That popped out. The original plan was I was going to be a writer for it. I thought George Michael should sing it. But I guess they liked my voice in the demo. I don't think Carlos even knew who sang in it.
As soon as I heard it, even when I was in the middle of the song, I was like, man, this song is big. I didn't know it was going to be that big, but I knew it was big. Thomas: I flew out to San Francisco and we recorded it together.
That's a big testament to Matt Serletic and the vision he had when heard the track. He didn't want it sound like a dance track. He wanted it to be danceable, but in the context [of Santana and the album]. And Carlos has a signature guitar sound. And then maybe just the excitement. It was an exciting time and that excitement comes through. Santana: I didn't want [the guitar part] to have brain or mind or energy. I wanted it to be with innocence.
Innocence to me is very sacred and very sensual. After all, everything on the internet that you cherish is minutes away from becoming over-loved and worn out by millions. It is also an embodiment of a particular era in pop culture, and now it is a byproduct of the internet nostalgia machine.
Released in , "Smooth" was the collaboration between Matchbox 20 frontman Rob Thomas and legendary guitarist Carlos Santana. But Ricky Martin was a tiny bit responsible for it too:. And at the time, when you're doing a record with Carlos Santana, nobody had any idea that it was going to be this big. It was one of those things where I was like, "I'm gonna work with Carlos because I love Carlos, and I'm gonna have to tell all my friends.
Have a good time! Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez, and Enrique Iglesias all had hit songs in the window from to , making record companies eager to tap into the market. The Latin pop explosion also made artists like Thomas think about the music they were producing. Get ready bro. New coffee mug here just in time for the dog days of August. The jokes began as an earnest way to convey the weather at the time hot and a wink and nod to anyone that gets where the phrase came from:.
As Mark Hinog on the Verge pointed out :. The year-old pop song crescendoed into a full-on revival at the beginning of this summer. Long live memes. I hope Indians opponents step up to the plate when Carlos Santana is catching and say, "Man, it's a hot one. My biggest regret in life is that a bank teller just said, "Man, it's a hot one," and I didn't nod, "Like seven inches from the midday sun.
Fast-forward to this year, and we have surreal meta-moments like New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio walking out to the song at the Democratic National Convention, and a dressage the sport of horse dancing routine set to "Smooth" at the Olympics. Considering how popular "Smooth" was , that would have been impossible. For a large portion of the population, the song is hardwired into their consciousness, so its invocation in sparks immediate recognition and reaction.
Put simply: The combination of nostalgia and the internet is one of the most potent forces on the planet. Both songs show their age and capture the trends of the time, embodying a mixture of irony and earnestness that tends to speak to internet jokers. Put another way, "Smooth" is smack dab in the nostalgia wheelhouse for millennials, and even younger Gen X-ers, making it prime fodder for memeification.
A few days later, Santana relented. He would record the song—as long as Rob Thomas did it with him, live. All of a sudden, two and two become seven instead of two and two becomes four. But for many of the musicians involved, it felt routine—an-easier-than average session in service of a simple tune.
They recorded live, ran through the track a few times, liked what they heard. Then they went home. Simple in theory. Navy band before a stint with the Grateful Dead; or Rietveld, who in the s toured around the world with Miles Davis. This is apparent when the entire percussion section, acting with one shared brain, pulls back the timing on the iconic introductory drum fill, almost like a slingshot.
Or listen to how the bass and keys seem to coquettishly beckon you forward, or how the track sustains its precise momentum, even as its outro explodes into unbridled chaos.
But get the note. Everyone agreed the song sounded like a hit. But executives at Arista were still worried about the mechanics of selling America on something new from Santana. For some, the realization came through blunt repetition: hearing it in the grocery store, then in a nearby pharmacy shortly thereafter. Others flipped between radio stations that were playing it simultaneously, or heard it blasting from a beat-up Pontiac in Hawaii, or were simply told by their wives: This could actually be something.
Good job! All right. The song was released as a single on June 29, It was certified gold by September 13 and platinum by November 9. Then it topped the charts in 10 other countries. Nine Grammies in total. The awards provided a deluge of delayed recognition for Santana, a living legend who over his decades-long career had only won once, in , in the Best Rock Instrumental Performance Orchestra, Group or Soloist category.
In one photo from the evening, Thomas, Santana, and Clive Davis cradle their statues, each wearing a befuddled smile. Santana, in particular, looks ecstatic. In the expansive canon of American popular music, there are various species of earworms.
Some are harmless; some are venomous. Some wriggle in and out in mere minutes.
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