THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

501-Black Box-Ride on Time.

1989-Number 1 single.

Best Bit-At 2.55. Having listened to music for well over 50 years, I can succinctly remember those very rare occasions when I knew that I was hearing something fresh and original that hadn’t been done before. This song hailed the start of the musical genre that would become known as ‘Italian House’ music (see also best songs 895 and 414.)

Black Box were formed in Italy in 1988 by the Italian music producers Daniele Davoli, Valerio Semplici, and Mirko Limoni, and at the time of writing they remain active, with a current fourth member, and there have also been two others who joined after their formation, but have since left. Prior to renaming themselves ‘Black Box’ in 1989, the trio called themselves ‘Starlight,’ and released their debut single ‘Numero Uno,’ in 1988, which reached Number 9 on the UK top 40. Shortly after the release of ‘Ride on Time’ in July 1989, as ‘Black Box,’ they once again charted in the UK under a different name, this time as ‘Mixmaster,’ they made Number 9 again, this time with the single ‘Grand Piano.’

The discography of Black Box includes two studio Albums released in 1990, and 1995, and 26 singles released between 1988-2018, there are also two official compilation Albums available. In their native Italy, on the ‘Musica e dischi,’ (‘Music and Records’) chart, six of their singles have made the top 40, with ‘Everybody Everybody,’ featuring Martha Wash, peaking the highest at Number 7 in 1990, while ‘Ride on Time’ reached Number 10. In the UK, Black Box have achieved 11 top 40 singles, with ‘Ride on Time’ spending six weeks at Number 1, and becoming the best selling UK single of 1989. While in America on the Billboard Hot 100, they have had two top 40 hits, with ‘Everybody Everybody,’ featuring Martha Wash, charting the highest at Number 8, while ‘Ride on Time’ failed to reach the top 100.

‘Ride on Time’ was the first of seven singles released from ‘Dreamland,’ the debut studio Album by ‘Black Box,’ from May 1990, and was co-written by Daniele Davoli, Valerio Semplici, Mirko Limoni, and Dan Hartman, (1950-1994) (see also best songs 1012) with the production being by Daniele Davoli, Valerio Semplici, and Mirko Limoni, The story behind ‘Ride on Time’ is a long and controversial one. Daniele Davoli had visited New York and purchased a 12-inch a capella version of the 1980 ‘Disco’ hit ‘Love Sensation,’ by the American ‘R&B’ singer Loleatta Holloway, (1946-2011) which had been written by Dan Hartman. Back home in Italy, and using the newly invented ‘Akai S900’ sampler, Daniele Davoli created the first version of ‘Ride on Time,’ using the a capella vocals from ‘Love Sensation.’ The three members of Black Box then added piano chords, and additional vocal samples to create the track.

‘Ride on Time’ was released without the samples being cleared by ‘Salsoul Records,’ who owned the rights to ‘Love Sensation,’ which led to a long legal battle over royalties. Dan Hartman the writer of ‘Love Sensation,’ was happy to settle for a third of the royalties, leading Davoli to call him ‘A true gentleman,’ as he could have asked for far more. ‘Love Sensation’s’ singer Loleatta Holloway was never paid for her vocals, as the sample was owned by ‘Salsoul Records.’ Davoli has said that he regretted not meeting Holloway before her death in 2011, and would like to apologise ‘For how messy things got.’ After the initial legal action was taken, Black Box were forced in to re-issuing ‘Ride on Time’ with re-recorded vocals. The identity of the singer was kept quiet, as she was about to launch her own career, the vocalist was Heather Small, who would go on to great success with ‘M People,’ (see also best songs 430) and also as a solo artist.

Nine songs were written and produced for the Black Box debut Album ‘Dreamland,’ and six of the tracks were sung by the American ‘R&B’ singer Martha Wash, who had previously found success with ‘Sylvester,’ (1947-1988) (see also best songs 162) and also as one half of ‘The Weather Girls.’ Martha Wash had been told by Black Box that she was only recording ‘demos,’ and that her vocals were to be used as a guide for another singer, but when the Album came out it was her voice on the recordings. Martha Wash successfully sued, which led to all vocal credits becoming mandatory on Album, and music video’s ever since. Further controversy occurred when ‘Ride on Time’ was performed on shows such as ‘Top of the Pops,’ as Black Box hired the French model Katrin Quinol to mime the vocals. Although it was a common practise in Italy, at that time it was heavily frowned upon in the UK, and America. In the song ‘Love Sensation,’ Loleatta Holloway sings the lyrics ‘right on time,’ but Davoli whose English was very limited at that time, thought that she was singing ‘ride on time,’ hence the songs title.

‘Let me tell you, let me tell you what you do, what you do, what you do to me. You’re such a hot temptation, you just walk right in, walk, walk, walk right in, and whoa-oh, whoa-oh, whoa-oh.’