Something Good

Album: Utah Saints (1992)
Charted: 4
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This samples Kate Bush's 1985 UK Top 20 hit "Cloudbusting." Bush liked what they'd done and authorized the original footage of her from the video to be used in the promo clip for the single. Del Palmer, Bush's long-term musical collaborator and former boyfriend, recalled in Rock Compact Disc magazine November 1993: "They (Utah Saints) did a track with a piece of her vocal in it: they were really good about it, went through all the proper channels, asked if they could use it, gave her a royalty, and she thought it was great. She thought it was absolutely fantastic the way they'd actually used it. In fact, one time she thought it would be great to do something with them. It never came to pass, though."
  • The Utah Saints are DJs Jez Willis and Tim Garbutt. Their debut UK hit was "What Can You Do For Me " (#10). They went on to have two more Top 10 entries, "Something Good" and "Believe In Me" (#8), which sampled Human League's "Love Action," Sylvester's "Do You Wanna Funk" and Crown Heights "You Gave Me Love."
  • In 2008 a remix by Van She of "Something Good" returned the song to the UK charts, its success being partly due to its tongue in cheek video. It entered the UK chart at #31 in February 2008 based purely on online sales, despite the fact it was not even scheduled for release online until March 10th. Thus the only version available at the time - an Ian Carey remix, which was found on a couple of dance compilations was actually being bought. This was despite it technically being nothing more than a white label track used as part of a mix album.
  • When Utah Saints wrote their tracks, they penned the tunes before inserting any samples. "It's generally easier to build tracks the other way around, but our back-to-front method meant any borrowings were used in a different context rather than taking someone else's creativity," Tim Garbutt told The Guardian in 2002, "and making it the essence of our track."

    For this song, the duo recycled Bush's "Ooh, I just know that something good is gonna happen" from "Cloudbusting."

    "We are super honored that we're the only act she has officially cleared a sample for and we hope it's because we created something new out of her singing," said Garbutt. "We used it in such a way that 'Something Good' stood up as a song in its own right. We still see tweets now from people who hadn't realized it was Kate Bush on the track."
  • Jez Willis and Tim Garbutt created "Something Good" on old Akai samplers and Atari computers – and saved it on floppy disks. "It took more than two weeks of fine tuning to make it all work," said Garbutt.
  • The BBC played "Something Good" over the highlights of their coverage of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics opening ceremony.
  • The Eran Creevy-directed video features the Running Man dance. Look out for Jez Willis and Tim Garbutt as the pool players standing in front of the pool table.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Elton John

Elton JohnFact or Fiction

Does he have beef with Gaga? Is he Sean Lennon's godfather? See if you can tell fact from fiction in the Elton John edition.

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In Songs

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In SongsSong Writing

Songs where something goes horribly wrong (literally or metaphorically), and help is needed right away.

Wang Chung Pick The Top Songs Of The '80s

Wang Chung Pick The Top Songs Of The '80sSongwriter Interviews

'80s music ambassadors Wang Chung pick their top tracks of the decade, explaining what makes each one so special.

David Sancious

David SanciousSongwriter Interviews

Keyboard great David Sancious talks about his work with Sting, Seal, Springsteen, Clapton and Aretha, and explains what quantum physics has to do with making music.

Richard Butler of The Psychedelic Furs

Richard Butler of The Psychedelic FursSongwriter Interviews

Psychedelic Furs lead singer Richard Butler talks about their first album since 1991 and explains what's really going on in "Pretty In Pink."

Chad Channing (Nirvana, Before Cars)

Chad Channing (Nirvana, Before Cars)Songwriter Interviews

Chad tells tales from his time as drummer for Nirvana, and talks about his group Before Cars.