Song of the Day: My, My, My (by Johnny Gill)


When “My, My, My” first floated across the airwaves in 1990, it felt like smooth perfection — the kind of song that made time slow down just a little. Johnny Gill’s voice carried that deep, unmistakable mix of confidence and tenderness that defined R&B at its best. It was the slow jam every prom DJ had queued up, waiting for the lights to dim and for couples to drift onto the floor. For anyone in high school back then, this was the dance moment — the one you replayed in your head for days afterward.

But what made it special was how it lived beyond those prom nights. This was one of those early-’90s R&B staples that found its way onto countless mixtapes — the kind carefully labeled and slipped into someone’s hand with a hopeful grin. It was the soundtrack of summer romances, of those shy exchanges that felt like the beginning of forever. With Gill’s velvet delivery and that lush Babyface-L.A. Reid production, even teenage crushes suddenly felt legendary.

And honestly, let’s be real — you don’t even need to take my word for it. Just one listen to Johnny’s sweet, dulcet tones and you know this was the kind of track that did more than inspire slow dancing. It’s baby-making music, through and through — smooth, soulful, and absolutely irresistible.

My, My, My

Yeah
Mmmh, mmh, mmmh, so good

My, My, My (you look so sweet)
Listen
Put on your red dress
And slip on your high heels
And some of that sweet perfume
It sure smells good on you

Slide on your lipstick and
Let all your hair down
Cause Baby when you get through
I’m going to show you

Tonight will be a special night
No matter where we go
And I’m so proud to be with you
I just wanna let you know

You got my saying
My, My, My
My, My, My
You sure look good tonight
And you’re so damn fine
I wanna say
My, My, My
My, My, My

You sure look good tonight

After all this time
Slip on your nightgown
Step in our bedroom
First I wanna take sometime

I just wanna look at you
Girl you are so fine
I can’t believe you’re mine
And all that I wanna do

I wanna make love to you
Tonight will be a special night
Of many more to come

And I’m so proud to be with you
So proud to share you’re love

My, My, My
My, My, My (You sure look good tonight)
I wanna say, My, My, My
My, My, My
My, My, My

Make love all night long
Make love ’til the break of dawn

Come on
Come on
Sweet little thing yes you do

Yes you do, yes you do, you do, do, do

And I’m so proud to be with you
So proud to share you’re love
My, My, My
My, My, My
You sure look good tonight

I wanna love you, in every way, every way
Let me
Let me
Show you how sweet it’s gonna be
I wanna show you things that you

Never, ever, ever seen before
Put your nightgown on
Let your hair hang low
Step into our room
I’m in the mood to love you all night long

You got me saying My, My, My
My, My, My
My, My, My
My, My, My
My, My, My
My, My, My
My, My, My

Say My, My, My
See all you gotta do
All you gotta do
Is say that you’ll be mine all mine, My, My, My
My, My, My (You’ll be all mine tonight baby)
You sure look good tonight
Let me, let me, show you how sweet it’s gonna be

Oh, My, My, My
My, My, My (You sure look good tonight) My, My, My
My, My, My
My, My, My (You sure look good tonight) My, My, My
My, My, My (You sure look good tonight) My, My, My

Neon Dream #4: Hong Kong Express – 浪漫的夢想


I am not sure whether my recent discovery of vaporwave was a coincidence or not. When people check out my Last.fm profile, I always return the serve, and I happened to be listening to a lot of other music that will be featured in this series when I got a new visitor. This person’s profile was filled with really odd artist names, mostly consisting of katakana followed by a seemingly random English word in all caps. Click click.

This was vaporwave, as it turned out, and vaporwave was pretty odd. I guess the genre emerged beginning in 2011 as electronic and dance artists, partly in jest and partly as a sort of social commentary, began to resurrect trash audio from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. The background sounds of shopping malls and elevator shafts twisted in conformity to dance beats and reemerged packaged with bad 90s digital imagery. The artist titles are a nod to those used in Asian markets to sell western hits without having to pay royalties. The genre title, too, was a hoax, referring to vaporware–products which are heavily marketed but never actually released or cancelled. (Remember when Duke Nukem Forever gained so much fame after 14 years “in development” that Gearbox slapped together a garbage FPS under the title?) Some of the early artists in the scene suggested that their music was not intended to be enjoyed for any intrinsically pleasing qualities. Rather, they were taking music that was trashy in spirit and making it trashy in sound, degrading it to a state where its shallow capitalist origins could shine while, as a possibly unintended consequence, infusing it with actual conceptual value.

The earlier artists I sampled were, as you might expect from the description, entertaining but not particularly pleasant to listen to. In 2014, a label called Dream Catalogue launched and helped to really redirect the genre. Taking the same technical approach of restructuring muzak, smooth jazz, funk, lounge, new age, and R&B into electronic and dance tracks, Dream Catalogue artists showed a generally keener eye towards making the music aesthetically pleasing in its own right. The result was a sound that’s simultaneously modern and nostalgic, and a collection of albums that show a lot more individual character and vision.

Hong Kong Express, the Dream Catalogue founder’s personal project, presents a consistent vision of dreamy nighttime travels in a modern city. In describing his first release, 浪漫的夢想, the label’s website concludes that “This dream, ultimately, is a mysterious and romantic trip through the neon haze of a night in Hong Kong – a journey of subway carriages and fast cars, a love both lost and found, and a connection between souls.” I can definitely hear that. The pitched, echoing pop and jazz samples generate the sense that you aren’t fully taking in your surroundings. You drift through a landscape of glowing billboards and signs, recognizing the products subliminally while reflecting on the light itself, becoming lost in a vibrant capitalist world. What could be more appropriate for the theme of this series?

Check out the rest of the Dream Catalogue catalogue on Bandcamp.