Smooth (song)

"Smooth" is a collaboration between Latin rock band Santana and Matchbox Twenty vocalist Rob Thomas. The song was written by Itaal Shur and Thomas, produced by Matt Serletic and sung by Thomas. In the United States, it topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 12 weeks; it was the final number-one hit of the 1990s and the first number-one hit of the 2000s. "Smooth" is the only song to appear on two decade-end Billboard charts. As of 2018, "Smooth" is ranked the second most successful song of all time by Billboard. It won three Grammy Awards: Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. Worldwide, the song reached number one in Canada and the top 10 in Australia, Austria, Ireland and the United Kingdom.

"Smooth"
Single by Santana featuring Rob Thomas
from the album Supernatural
ReleasedJune 1999
FormatCD single
Recorded1998-1999
Genre
Length
  • 4:56 (album version)
  • 4:00 (radio edit)
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Matt Serletic
Santana singles chronology
"Say It Again"
(1985)		 "Smooth"
(1999)		 "Maria Maria"
(1999)
Rob Thomas singles chronology
"Smooth"
(1999)		 "A New York Christmas"
(2003)
Music video
"Smooth" on YouTube

Concept and background

"Smooth" was originally conceived by Shur as a song called "Room 17". The lyrics were stripped off and the track was given to Thomas, who re-wrote the lyrics and melody and re-titled it "Smooth", then recorded the song as a demo to play for Santana. After hearing the song, Santana decided to have Thomas record the final version.[1] Matt Serletic (who produced Matchbox Twenty's debut album Yourself or Someone Like You) produced the song and it was released from Santana's album Supernatural. Thomas originally had George Michael in mind to sing the song.[2]

Thomas wrote "Smooth" for his wife, Marisol Maldonado. He stated in interviews that the lyric "My Spanish Harlem Mona Lisa" was inspired by the 1972 Elton John song "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters", which includes references to the 1961 Ben E. King song "Spanish Harlem".

Chart performance

"Smooth" became a chart-topping hit in 1999, spending 12 consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 beginning with the issue of October 23, 1999. It was the first chart-topping song in Carlos Santana's long-running career (his previous biggest hit having been "Black Magic Woman", which peaked at number four in 1971). "Smooth" stayed in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 for 30 weeks, a record only bested by "How Do I Live" by LeAnn Rimes, "Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars, "Closer" by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey, "Shape of You" by Ed Sheeran, "Girls Like You" by Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B, "Sunflower" by Post Malone featuring Swae Lee, "Sicko Mode" by Travis Scott featuring Drake, and "Circles" by Post Malone.

In the United Kingdom, "Smooth" first charted at number 75 on the UK Singles Chart in October 1999. After a full release in March 2000 it peaked at number three, spending eight weeks in the top 40. The song also peaked at number three in Ireland in March 2000, spending ten weeks on the Irish Singles Chart. It remains Santana's highest-charting single in both Britain and Ireland. The song also peaked at number one in Canada for a week, number four in Australia and number nine in Austria. It reached the top 40 in an additional seven countries: Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Switzerland.

"Smooth" also spent a record-breaking ten consecutive weeks at the top of the VSpot Top 20 Countdown, a record that held up until the Dixie Chicks broke it in 2006.

Legacy

On Billboard magazine's rankings of the top songs of the first 50 years of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, "Smooth" was ranked as the number-two song overall (behind only "The Twist" by Chubby Checker)[3] and the number-one rock song in the history of the chart.[4]

In the 21st century, particularly during the summer of 2016, the song became popular as an internet meme.[5] Writing for MTV.com, Sasha Geffen compared the situation to similar resurgences of "All Star" by Smash Mouth and "One Week" by the Barenaked Ladies, going on to attribute the song's popularity to "the merits of its vocal absurdity." She wrote, "There's something ridiculous about how eagerly Rob Thomas lays his earnest alt-rock croon over Santana's guitar, sweating out lines about how his 'Spanish Harlem Mona Lisa' is 'just like the ocean under the moon' without a hint of self-consciousness or irony".[6] In 2017, Tanya Sichynsky of The Washington Post similarly opined that, "The opening lyric 'Man, it's a hot one,'... is a punch line that requires no set-up."[7]

Track listing
  1. "Smooth" (Edit) – 3:55
  2. "El Farol" – 4:59

Remixes
  1. Chris Staropoli Remix – 3:52
  2. Club Mix – 7:29
  3. Club Mix [instrumental] – 7:29

Credits and personnel
  • Carlos Santana – lead guitar
  • Rob Thomas – lead vocals
  • Chester Thompson – keyboards
  • Benny Rietveld – bass
  • Rodney Holmes – drums
  • Karl Perazzo – percussion
  • Raul Rekow – congas
  • Jeff Cressman – trombone
  • José Abel Figueroa – trombone
  • Julius Melendez – trumpet
  • William Ortiz – trumpet

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[57] 2× Platinum 140,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[58] Gold 400,000*
United States (RIAA)[59]
(physical)		 Platinum 1,200,000[60]
United States (RIAA)[59]
(digital)		 Gold 500,000*

^shipments figures based on certification alone
sales+streaming figures based on certification alone

Cover versions
  • A cover version of the song is included in the Nintendo Wii version of Samba de Amigo. Post-hardcore group Escape the Fate also recorded a cover version of the song for the compilation album Punk Goes Pop 2, released on March 10, 2009. Junior Lima from Brazilian pop duo Sandy & Junior sung a cover version of the song for the duo's live album/DVD As Quatro Estações - O Show, released in 2000.
  • The song was featured on two tracks, "Melt Everyone" and "Smooth Flow", from Neil Cicierega's 2014 mash-up album Mouth Sounds, and on two tracks, "Smooth" and "Shit", from the 2017 follow-up album Mouth Moods.
  • The song Albi Ekhatark (قلبي اختارك) by Egyptian singer Amr Diab is loosely based on Smooth.[61]
  • In January 2014, The Onion published a satirical article joking that "Smooth" had swept the Grammy Awards for 13 years in a row.[62]
  • Singer Miley Cyrus - as her television alter ego Hannah Montana - made reference to "Smooth" and Santana himself in her song "Gonna Get This."[63]
  • Funny or Die released a police drama parody trailer with Rob Thomas that recited the song's lyrics.[64]

See also

References
  1. "Rob Thomas: Santana's Smooth Sidekick". VH1. December 2, 2002. Archived from the original on October 6, 2012. Retrieved July 8, 2012.
  2. "Rob Thomas Reveals He Wrote 'Smooth' With George Michael In Mind". billboard.com. Archived from the original on 2017-10-21.
  3. "Billboard Hot 100 Chart 50th Anniversary – The Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs (10-01)". Billboard. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved July 8, 2012.
  4. "Billboard Hot 100 Chart 50th Anniversary – Top Billboard Hot 100 Rock Songs". Billboard. Archived from the original on June 27, 2012. Retrieved July 8, 2012.
  5. Dandashi, dahlia. "All summer 2016, we'll be jamming out to Santana's 'Smooth'". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on 29 October 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  6. Geffen, Sasha (15 August 2016). "The Enduring Power of 'smooth' by Santana Featuring Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty". MTV.com. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  7. Sichynski, Tanya. "Here's what the co-writer of 'Smooth' thinks about the song becoming a meme". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 15 January 2017. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  8. "Australian-charts.com – Santana feat. Rob Thomas – Smooth". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  9. "Austriancharts.at – Santana feat. Rob Thomas – Smooth" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  10. "Ultratop.be – Santana feat. Rob Thomas – Smooth" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  11. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 8475." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
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  13. "Top RPM Rock/Alternative Tracks: Issue 7842." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  14. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 17 no. 15. April 8, 2000. p. 15. Retrieved February 8, 2020.
  15. "Santana feat. Rob Thomas: Smooth" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
  16. "Lescharts.com – Santana feat. Rob Thomas – Smooth" (in French). Les classement single.
  17. "Offiziellecharts.de – Santana feat. Rob Thomas – Smooth". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  18. "Top National Sellers" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 17 no. 7. February 12, 2000. p. 13. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  19. "Íslenski Listinn Sætin 21 til 40 (14.10–21.10 1999)". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). October 15, 1999. p. 12. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  20. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Smooth". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  21. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 25, 2000" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  22. "Dutchcharts.nl – Santana feat. Rob Thomas – Smooth" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  23. "Charts.nz – Santana feat. Rob Thomas – Smooth". Top 40 Singles.
  24. "Chart's results (nr 932) from 10.12.1999" (in Polish). LP3. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
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  38. "ARIA Charts – End of Year Charts – Top 100 Singles 1999". ARIA. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
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  46. "1999 – The Year in Music" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 111 no. 52. December 25, 1999. p. 138. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  47. "Year in Focus – Eurochart Hot 100 Singles 2000" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 17 no. 52. December 23, 2000. p. 9. Retrieved February 8, 2020.
  48. "Classement Singles – année 2000" (in French). Archived from the original on March 8, 2012. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  49. "Podsumowanie roku 2000" (in Polish). LP3. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
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  52. Geoff Mayfield (December 25, 1999). 1999 The Year in Music Totally '90s: Diary of a Decade – The Listing of Top Pop Albums of the '90s & Hot 100 Singles of the '90s. Billboard. Archived from the original on June 19, 2017. Retrieved October 15, 2010.
  53. https://www.billboard.com/charts/greatest-billboards-top-songs-90s
  54. "Billboard Hot 100 60th Anniversary Interactive Chart". Billboard. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  55. "Greatest of All Time Adult Pop Songs : Page 1". US Adult Pop Songs. March 18, 2016. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
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  57. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2000 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association.
  58. "British single certifications – Santana featuring Rob Thomas – Smooth". British Phonographic Industry. Select singles in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Smooth in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  59. "American single certifications – Santana – Smooth". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH. 
  60. "Best-Selling Records of 1999". Billboard. BPI Communications Inc. 112 (4): 63. January 22, 2000. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  61. "عمرو دياب - قبلي اختارك". Spotify. Retrieved Jan 15, 2019.
  62. "Santana And Rob Thomas' 'Smooth' Sweeps Grammy Awards For 13th Year in a Row". Archived from the original on 2014-01-26.
  63. "Miley Cyrus - Gonna Get This Lyrics". Genius Lyrics. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
  64. https://www.funnyordie.com/platform/amp/2013/2/8/17716664/smooth-the-tv-show-with-matchbox-20
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