"Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now" by Samantha Fox

Song#:  3289
Date:  10/10/1987
Debut:  91
Peak:  80
Weeks:  5
Genre:  Dance-Pop, Hi-NRG



Pop Bits:  The Brit singer's debut album, Touch Me, became a gold seller thanks to the #4 hit "Touch Me (I Want Your Body)." Those results gave Fox the opportunity to record a couple of tracks with top producers for her self-titled second album. One of those track was this lead single, which was written and produced by the Stock Aitken Waterman team (Bananarama, Dead or Alive). The trio had been perfecting their signature dance sound and this song earned them and Fox another Top 10 hit back home in the UK. Across the pond in the US, the tune couldn't get anywhere. It peaked low on the Pop chart while only scraping the Dance chart at #40. The failed single did not set the album up for success and it left Fox and her label scrambling to try and secure a hit. Luckily, the LP's second single would do the trick.

ReduxReview:  I'm not really sure what happened with this single. It was a solid, hooky SAW product and it seemed like a good vehicle to get Fox back in the upper reaches of the Pop chart. Yet it failed big time. My only guess is that Fox kind of established herself as a tougher, sexy, sassy, rock-oriented dance artist with "Touch Me" and this tune was a polite little pop tune with a chugging production. In other words, it was "cute" and it didn't reflect the personality Fox had initially portrayed. Maybe because of that, stations and listeners tuned out. If so, then that was too bad. While it wasn't a fantastic song, it was a good SAW dance-pop tune that should have done much better.

ReduxRating:  7/10

Trivia:  Fox's self-titled second album contained an unexpected remake. She tackled the Rolling Stones classic 1965 #1 "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction." Her synth-rock take on the tune wouldn't be released as a single, but she was one of the first dance-pop artist to attempt the cover. Besides the Stones' original, only one other artist has reached the Pop chart with a version of the song. R&B star Otis Redding's soul take on the track made it to #31 in 1966 (#4 R&B). However, there have been many memorable remakes of the song including ones by Devo, Vanilla Ice, Britney Spears, and Aretha Franklin. The list of artists that have covered the song is wide and varied and includes people like Phyllis Diller, José Feliciano, The Chipmunks, and The Shirelles.

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