|Island}} |align="center"|{{cite magazine|title=New Releases: Singles|magazine=Music Week|page=19|date=August 3, 1991}} |
|---|
| scope="row"|United States
|October 13, 1991 |{{hlist|12-inch vinyl|CD|cassette}} |
| scope="row"|Japan
|December 21, 1991 |{{hlist|Maxi-CD|mini-CD}} |{{hlist|Gee Street|Island|Polystar}} |align="center"|{{cite web|url=https://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/18862/products/207536/1/|title=トゥルー {{!}} P.M.ドーン|trans-title=True {{!}} P.M. Dawn|publisher=Oricon|language=ja|access-date=September 11, 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/18862/products/206079/1/|title=トゥルー {{!}} P.M.ドーン|trans-title=True {{!}} P.M. Dawn|publisher=Oricon|language=ja|access-date=September 11, 2023}} |
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{P.M. Dawn}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
Category:Island Records singles
Category:Music videos directed by Mark Pellington
Category:Music Week number-one dance singles
Category:Number-one singles in New Zealand