"One Nite Stand" was the lead single off of Father's second album, Close To You, and featuring his reunion with Mary J. Blige. His only other single off the album would feature his reunion with Jodeci, showing how he was already becoming overshadowed by his more famous back-up singers. People were coming to Father MC records to hear what Mary J. and Jodeci were going to do more than Father himself. But this time, Mary J. isn't really what's interesting here.
Produced by DJ Eddie F of Heavy D and the Boyz, the instrumental for "One Nite Stand" is a simple but addictive merging of "Microphone Fiend" with the bassline from "Funky Sensation." Yeah, there's a little extra new jack noodling on top of that, but it's basically just those two loops synced up into something fresh. And the hook, of course, is sung by Mary J Blige. But unlike her previous records with Father, or Jodeci's records with Father, where they sing their hearts out and steal the spotlight, all Mary does here is sing the one line with two different inflections, and it's looped. Honestly, it sounds like Eddie F made a chorus out of a studio outtake Mary intended for some other record. And it's alright; she certainly doesn't reach any dramatic notes. It's the kind of performance any random back-up singer could cough up, but it's catchy enough over the funky track.
And lyrically, this is before Father adopted the player pimp persona, so he raps some nice verses about how he's interested in more than just one thing ("I wanna get to know ya because I don't want to do you," "sex ain't my appetite; I just wanna treat ya right"). It's a novel concept that he spends the song disagreeing with his hook: "all you want from me is a one night stand," Mary implores, which Father always rejects with a simple, "Nah, baby." That doesn't come around too often. He even ends the song with a special, spoken word message to all the women of the world. "One Nite Stand"'s not exactly a heady, intellectual rap ("I'm all about fun, honeybun, so come and check me out"), but it's a well produced, upbeat song with a positive message.
And now, looking at the different pressings, we've got the basic promo 12" with the black and white label and plain yellow sleeve on the left, and the retail release with the full color label and glossy picture cover in the center. Musically, though, those two 12"s are the same, with the Radio Version and Eddie's Instrumental on side A and Eddie's Mix on side B. Is Eddie's Mix some new, 12" exclusive remix? No, it's just the album version. The Radio Version (also the one used for the music video) is exactly the same as the album version/ Eddie's Mix except it fades right out after Father's message. So it's about a minute shorter. The fuller version has an extra horn solo, where they play the famous fake horn riff from Slick Rick's "The Ruler's Back." Admittedly, it's pretty kitschy, but I like it. Mary actually comes back, too, to sing another line ("'cause you don't care") a couple times, and this is actually where she sounds the most vivacious and breathes some extra life into the song. So stick around for the full version of this song.
That's the basic promo version, which there's a billion copies of on vinyl and CD all over the world. But on the right is a very different promo 12" with a different track-listing and a genuine, exclusive remix. A vocal remix, even, with an all new rap; how about that? Bet you didn't know about this one, Father MC fans!
The Tone Capone Mix, co-produced by Tony Dofat and Puff Daddy, features a moodier, much tougher beat with hard drums, sparse bass notes and sporadic jazz stabs. It's a pretty good track, but it really doesn't jell with Mary J's hook. It feels like this beat was made for a different song. Except for Father's new verses; those sound tailored to this track, and the vibe of the song is totally flipped. This could be considered more of a sequel song, e.g. "One Nite Stand Pt 2" than a remix. A bitter, angry sequel. "My Nubian sista, I wanna get wit cha" has become "my Nubian sista, I wanted to get wit ya," and instead of saying "nah, baby" to every accusation of only wanting a one night stand, he says "yeah, baby."
But don't get me wrong, that's not all that's changed. All the rap verses have been completely replaced with new ones. Now he says, "baby, don't play me like you're all of that, sugar; you should slow down and realize where ya at." We're not exactly talking Ice Cube here, but he's definitely coming harder, "so now, I know where you're comin' from, honeybun, ya tongue is callin' for the dark one. I got flavor, forget what other's gave ya. My name is Father so, honey, don't bother." And this time, yeah, he definitely does want to do you. "I want panties on the floor, and your bras unstrapped, because Father MC is gonna taste your cat. No nappin' allowed because it's time to work your body. No need to drop your panties if the dug-out is knotty. I'm in the mood to get a kiss - thank you. Grab you, lay you on my knee and then spank you."
It's not amazing, but it's not bad; and it's fun how he reverses his stance from the original version. It's like a dark secret version of the song. And I guess they really liked the idea of changing his saying "nah, baby" to "yeah" in answer to Mary J. Blige, but I think they should've really should've gone the extra distance and gotten a new chorus that fits the beat, which is otherwise kinda hot. That miss-match is what holds the song back from working entirely on its own terms and probably kept it off the major DJs' mix-tapes back in the day.
This promo also has the album version and the Instrumental, which in this case is Tone Capone's new instrumental... a reason for heads to track this down even if they don't like Father or any R&B/ new jack rap stuff. And finally there's "Daddy's Radio Remix," which is just a shortened, radio edit of Tone Capone's Mix.
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| Father's closing message from the Close To You cassette J-card. |
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