Tell Me I'm Not Dreamin' (Too Good to Be True)

"Tell Me I'm Not Dreamin' (Too Good to Be True)"
Side-B label of the single "Do What You Do"
Song by Jermaine Jackson featuring Michael Jackson
from the album Jermaine Jackson
A-side"Do What You Do"
ReleasedDecember 21, 1984 (1984-12-21)
Genre
Length4:22
LabelArista
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Michael Omartian

"Tell Me I'm Not Dreamin' (Too Good to Be True)" is a song by Jermaine Jackson featuring his younger brother Michael Jackson, taken from Jermaine Jackson's eponymous album. Jason Elias of AllMusic called this song "percolating and infectious."[1]

The vocal version of "Tell Me I'm Not Dreamin'" was on the B-side to both the 7" and 12" versions of Jermaine Jackson's single, "Do What You Do",[2][3] while an instrumental version of the song was on the B-side to another Jermaine Jackson song, "Dynamite".[4][5]

In her 1993 book Michael Jackson: The King of Pop, author Lisa D. Campbell states that "although it was never officially released as a single because of legal difficulties between Michael's label, Epic, and Jermaine's label, Arista, the song did receive a lot of airplay."[6] As a result, Billboard did not include the song on any "singles" chart. Nor, at the time, did Billboard publish an airplay-only chart.[7] The song, however, did register on Radio and Records′ Top 40 chart, a chart based solely on airplay, peaking at No. 6 in June 1984. The song was most successful on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart, where it spent three weeks at No. 1 that same June.[8] The song was performed as a medley with some of Jermaine Jackson's other solo hits ("Let's Get Serious" and "Dynamite") on the Jacksons' 1984 "Victory Tour".[9]

The song was nominated at the 1985 Grammy Awards for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.[10]

In 1988, Robert Palmer covered the song on his album, Heavy Nova. It was released as a single in June 1989 and reached #60 on the Billboard Hot 100.[11]

  1. ^ "Jermaine Jackson – Jermaine Jackson". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  2. ^ "Jermaine Jackson - Do What You Do". Discogs. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  3. ^ "Jermaine Jackson - Do What You Do (Remix)". Discogs. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  4. ^ "Jermaine Jackson - Dynamite". Discogs. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  5. ^ "Jermaine Jackson - Dynamite". Discogs. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  6. ^ Campbell, Lisa D. Michael Jackson: The King of Pop (Branden Books, 1993, ISBN 0-8283-1957-X, page 86)
  7. ^ See "The New Billboard". Billboard. 20 October 1984. pp. 1, 73. The magazine instituted such a chart later in 1984, months after the song's popularity had peaked.
  8. ^ Hot Dance Club Play Chart Listing For The Week Of Jun 9, 1984, Billboard.com
  9. ^ "Jacksons captivated JFK Stadium" Michael J. Borza, 7 September 1984, The Daily Collegian. Retrieved 25 June 2009.
  10. ^ "27th Grammy Awards - Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals (nominees)", Rockonthenet.com
  11. ^ The Billboard Hot 100 Chart Listing For The Week Of Aug 5, 1989, Billboard.com