My First Kiss

"My First Kiss"
Single by 3OH!3 featuring Kesha
from the album Streets of Gold
Released	May 4, 2010 (2010-05-04)
Format	Digital download
Recorded	Summer 2008[1]
Genre	Electropop
Length	3:13
Label	Photo Finish
Writer(s)	Lukasz Gottwald, Sean Foreman, Nathaniel Motte, Benny Blanco
Producer	Dr. Luke, Benny Blanco
3OH!3 chronology "Blah Blah Blah" (2010) "My First Kiss" (2010) "Double Vision" (2010) Kesha chronology "Dirty Picture" (2010) "My First Kiss" (2010) "Your Love Is My Drug" (2010)

"My First Kiss" is a song recorded by American electronic duo 3OH!3. The song was written by Lukasz Gottwald, Sean Foreman, Nathaniel Motte and Benny Blanco, and was produced by Dr. Luke, and Blanco for their third studio album, Streets of Gold. Kesha also contributed to the songs writing, although she was not credited, her contribution lead to her being featured on the song. The song was released as the lead single from Streets of Gold on May 4, 2010. The song's inspiration is about going through your first kiss and exploring further parts of the relationship.

Critical reception of the song has been mixed. Though the song is 3OH!3's song, Kesha's feature on the track was praised by multiple critics for her strong delivery while 3OH!3's performance was met with mixed reviews, some calling them irritating. The song achieved commercial success by reaching the top ten in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States while charting within the top forty it multiple other countries. The song performed greatest in the United States reaching a peak of seven and has gone on to sell over 500,000 copies.

The music video for "My First Kiss" follows a similar theme that is relative to the song's title, "My First Kiss". The dominant scenes of the video feature people kissing in front of multicolored backings with 3OH!3 logo present in much of the scenes. The song has been performed on Regis and Kelly.

Background and composition

"My First Kiss" was written by Sean Foreman and Nathaniel Motte alongside Dr. Luke and Benny Blanco. The song was produced by Dr. Luke and Benny Blanco with vocal editing done by Emily Wright. While being interviewed by MTV, Foreman explained the song inspiration, "The song is about a girl you really like, and the story line of going through your first kiss with a girl to exploring further parts of the relationship."^[2] Kesha's is also featured on the song due to writing the songs main verse ("My first kiss went a little like this"). The writing triggered 3OH!3 wanting a girl to sing the verse and ultimately wound up having Kesha do so.^[3]

"My First Kiss" is an upbeat dominant electropop song that incorporates elements of power pop.^[4] The song features elements of "electro bleeps" and a brief snippets of "beatbox sounds".^[4] Present throughout the song, are sounds of kissing noises in between verses.^[4] According to sheet music published at Musicnotes, the song is written in common time with a moderate beat rate of 134 beats per minute. The song is written in the key of F Major and the vocal range in the song spans from the note of E₄ to the note of B₅.^[5] According to Sara D Anderson of AOL Radio, Kesha plays the role of a boy's first crush "who decides to not let him go past first base: 'She don't wanna give it up / Baby I can get it up / If I had it my way / Hey! I'll make you say.'"^[6]

Reception

Critical reception

Kesha's (pictured) performance on the song was praised while 3OH!3's was met with mixed to negative reception.

Robert Copsey of Digital Spy met the song with a negative review. Copsey commended Kesha's work throughout the song calling her "cheeky (and a tad tipsy)". 3OH!3 however, were called "simply irritating". Copsey commented that the song was simply "another shouty electro-hop nugget that's as rowdy and intimidating the school bully after a can of Red Bull"^[7] Fraser McAlpine from BBC was also negative in his review of the song. Like Copsey, McAlpine complimented Kesha's verses in the song noting it was his favorite part of the song, "The best bit is the playground rhyme, and Kesha's slurry delivery beats that of the '3 by MILES. It's probably cos she's flirting and they're shouting."^[8] He went on to criticize the song for being too similar to Don't Trust Me commenting, "There's not a lot in it between this and 'Don't Trust Me', musically or thematically speaking."^[8] McAlpine went on the five the song two out of five stars.^[8] Also, Matthew Wilkening of AOL Radio ranked the song at #100 on the list of the 100 Worst Songs Ever, calling the song an "overly slick power-pop ode to sucking... face."^[9]

Bill Lamb of About.com met the song with a positive review giving the single four out of a possible five stars.^[4] Lamb wrote "[though] part of me wants to find this terribly annoying" that hardly matters as "3OH!3 and Kesha are probably the most gifted artists of the moment performing irresistibly catchy music".^[4] His conclusion of the song was, "like it or not, the 3OH!3 boys are back, and it looks like they plan to stay awhile."^[4]

Commercial reception

In the United States, "My First Kiss" entered the US Billboard Hot 100 on the issue date entitled May 22, 2010 at number nine where the single reached its peak.^[10] The song has gone on to sell over 500,000 copies and has been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).^[11] In the same week, "My First Kiss" entered the Canadian Hot 100 at number seven where it also reached its peak.^[12] In October 2010 the single was certified platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) for sales of 80,000 units.^[13]

Internationally, "My First Kiss" entered the Australian charts at number twenty-five. After steadily ascending the charts for seven weeks, the single reached a peak of thirteen where it stayed for two weeks.^[14] The song was listed on the chart for a total of seventeen weeks and has since received platinum certification by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for sales of 70,000 units.^[14][15] In the United Kingdom, the single entered and peaked at number seven on its first week on the chart.^[16]

Music video

The music video for "My First Kiss" was filmed in New York by director, Isaac Ravishankara.^[3] The songs music video is relative to the songs theme, kissing.^[2] Foreman explained, "[And] the video is a play on kissing in general, and lips, and getting close up to a bunch of lips, and people coming out of mouths and just, like, really cool transitions."^[2] The video follows a similar theme that is relative to the songs title, "My First Kiss". It features a lot of people (geriatrics, punks, teachers, sailors, soldiers, lesbians, nerds and hirsute rockers) smooching, kissing, and making out.^[17] The video is made up of different scenes all using multi-colored backdrops as the videos dominant backing. The main scenes present are of "3OH!3 bouncing around and throw[ing] punches at the camera"^[17] while singing their versus and occasional close-ups of different pairs of lips that are mouthing different lyrics of the song. Kesha is also present throughout the video, mainly on her verses where she is seen in close ups of her lips and dancing around the screen on the chorus.

James Montgomery from MTV News reviewed the video for "My First Kiss" positively. Montgomery commented on how simple the songs video was but noted that wasn't a negative, he commented, "like pretty much everything 3OH!3 do, there's an undeniable charm to both the song and the video. Perhaps it's the power-tool chorus, or the "ooh-ooh-ooh" vocal harmonies. Maybe it's Kesha's sexy sass. Or maybe I just like watching a whole bunch of people lock lips. The whole thing is a lot of fun. It gets in your head. And hey, it's the summer — school's out, and gleefully stupid is in."^[17]

Live performance

The song was performed live on Regis and Kelly on July 30, 2010.^[18]

Track listing

Digital Download[19] "My First Kiss" (Feat. Kesha) – 3:12 My First Kiss (Remix) – EP[20] "My First Kiss" (Gucci Mane Remix) (Feat. Kesha) – 3:12 "My First Kiss" (Chuckie Extended Version) (Feat. Kesha) – 7:34 "My First Kiss" (Innerpartysystem Remix) (Feat. Kesha) – 5:07 "My First Kiss" (Feat. Kesha) (Video) – 3:20

UK My First Kiss – EP[21] "My First Kiss" (Feat. Kesha) – 3:12 "My First Kiss" (Chuckie Remix) (Feat. Kesha) – 3:39 "My First Kiss" (Chuckie Extended Version) (Feat. Kesha) – 7:34 "My First Kiss" (Innerpartysystem Remix) (Feat. Kesha) – 5:07 "My First Kiss" (DJ Skeet Skeet Remix) – 4:42

Credits and personnel

• Songwriting – Dr. Luke, Sean Foreman, Nathaniel Motte and Benny Blanco
• Production – Dr. Luke and Benny Blanco
• Engineering – Emily Wright, Sam Holland and Benny Blanco
• Instruments and programming – Dr. Luke, Nathaniel Motte and Benny Blanco
• Additional vocals – Dr. Luke and Benny Blanco
• Vocal Editing – Emily Wright

Source ^[22]

Charts and certifications

Charts Chart (2010) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[14] 13 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 75)[23] 28 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[24] 9 Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[12] 7 European Hot 100 Singles[25] 23 Ireland (IRMA)[26] 10 New Zealand (RIANZ)[27] 15 UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)[16] 7 US Billboard Hot 100[28] 9

Year-end charts Chart (2010) Position Australian Singles Chart[29] 76 Canadian Hot 100[30] 74 UK Singles Chart[31] 128 US Billboard Hot 100[32] 73 Certifications Region Certification Australia Platinum[15] Canada Platinum[13] United States Gold[11]

Release history

Region	Date	Format
Australia[33]	May 4, 2010	Digital download
Canada[19]
New Zealand[34]
Norway[35]
Ireland[36]	July 1, 2010
United Kingdom[21]

References

1. ^ Castillo, Michelle (2010-08-13). "Ke$ha — from band geek to life of the party". Msnbc.com. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/38565388/ns/today-entertainment/t/keha-band-geek-life-party/. Retrieved 2011-08-01. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} Montgomery, James (2010-05-11). "3OH!3 Celebrate 'Tonsil Hockey' In 'My First Kiss' Video I was a chubby kid with braces and I'm sure I had Cheetos all over my fingers, Sean Foreman recalls of his first lip-lock". MTV News. MTV Networks (Viacom). http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1638923/20100511/three_oh_three.jhtml. Retrieved 2010-10-17. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Lamb, Bill. "3OH!3 Interview With Nathaniel Motte Talks About Streets of Gold, Working With Ke$ha, and Marina and the Diamonds". About.com. The New York Times Company. http://top40.about.com/od/artistsac/a/3oh3interview.htm. Retrieved 2010-10-17. 
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Lamb, Bill. "3OH!3 – "My First Kiss" featuring Kesha". About.com. The New York Times Company. http://top40.about.com/od/singles/gr/3oh3myfirstkiss.htm. Retrieved 2010-10-17. 
5. ^ "Kesha, 'My First Kiss' – Composition Sheet Music". Musicnotes.com. Alfred Publishing. 
6. ^ Anderson, Sara (2010-05-04). "3OH!3, 'My First Kiss' Feat. Kesha – New Song". AOL Radio. http://www.aolradioblog.com/2010/05/04/3oh-3-my-first-kiss-feat-kesha/. Retrieved 2010-10-17. 
7. ^ Robert Copsey (2010-07-17). "3OH!3 ft. Kesha: 'First Kiss'". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi UK. http://www.digitalspy.com/music/singlesreviews/a235324/3oh3-ft-keha-first-kiss.html. Retrieved 2010-10-17. 
8. ^ ^{a b c} McAlpine, Fraser (2010-06-28). "3Oh!3 ft. Kesha – 'My First Kiss'". BBC Chart Blog. British Broadcasting Corporation. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/chartblog/2010/06/3oh3_ft_keha_my_first_kiss.shtml. Retrieved 2010-10-17. 
9. ^ Wilkening, Matthew (2010-09-11). "100 Worst Songs Ever". AOL Radio. http://www.aolradioblog.com/2010/09/11/worst-songs/?icid=main. Retrieved 2010-12-18. 
10. ^ "Billboard Hot 100 – Week of May 22, 2010". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. 2010-05-22. http://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100#/charts/hot-100?chartDate=2010-05-24. Retrieved 2010-10-17. 
11. ^ ^{a b} "Gold & Platinum: 3OH!3 Singles and Albums". Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=&artist=3OH!3&format=&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2010&sort=Artist&perPage=25. Retrieved 2010-10-05. 
12. ^ ^{a b} "3OH!3 Album & Song Chart History" Canadian Hot 100 for 3OH!3. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
13. ^ ^{a b} "Gold & Platinum certifications". Canadian Recording Industry Association. http://cria.ca/goldplat.php. Retrieved 2010-11-25. 
14. ^ ^{a b c} "Australian-charts.com – 3OH!3 FEAT. KE$HA – My First Kiss". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
15. ^ ^{a b} "ARIA Charts — Accreditations – 2010 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. http://www.aria.com.au/pages/httpwww.aria.com.auaccreds2010.htm. Retrieved 2011-01-16. 
16. ^ ^{a b} "Chart Stats – 3OH!3 – My First Kiss" UK Singles Chart. Chart Stats. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
17. ^ ^{a b c} Montgomery, James (2010-06-02). "3OH!3's 'My First Kiss' Video Premieres – The electro-punk duo (and Kesha) smooch subtlety goodbye in eye-popping new clip". MTV News. MTV Networks (Viacom). http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1640634/20100602/three_oh_three.jhtml. Retrieved 2010-10-17. 
18. ^ "3OH!3 Perform on LIVE! with Regis and Kelly this Friday!". 3OH!3Music.com. http://www.3oh3music.com/news/3oh3-perform-on-live-with-regis-and-kelly-this-friday/. Retrieved 2010-10-17. 
19. ^ ^{a b} "My First Kiss (Feat. Kesha) – Single". Itunes. Apple Inc. http://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/my-first-kiss-feat-ke-ha-single/id369504385. Retrieved 2010-10-17. 
20. ^ "My First Kiss (Remix) (Feat. Kesha) – EP". Itunes. Apple Inc. http://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/my-first-kiss-remix-feat-ke/id384246242. Retrieved 2010-10-17. 
21. ^ ^{a b} "UK My First Kiss (Feat. Kesha) – EP". Itunes. Apple Inc. http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/my-first-kiss-feat-ke-ha-ep/id376424547. Retrieved 2010-10-17. 
22. ^ Album notes for Streets of Gold digital album booklet via iTunes..
23. ^ "3OH!3 FEAT. KE$HA – My First Kiss – Austriancharts.at" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
24. ^ "Ultratop.be – 3OH!3 – My First Kiss" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Ultratop & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
25. ^ "3OH!3 Album & Song Chart History" European Hot 100 for 3OH!3. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
26. ^ "Chart Track". Irish Singles Chart. Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
27. ^ "Charts.org.nz – 3OH!3 FEAT. KE$HA – My First Kiss". Top 40 Singles. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
28. ^ "3OH!3 Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Hot 100 for 3OH!3. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
29. ^ "ARIA Charts – End Of Year Charts – Top 100 Singles 2010". Australian Recording Industry Association. http://www.aria.com.au/pages/aria-charts-end-of-year-charts-top-100-singles-2010.htm. Retrieved 2011-01-08. 
30. ^ "Charts Year End: Canadian Hot 100". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/charts/yearendcharts/chart_display.jsp?f=Canadian+Hot+100&g=Year-end+Singles. Retrieved 2011-01-15. 
31. ^ "End Of Year Charts: 2010". UKChartsPlus. http://www.ukchartsplus.co.uk/UKChartsPlusYE2010.pdf. Retrieved 2011-08-10. 
32. ^ "Charts Year End: Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. http://www.billboard.com/charts-year-end/hot-100-songs?year=2010&begin=71&order=position. Retrieved 2011-01-15. 
33. ^ "My First Kiss (Feat. Kesha) – Australia Single". Itunes. Apple Inc. http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/my-first-kiss-feat-ke-ha-single/id369504385. Retrieved 2010-10-17. 
34. ^ "My First Kiss (Feat. Kesha) – New Zealand Single". Itunes. Apple Inc. http://itunes.apple.com/nz/album/my-first-kiss-feat-ke-ha-single/id369504385. Retrieved 2010-10-17. 
35. ^ "My First Kiss (Feat. Kesha) – Norway Single". Itunes. Apple Inc. http://itunes.apple.com/no/album/my-first-kiss-feat-ke-ha-single/id369504385. Retrieved 2010-10-17. 
36. ^ "My First Kiss (Feat. Kesha) – Ireland Single". Itunes. Apple Inc. http://itunes.apple.com/ie/album/my-first-kiss-feat-ke-ha-ep/id376424547. Retrieved 2010-10-17. 

External links

• 3OH!3 – MY FIRST KISS feat. Ke$ha (Official Music Video)