The Singles Jukebox

But not before we suffer through “Day-O” as a Jason Derülo song…

[Video][Website]
[3.91]

Pete Baran: I am already poorly disposed to this record, as I lost a half heard bet over whether the backing was The Original or Robin S. (they do sound a lot alike). And well done slipping the namecheck in straight away Jason, else people may want the Robin S. track. Clearly he knows he is not being big or clever which is why he throws “The Banana Boat Song” in to distract us. I have always admired Jason’s chutzpah, and this is the ultimate statement of it. And a lot funnier than “Show Me Love” to boot.
[5]

Michaela Drapes: Ok, that was weird. Jason Derülo was just singing “The Banana Boat Song” and then all of a sudden Robin S.’s massive house track “Show Me Love” (er, not to be confused with the other Robyn’s “Show Me Love”) is his jam? I literally have no idea what’s going on here. I’m so lost. There’s lots of other samples crammed in too that make sense in context of things you would hear in the club (I guess?), but as a party track it’s kind of lackluster. I mean, if you’re going to gank all this great material, you’d better blow it up widescreen. The weird thing is, every time I listen to this song, I can totally hear Ke$ha pulling it off more successfully, possibly with the assistance of Sean Kingston. Which, perhaps, is not the overall effect that Derulo was going for here.
[3]

Michelle Myers: Is that “The Banana Boat Song”? Is this a joke? Maybe this ridiculous chorus would be tolerable if the rest of the song didn’t take itself so seriously.
[4]

Doug Robertson: With recycling apparently being the only thing that can save the polar bears from a watery grave, I’m all for re-appropriating old tunes and turning them into something exciting for a new audience, but at least try and use a bit of thought, originality or something so it doesn’t sound like you’ve just thrown together the first two records you’ve heard because your time in the recording studio is just about to run out. But, unlike his previous singles, he doesn’t say his name in the first five seconds which has been ruining the music round in my local pub quiz, so he can have a couple of points for that at least.
[4]

Iain Mew: “Bitch, I’m a star!” notwithstanding, this does not proudly present Jason as a horrible person to quite the extent that “In My Head” did. Its charmless repetition of already old ideas does still make it seem to drag on for a lot longer than four minutes, though.
[3]

Alfred Soto: What do you get when you sample Harry Belafonte and “Show Me Love,” add rhythm guitar, and an average Usher clone? An above average dance tune.
[5]

Zach Lyon: This song has absolutely no positive qualities. And I like both “The Banana Boat Song” and “Show Me Love.” It’s got nothing going for it. Still, I’m unable to score this anything less than what I’m scoring it, as even a [2] might imply that this song is more noticeable than it really is. Nothing to see here, carry on.
[3]

Jonathan Bogart: All things being equal, I’m more in favor of a song that interpolates a hit from 1956 than one that doesn’t — but this isn’t all things being equal, this is Jason Derülo, who I’ve never had any affection for (because there’s not even enough there to hate, let alone love), and this is yet another entry in 2011’s The Club Is the Point of Life saga, which scholars of the future will someday compile into a single volume and call the definitive poetry of the age. Not because they understand what (if anything) was meant by it, but because like so many cockroaches it’s all that will have lasted.
[5]

Alex Ostroff: As the environment slowly deteriorates, and pop stars everywhere do their best to alert us to the oncoming Apopcalypse, it’s good to know that someone is being responsible and repurposing spare bits of old hits. By 2012, 97% recycled pop will be the only way to stave off complete depletion of the melody mines and a serious shortage of raw material for production production plants.
[3]

Katherine St Asaph: Among the last few years’ lingering meme-viruses: a picture of mechanically separated chicken, muscle and bone all pureed and swirled like strawberry soft-serve ice cream, grotesque in its artificiality but ultimately harmless. Similarly, here we’ve got a slurry of “Day-O,” “Show Me Love,” the Guetta-thump and unidentifiable filler, drained more of water with each new chorus, with a little “Jason Derulo” on top like margarine. You’ll dance to it when it’s around, tolerate it amidst other courses, but who’d specifically go look for it at the market?
[4]

Edward Okulicz: An unremarkable song with a remarkable sample and an annoying interpolation in the chorus and absolutely nothing to recommend it beyond some pleasingly stupid sirens. That said, any revival of THAT 90s sound, not just from “Show Me Love” but beloved of Livin’ Joy, Alex Party and not seen since Steps’ “Deeper Shade Of Blue“, has surely GOT to be good. I was all set to endorse this trend until I saw the new Taio Cruz single is a collaboration with The Nightcrawlers, eliciting howls of derision and face-palms. Raise your standards, 2011.
[4]