Suddenly there’s British R&B singer Mark Morrison, who appears out of nowhere with Return Of The Mack.

Return Of The Mack proved to be a hit all over the world. In the UK (#1) and the US (#2) it ranked high, in our country (#3) and Belgium (#12) it ranked slightly lower. But one question that many people asked was this, and a fair one: How could this artist sing about “coming back” when so few people had heard of him? The fact is that he had modest success in the UK with Crazy and Let’s Get Down. Presumably he wanted to attract listeners to regain his girlfriend’s trust. But it could also be his return to society after a few months in prison.

We found some samples on the track. This is how you hear Genius Of Love, originally from 1981 by Tom Tom Club. We mostly know it from Wordy Rappinghood, but Genius Of Love has been used extensively. This is how you hear it in Mariah Carey’s Fantasy (1995).

Also on Return Of The Mack is a snippet of ESG’s UFO from 1981. The fragment has been described as ‘the sound of little green men breaking into a breakdance battle’. You hear the screeching background noise at the beginning of UFO. Finally, a synthesizer fragment from Game, released by Chuckii Booker in 1992, can also be heard.

After Return Of The Mack, Morrison tried again with reissues of Crazy and Horny, but nothing more than a Tipparade record could be done.

You can read more about the origins of Top 40 hits here aslihits.nl

(05-15-2022)