Set Adrift on Memory Bliss

Single infobox
Name = Set Adrift on Memory Bliss


Artist = P.M. Dawn
from Album =
Released = 1991
Format = CD maxi 7" single
Genre = Pop/R&B
Length = 4:10
Label = Polygram Records
Writer = Gary Kemp
Attrell Cordes
Producer = P.M. Dawn
Last single =
This single = "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" (1991)
Next single = "Paper Doll" (1992)

"Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" is a popular song by P.M. Dawn. The song is built around samples of "True", a 1983 song by Spandau Ballet, and "Paid In Full", a song by Eric B and Rakim (which is based upon The Soul Searchers' 1974 song "Ashley's Roachclip", a drum break that appeared on the Ultimate Breaks and Beats compilation of Hip-Hop samples). This song was the group's first (and only) #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, and also reached #3 on the UK Singles Chart. It ranks #81 on VH1's 100 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs.

Cover versions and uses in the media

*Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet made a cameo in the video to this song; he appears near the end of the video.
*The song was covered by the Backstreet Boys, and appears on their second album "Backstreet's Back".
*The song was the first number one song after the debut of the Nielsen SoundScan system, which monitored airplay and sales more closely than before when "Billboard" had to rely on humans to report sales and airplay data. According to the test charts of the SoundScan system, "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" was at number one for at least three weeks, but officially has a one-week reign at number one.
* In the second verse, they mention two hit songs from 1985. "Careless whisper from a careless man" refers to "Careless Whisper" by Wham!, and "A neutron dance for a neutron fan" makes reference to "Neutron Dance" by The Pointer Sisters.
* In the video, Prince Be's image is the hippie alternative to Mr. T's gold chains, rings and bracelets. He wears a neck full of beads and hands covered in beads with stone rings to complete it.
* The line, "Christina Applegate, you gotta put me on" is a reference to the song "Bonita Applebum" by A Tribe Called Quest.
* The opening verse is influenced by the Joni Mitchell song "The Boho Dance". The original "A camera pans the cocktail hour/ Behind a blind of potted palms" becomes "The camera pans the cocktail glass/ Behind a blind of plastic plants", and the line "Subterranean by your own design" is echoed as "Subterranean by design".
* The song appears in the movie, "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" (2007) during the middle portion and at the rolling credits.
* The drum beat from the song was originally derived from "Ashley's Roachclip" by The Soul Searchers; both iterations have been sampled commonly in various genres of hip hop and dance music.

Track listings

; CD maxi
# "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" (radio mix) — 3:58
# "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" (extended mix) — 6:03
# "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" (LP version) — 4:12
# "For The Love of Peace" — 3:29

; 7" single
# "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" (radio mix) — 3:57
# "For the Love of Peace" — 3:29

Certifications

Charts

ee also

* Hot 100 number-one hits of 1991 (USA)

References