Baby Baby (Corona song)

"Baby Baby" is a song by Italian band Corona, released in February 1995 by ZYX Music as the second single from their debut album, The Rhythm of the Night (1995). The song, written by Francesco Bontempi and Antonia Bottari, was originally a hit in 1991 for Italian project Joy & Joyce as "Babe Babe". Both tracks were produced by Bontempi under his Lee Marrow guise. It was very successful on the singles charts around the world, peaking at number-one in Italy, and on the RPM Dance/Urban chart in Canada. In the UK, it peaked at number five for two weeks. Two different music videos were produced for the song.

The lyrics and melody are interpolation of Alisha Warren's 1989 song "Touch Me" (which was similarly sampled in the 1989 italo house hit "Touch Me" by the 49ers) combined with 1988's K.I.S.S.I.N.G. by Siedah Garrett.

In 2007, the Swedish dance group Sunblock made a cover of the song, which peaked at number one in Spain and number four in Finland.

Critical reception
AllMusic editor Jose F. Promis described the song as the "aggressive" follow-up to "The Rhythm of the Night", naming it one of the standout tracks on the album. On Attitude's list of "The Top 10 Dance Tunes of the '90s" in 2016, it was ranked number six. Upon the release, Larry Flick from Billboard wrote that it "steamrolls down a similar Euro-NRG dance/pop path." He added, "Although the airwaves are now flooded with similarly giddy fare, this jampacks a chorus that is insistently contagious—and it is voiced with a fullthrottle diva energy. To that end, both radio and club tastemakers should climb aboard early."

Swedish Expressen said that it is "at least as good" as their first single. Dave Sholin from the Gavin Report noted that "it took awhile for some to come to the party on "The Rhythm of the Night", but they were happy with the results. This pumpin', thumpin' follow-up will keep 'em dancing and create the same excitement." Alan Jones from Music Week described "Baby Baby" as "a storming house/Nu-NRG track that has already soared to the apex of RMs On a Pop Tip chart. If it charts lower than top five, I'll be very surprised." James Hamilton from the Record Mirror Dance Update declared it as "more squawking simple Italo catchiness". In an retrospective review, Pop Rescue complimented it as "an absolute feel-good euro belter".

Chart performance
"Baby Baby" peaked at number one in Italy in April 1995, as well as on the European Dance Radio Chart. It entered the top 10 in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. In the latter country, it peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks. On the UK Dance Chart, the song reached number four, while peaking at number one on the UK on a Pop Tip Club Chart. Additionally, it was a top-20 hit in Austria, France, Germany and Switzerland. On the Eurochart Hot 100, it peaked at number five. Outside Europe, "Baby Baby" reached number one on the Canadian RPM Dance chart, number seven in Australia and number 22 in New Zealand. In the US, "Baby Baby" peaked at number 39 on the Cash Box Top 100 and number 57 on the Billboard Hot 100. On the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart, the song reached number five.

Music videos
Two different music videos were made for "Baby Baby"; a European version and an US version. One of them was directed by Mark Humphrey. The first video features frontwoman Olga de Souza attending a party in the disused Aldwych tube station in London. In the second video, an overweight man is watching TV and switching from one channel to another with a remote control. Suddenly Olga appears on the screen, singing the chorus. When the music starts, he suddenly finds himself lying on a big bed with her. It has a headboard shaped as giant lips and she crawls on the bed, singing to him. Apparently frightened by this, he looks for an exit and tries to escape through a closed door. But behind the door, two women are standing. He is then placed in a chair, while the women are teasing and trying to seduce him. In the end, the man is seen smiling, with lipstick kiss-marks all over his head. A re-edited version of this video omits all footage of the man.

Corona version

 * CD single
 * 1) "Baby Baby" (Lee Marrow Radio Mix) (3:45)
 * 2) "Baby Baby" (Robyx Piano Remix Short Edit) (3:55)


 * CD-maxi
 * 1) "Baby Baby" (Lee Marrow Radio Mix) (3:45)
 * 2) "Baby Baby" (Robyx Piano Remix Short Edit) (3:55)
 * 3) "Baby Baby" (Dancing Divaz Club Mix) (6:07)
 * 4) "Baby Baby" (Lee Marrow Extended Mix) (5:55)
 * 5) "Baby Baby" (Robyx Piano Remix) (5:39)
 * 6) "Baby Baby" (Dancing Divaz Rhythm Mix) (5:45)


 * 7-inch single
 * 1) "Baby Baby" (Lee Marrow Radio Mix) (3:45)
 * 2) "Baby Baby" (Robyx Piano Remix Short Edit) (3:55)


 * 7-inch maxi
 * 1) "Baby Baby" (Lee Marrow Extended Mix) (5:55)
 * 2) "Baby Baby" (Robyx Piano Remix) (5:39)
 * 3) "Baby Baby" (Dancing Divaz Club Mix) (6:07)
 * 4) "Baby Baby" (Dancing Divaz Rhythm Mix) (5:45)

Joy & Joyce version

 * CD single & 12-inch single
 * 1) "Babe Babe" (Extended Version) (6:18)
 * 2) "Babe Babe" (Club Version) (6:18)
 * 3) "Babe Babe" (Radio Edit) (3:53)

Sunblock version

 * CD-maxi
 * 1) "Baby Baby" (Radio Edit)
 * 2) "Baby Baby" (Extended Version)
 * 3) "Baby Baby" (The Audiophiles Remix)
 * 4) "Baby Baby" (Ian Carey Remix)
 * 5) "Baby Baby" (DJ DLG Remix)
 * 6) "Baby Baby" (Friday Night Posse Remix)
 * 7) "Baby Baby" (Frisco Remix)
 * 8) "Baby Baby" (Audiophiles Remix)

Personnel

 * Written by Francesco Bontempi and Antonia Bottari
 * Published by Many Edizioni Musicali - B. Mikulski Publ. - SFR Music
 * Created, arranged and produced by Checco and Maurizio Silvestri ITA & Soul Train for a Lee Marrow production
 * Engineered by Francesco Alberti at Casablanca Recordings (Italy)
 * 'Lee Marrow Radio Mix' and 'Lee Marrow Extended Mix' : Additional editing by Robyx
 * 'Robyx Piano Remix Short Edit' and 'Robyx Piano Remix' : Remixed and reconstructed by Robyx
 * 'Dancing Divaz Club Mix' and 'Dancing Divaz Rhythm Mix'
 * Remix and additional editing by production by Dancing Divaz
 * Additional keyboards by Colin Thorpe

Weekly charts
Corona version

Sunblock version

Year-end charts
Corona version